This page contains promotions (affiliate links) (Editorial & ad policy)
Takayama ryokan with an onsen and Hida beef: 5 for a first ryokan stay
Approximate, at the rate on 2026-10-02. You pay in yen.
- Takayama ryokan for onsen and Hida beef: five that differ by distance from the station
- Kachoan is one minute from the Jinya; Takayama Green is six from the station
- Murayama has two free private baths; Hanaougi has its own spring; Iwatakan is a minshuku
The five
| Best for | Where to book | Score | Weeknight (per person) | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for the bath itself — if you can’t decide | Hidatei Hanaougi Check price |
88/100 | ¥34,000–53,000 | — |
| Best for walking straight into the old town | Hida Takayama Honjin Hiranoya Kachoan Check price |
84/100 | ¥54,000–61,000 | ¥65,000–70,000 |
| Best for bathing privately, and for a hearth-cooked dinner | Ryokan Murayama Check price |
67/100 | ¥20,000–23,000 | ¥25,000 |
| Best if you arrive by train with luggage | Takayama Green Hotel Check price |
61/100 | ¥27,000–34,000 | ¥32,000–51,000 |
| Best for onsen and Hida beef on a smaller budget | Minshuku Iwatakan Check price |
60/100 | ¥13,000 | ¥13,000 |
Prices are the cheapest per person found on Rakuten Travel for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 2026-11-07 – 2026-12-30, for 2 adults in one room (checked 2026-10-31). They move daily — the link shows live prices.
The booking links go to Agoda, which shows today’s price and lets you pay in your own currency. Its price can differ from the Rakuten Travel figures above.
Best for the bath itself
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.85/5 (656) · Ikyu 4.70/5 (174) · Jalan 4.90/5 (1,994) · Google Maps 4.60/5 (889) · Tripadvisor 4.60/5 (362) · Agoda 9.0/10 (144) · 4,219 in total
- Sodium bicarbonate water that feels silky rather than sharp on the skin
- Check-in 15:00, last check-in 18:00; free parking for 30 cars (Rakuten listing)
Why it made the five
- Own hot-spring source drawn from 1,200 m down; a communal bath, a rock open-air bath facing the garden and a reservable private open-air bath
- Many rooms have their own open-air hot-spring tub
- Dinner and breakfast are both in a private dining room, and dinner is a Hida beef kaiseki course
- The building uses jindai keyaki, ancient buried zelkova wood, in its interiors
- Check-out is at 11:00
Getting there: Free shuttle bus from the west exit of JR Takayama Station; you must reserve it by the day before. The old town is about 10 minutes away by car, not on foot.
Language and payment: Rakuten Travel lists several staff who can hold an everyday conversation in English. No tattoo policy is published on the inn’s own website, so ask when you book; the reservable private open-air bath is the easy answer if you would rather not bathe in front of others.
- Right for: Travelers who want the hot spring itself to be the best part of the stay, and couples who want to bathe privately.
- Not for: Anyone who wants to walk into the old town in the evening, or who wants dinner served in their room.
Score breakdown — 88/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★★ | Rakuten room, bath and dinner ratings average 4.94, the highest here. |
| Value for money | ★☆☆☆☆ | The cheapest dinner-and-breakfast rate found is 155% of the median of the inns compared. |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 11:00, free station shuttle (reserve by the previous day), meals in a private room, several staff with everyday English. |
| Trust | ★★★★★ | Review average 4.79 across 4,075 reviews (Rakuten Travel 656, Ikyu 174, Jalan 1,994, Google Maps 889, TripAdvisor 362). |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | Its own deep source piped to open-air tubs in many of the rooms; the bath score on Rakuten is 4.96. |
Best for walking straight into the old town
Hida Takayama Honjin Hiranoya Kachoan
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.90/5 (832) · Ikyu 4.67/5 (80) · Jalan 5.00/5 (809) · Google Maps 4.60/5 (633) · Tripadvisor 4.60/5 (430) · Booking.com 4.50/5 (356) · Agoda 9.3/10 (422) · 3,562 in total
- Check-in 15:00
- Free parking for 50 cars, including before check-in and after check-out (Rakuten listing)
Why it made the five
- One minute on foot to the Takayama Jinya and the morning market, three minutes to the Sanmachi old town
- Onsen communal bath plus an open-air bath; only some rooms have their own semi-open-air tub
- Dinner is a Hida beef and seasonal kaiseki course in a private dining room
- A sushi counter on the ground floor serves Hida beef nigiri
- Yukata in the room plus a second one to wear out around town; check-out at 11:00
Getting there: Free pickup from JR Takayama Station, run on demand rather than to a timetable. The Jinya is a 1-minute walk and the old town 3 minutes.
