Scenic Hotels in Gero

"A lovely location to enjoy an onsen and cute little town. 2-3 nights is the perfect amount of time for this hotel. The town is very small and you can walk through the temple just Infront of the hotel to reach it. Although the hill is very steep, the stairs make it manageable but it's alot of stairs. On arrival the shuttle bus is waiting for you and they take your luggage to the room. A staff member guides you to your room and explains when the shuttle leaves, where to go to explore the hotel, breakfast and public bath times. The public bath is open between 3pm and 1am, closes for cleaning than opens again from 5am to 10am and closes for cleaning again. During each cleaning they switch the male and female public bathing zones so everyone has a chance to experience each bath. I chose a room with a private bath and a mountain view. The private bath is small but big enough for 2 people if you're both sitting, it also has a window that opens up. The view is stunning. Breakfast starts around 7am and last service is at 8:30am. If you stay 2 nights they will give 2 different breakfasts. Green tea, coffee, juice and milk are the only drinks at breakfast. Soft drink is available at reception during the afternoon. The Hilda beef steak meal provided by the hotel racks up the price with it being $70 AUD per person and for comparison, in town, a similar meal was around $40 AUD per person. If you really want a dinner at the hotel than try out the paid dinner but there's a few good spots to eat in town. There's this one restaurant called Senda that is a good price and just left of the big hotel direction sign at the bottom of the mountain. If you are unsure of where to go than pick up the local food map at the town info office. Anyway, good hotel for a city getaway as well as an opportunity to take the Shinkansen and local train from Tokyo (4 hours from Tokyo but great views and easy transfer)"

"The hotel is located on Mt. Gero, and you have to take the hotel shuttle bus to get there. However, because the hotel is in the mountains, you can overlook the scenery of Gero. The hotel does not have many hot spring facilities, but the hotel's brunch is very rich, which is similar to other hotels in Oedo Onsen Monogatari."

"Visited one of Japan's top three hot spring towns and booked a traditional Japanese-style room at a century-old hotel, which included two meals. The hotel offers a shuttle service from the train station, which was incredibly convenient. Check-in was a breeze thanks to the friendly staff at the front desk who spoke Chinese. The room was exceptionally spacious with stunning views from the window – perfect for two people. The hot springs themselves, both indoor and outdoor, were wonderful. Gero Onsen truly lived up to its reputation; my skin felt incredibly smooth after a soak. Free cold drinks were available post-soak, and the milk from the vending machine was particularly delicious! The meals provided by the hotel were also plentiful and tasty. The entire hotel had a very authentic Japanese ambiance. Although we only stayed for one night, we're already looking forward to a longer visit in the future! Highly recommended to everyone."

"+ : beautiful, traditional Japanese hotel with nice tatami rooms. The room was spacious and confortable with all necessary amenities. The outdoor onsen was great and almost empty when I went. The breakfast buffet is ok. - : a LOT of stairs in the building (very difficult for elderly and disabled people, but also people with big suitcases!). There is a car that theoretically can pick you up at the train station or drop you off but I couldn’t use it when I arrived because I received no information on it beforehand or when I left because it only starts at 10am. The onsen is not tattoo friendly and you have to pay for the tattoo cover. Staff was kind but most of the time unable to offer solutions Overall, a beautiful ryokan but for the price, you can find better."

"Great hospitality - Staff are friendly and helpful. Very warm experience Onsen & room - Clean and decent with Japanese design (Apply to the one inside the room & public onsen) Lobby - Filled with the western classic design For sure, we will return for 3rd times visit to Sasara."

"One of our best stays during my time in Japan! The staff were very friendly. She shared with us where we should go for onsen, dinner and places to visit. Breakfast was simple but very hearty. We are touched that they considered our food restrictions and adjusted accordingly. Very thoughtful! We could also use the yucata and jacket to walk around town. Love this experience very much! The onsen is also lovely. We highly recommend this place and will definitely come back again. P.s they don't have yamato service if you need to deliver your baggage."

"It’s a small Onsen with few rooms but that made our stay more relaxing and comfortable. Attentive services with an eagerness to explain everything to you despite the language barrier. The outdoor private Onsen was a plus that we enjoyed very much. The downside was the aged room and toilet we got. However, this was compensated by the food that was absolutely fantastic and unsuspectly filling 😋"

"Environment and Service: The hotel is quite large and relatively new, with a big courtyard perfect for a stroll. There's also a shuttle service to and from the station. The only minor drawback is that rooms on one side face the train tracks, which can be a bit noisy, and the soundproofing isn't great."

"To be honest considering this has a 4 star rating I'm a bit disappointed. Generally speaking it is a nice place but there are small things that are lacking compared to other similar Onsen Hotels at the same price. For example they don't provide a basket to go to the onsen but only a cheap plastic bag. The Hotel itself is very old but well maintained and at least the general spaces use nice materials and decoration. Once you reach the room it becomes worse. The materials used in the room are very cheap (Vinyl Floor, Cheap Wallpaper that was put on very poorly). Some aspects of the room have been refurnished, like the sink but most of it seems to be original from the 60s-80s. The bathtub and Toilet are retro models. The Onsen baths are a mixed bag - the one on the third floor with Wood ceiling seems to be the newest and is the best of the three. The other two (panorama and first floor) are in dire need of refurbishing. They seem in very bad condition and extremly old. The worst part (for me) was the Breakfast. 90% of the selection was japanese Style (and even that seemed poor). Western Options were only Pancakes, French Toast (which was good at least) and a few sad pieces of low quality bread with condiments. They didn't even have a coffee machine!!! Only pre-brewed coffee that tasted like water."

"This is the best onsen hotel we’ve stayed in, among those we’ve stayed in for the past 12 years! We stayed here for 2 nights. We’ve extremely grateful to the hosts for their outstanding service and hospitality from the heart. Loved the thoughtfully varied menu for each meal. The establishment is spotlessly clean and excellently maintained. Each morning, our towels and yukata (hotel gowns) were replaced. So were the amenities ( fragrant green tea packs, snacks). The housekeeping staff even offered to mop our rooms after only one night’s stay. The wifi was also fast and sustained well in the guest room and public lounge areas. There are facilities to cater to a wide range of age groups from seniors like us and children too. There were ample resting chairs in the lounge and on the way to the historian’s well as guest rooms. The best facility was the hot springs! They are exactly as depicted in the hotel website. Numerous indoor pools of various temperature all have the renowned ‘beautifying’ odorless alkaline water. My skin felt so smooth and moisturized after only one soak. What’s more the hot springs stay open for in-house guests from 10.30 am to 11 pm and day-trip visitors from 10.30 am to 8 pm. In-house guests can also use the hotsprings early from 6 to 9 am. There is a European dry sauna as well as wet steam rooms in both make and female hotspring areas. We would love to stay here again!"