Language and payment: The inn keeps an English website and several staff can hold an everyday conversation in English. No tattoo policy is published on its own site, so confirm before booking.
- Right for: First-timers in Takayama who want both the town on foot and a properly attentive ryokan.
- Not for: Anyone who insists on a private open-air bath in the room, since only some rooms have one.
Score breakdown — 84/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★★ | Rakuten room, bath and dinner ratings average 4.81. |
| Value for money | ★☆☆☆☆ | The cheapest dinner-and-breakfast rate found is 244% of the median of the inns compared, the most expensive here. |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 11:00, free pickup from the station on demand, meals in a private room, several staff with everyday English. |
| Trust | ★★★★★ | Review average 4.77 across 3,140 reviews (Rakuten Travel 832, Ikyu 80, Jalan 809, Google Maps 633, TripAdvisor 430, Booking.com 356). |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | The most walkable location of the group, plus a 4.9 average on more than 800 Rakuten reviews. |
Best for bathing privately, and for a hearth-cooked dinner
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.59/5 (283) · Jalan 4.50/5 (415) · Google Maps 4.40/5 (438) · Tripadvisor 4.10/5 (195) · Booking.com 4.40/5 (729) · Agoda 8.3/10 (315) · 2,375 in total
- Check-in 15:00, check-out 10:00; last check-in 22:00
- Free parking for 12 cars; bicycle parking is fine too (Rakuten listing)
Why it made the five
- 13 rooms only, at the foot of Mt. Matsukura with distant Northern Alps views
- Two hot-spring baths can be reserved for your party alone, free of charge
- The communal bath was rebuilt in 2018
- Dinner is Hida country cooking made by the owner: char and Hida beef grilled over charcoal in the irori hearth
- Dinner is served in a private dining room
Getting there: About 10 minutes from Takayama Station on the Sarubobo local bus, near the Hida-no-Sato open-air folk village. No inn pickup.
Language and payment: Rakuten Travel lists a few staff with some English. No tattoo policy is published on the inn’s own website, but the two free private hot-spring baths mean you need not use a shared bath at all.
- Right for: Anyone uncomfortable bathing in public, and families or friends who want a hot-spring bath to themselves.
- Not for: Anyone who wants to walk into the old town; you take the bus.
Score breakdown — 67/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Rakuten room, bath and dinner ratings average 4.56. |
| Value for money | ★★★★☆ | The cheapest dinner-and-breakfast rate found is 90% of the median of the inns compared. |
| Easy to stay | ★★★☆☆ | Meals in a private room and two free private hot-spring baths, but no station pickup. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | Review average 4.42 across 2,060 reviews (Rakuten Travel 283, Jalan 415, Google Maps 438, TripAdvisor 195, Booking.com 729). |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | Charcoal-grilled river fish and Hida beef cooked at the hearth by the owner, plus two free private hot-spring baths. |
Best if you arrive by train with luggage
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.56/5 (4,712) · Ikyu 4.54/5 (189) · Jalan 4.60/5 (5,838) · Google Maps 4.20/5 (4,211) · Tripadvisor 4.00/5 (760) · Booking.com 4.40/5 (2,687) · Agoda 8.8/10 (2,416) · 20,813 in total
- Weakly alkaline spring, locally called a bijin-no-yu, a beautifying bath
- Check-in 15:00, check-out 10:00
- Parking: 250 spaces, ¥1,000 per night for a standard car (Rakuten listing)
Why it made the five
- Six minutes on foot from the west exit of JR Takayama Station; the hotel also runs a pickup
- Own hot-spring source, Tenryo-no-yu, with an open-air bath
- Tatami rooms in the Tenryokaku wing are 55 sqm and furnished with Hida furniture
- Dinner is either a Hida beef kaiseki in a private room or a local-food buffet
- 238 rooms; Western-style rooms exist too, so choose Tenryokaku if you want tatami
Getting there: Six minutes on foot from the west exit of JR Takayama Station, with a pickup from the station also available.
Language and payment: Several staff can hold an everyday conversation in English. No tattoo policy is published on the hotel’s own site, so ask before you book.
- Right for: People arriving by train who want to drop their bags immediately, and anyone who feels safer booking a property with thousands of reviews.
- Not for: Anyone after the hush of a small inn. This is a 238-room hotel.
Score breakdown — 61/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Rakuten room, bath and dinner ratings average 4.57. |
| Value for money | ★★☆☆☆ | The cheapest dinner-and-breakfast rate found is 121% of the median of the inns compared. |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 11:00, 6 minutes on foot from the station plus a pickup, meals in a private room, several staff with everyday English. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | Review average 4.44 across 18,397 reviews (Rakuten Travel 4,712, Ikyu 189, Jalan 5,838, Google Maps 4,211, TripAdvisor 760, Booking.com 2,687), by far the largest sample here. |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | More than 4,700 Rakuten reviews at 4.56, with its own source and a Hida beef kaiseki served in a private room. |
Best for onsen and Hida beef on a smaller budget
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 5.00/5 (49) · Google Maps 4.30/5 (138) · Tripadvisor 4.40/5 (80) · Booking.com 4.20/5 (88) · Agoda 8.4/10 (145) · 500 in total
- Check-in 15:00, check-out 10:00; last check-in 21:00
- Free parking for 10 cars
Why it made the five
- A family-run guesthouse in an old farmhouse, with an irori hearth lounge and free drinks
- Two hot-spring bathing areas, each with both an open-air and an indoor bath
- Open-air tubs of Shigaraki pottery and sawara cypress, plus a large rock indoor bath
- Dinner centers on marbled Hida beef
- Rooms have no private toilet or bath; both are shared
Getting there: Take a taxi from Takayama Station and the inn pays the fare, as long as you keep the receipt and show it at check-in.
Language and payment: Rakuten Travel lists a few staff with some English. No tattoo policy is published on the inn’s own website, so ask before booking.
-
Right for: Travelers who want an onsen and a Hida beef dinner without a high bill.
-
Not for: Anyone who wants an en-suite bathroom, or who wants to stay out late. There is a 23:00 curfew.
-
Worth knowing: Guest rooms have no toilet or bath of their own; both are shared, and the front door closes at 23:00.
Score breakdown — 60/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Rakuten does not publish room, bath or dinner sub-scores for this inn. It has open-air hot-spring baths and a Hida beef dinner, but the shared toilet and bathroom put it in the middle on our editorial call. |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | The cheapest dinner-and-breakfast rate found is 59% of the median of the inns compared, the lowest here. |
| Easy to stay | ★★☆☆☆ | No shuttle, but the inn covers your taxi fare from Takayama Station against the receipt. |
| Trust | ★★☆☆☆ | Review average 4.39 across 355 reviews (Rakuten Travel 49, Google Maps 138, TripAdvisor 80, Booking.com 88), a much smaller sample than the others. |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | A family-run guesthouse with two hot-spring bathing areas, including pottery and cypress open-air tubs. |
Know before you book
- The sightseeing core is tiny. The Sanmachi old town, the Takayama Jinya (the surviving Edo-era government house) and the Miyagawa morning market sit within a few blocks of each other, and inns three minutes away put you inside that core.
- The Miyagawa morning market along the river is a morning-only affair, so it fits neatly into the hours before you check out and move on.
- Takayama is the natural hinge of a central Japan loop: the limited express from Nagoya and the highway buses from Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go and Matsumoto all end at Takayama Station, and the bus terminal is right beside the station building.
- Shirakawa-go is usually done as a bus day trip from Takayama rather than as an overnight, which is why so many people book two nights in town and leave their luggage at the inn.
- The Takayama Festival fills the town twice a year, in spring and in autumn. Rooms for those dates are taken far in advance, and rates across the town rise.
- Inns split into two groups. Some are a short walk from the old town; others sit a ten-minute drive or local bus ride out, near Hida-no-Sato, and get you in by shuttle. How the shuttle works differs a lot: on demand, by reservation in a fixed afternoon window, or phone on arrival.
- Hida beef is the local specialty and every inn serves it differently, from a kaiseki course to tobanyaki on a ceramic plate, shabu-shabu or a steak grilled on a magnolia leaf with miso (hoba-miso).
How we chose: theme, conditions, scoring
How we chose
- Candidates: every property in Hida-Takayama (Gifu) listed on Rakuten Travel — 290
- Passed the review filter (counts and averages on Rakuten Travel, the one site that lists every property in the area): 62
- Met every condition below: 11
- Kept: five, each the best at something different
Where the facts come from
- Facts: Rakuten Travel property information (in some articles, each hotel’s own site too)
- Prices: Rakuten Travel live availability, Wednesdays and Saturdays over eight weeks
- Reviews: counts and averages from Rakuten Travel, Jalan, Ikyu, Google Maps, Tripadvisor and Booking.com, added up in each hotel’s Trust row. Agoda’s reviews are shown under each hotel name for reference only and do not count towards the score
Conditions (all of them, not most of them)
- Has an onsen daiyokujo, the large communal hot-spring bath you bathe in without a swimsuit
- Sells a one-night plan with dinner and breakfast included, and that dinner features Hida beef
- Has tatami-floored Japanese rooms you can actually book
- Reachable from Takayama Station within 15 minutes on foot, by the inn’s pickup, by taxi or by local bus (so Okuhida Onsengo, Gero, Shokawa and Hida-Furukawa are out)
Scoring
Five criteria, one to five stars each, weighted to one hundred points. Every star says where the number came from.
- Quality35 pts
- 35% of the score. The average of the room, bath and dinner ratings published for each inn on Rakuten Travel. Where an inn does not publish those sub-scores, we say so and make an editorial call, with the reason written out.
- Value for money15 pts
- 15%. Not how cheap an inn is, but how its lowest dinner-and-breakfast rate compares with the median of the inns we measured. An expensive inn can still score badly here even if it is excellent.
- Easy to stay10 pts
- 10%. Things that reduce friction on the day: check-out time, whether the inn picks you up from Takayama Station, whether meals are served in a private room, and how much English the staff speak.
- Trust20 pts
- 20%. The review average and the sheer number of reviews, pooled across Rakuten Travel, Ikyu, Jalan, Google Maps, TripAdvisor and Booking.com. A high average on a handful of reviews scores lower than a slightly lower average on thousands.
- Only here20 pts
- 20%. An editorial judgement of what only this inn gives you, and we always state the reason rather than just awarding stars.
What we dropped
| Property | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hida Takayama Onsen Hoshokaku | Runner-up (57/100) | Strong on food and location, but the Rakuten room, bath and dinner ratings average 4.49, below the five we picked, and only one of its baths actually uses hot-spring water. Its reviews also come from a single site. |
| Futarishizuka Hakuun | Runner-up (54/100) | The best English here, but the Rakuten room, bath and dinner ratings average 4.14, the lowest of the eight, from only 103 reviews, and the baths in the rooms are not onsen water. |
| Ryokan Asunaro | Outside the theme | Housed in a relocated wealthy farmer’s house from Echigo, and one of the few inns to publicly allow tattoos in its communal bath, but it now serves breakfast only and no dinner, which fails condition 2. |
| Akigami Onsen Ryokan | Outside the theme | A five-room mountain inn rated 4.91, but roughly an hour from Takayama Station by local bus, which fails condition 4. We also could not confirm officially that Hida beef is served at dinner. |
| Hida Takayama Honjin Hiranoya Kofukan | Runner-up | Sits by the Jinya with natural hot-spring water and plans that include dinner in your room, but it overlaps in both location and character with its sister inn Kachoan. |
| Route Inn Grantia Hida Takayama Wakura no Yado | Runner-up | Has a natural hot-spring view bath and tatami rooms, but dinner is a buffet, which makes for a weaker ryokan experience than the inns offering a Hida beef kaiseki. |
Questions visitors ask
How do meals work at a ryokan? Can I eat in my room, and what time is dinner?
At a ryokan, dinner and breakfast are normally included in the room rate and served at a time you agree at check-in, not whenever you feel like eating, so arriving late can mean missing dinner altogether. Tell the inn your expected arrival time when you book. None of these seven is listed as serving dinner in your guest room; Kachoan, Hanaougi, Murayama, Futarishizuka Hakuun and the Takayama Green Hotel serve in a private dining room, so you still get a table to yourselves.
Which inns have staff who speak English?
Futarishizuka Hakuun has several staff described on Rakuten Travel as near-native English speakers. Honjin Hiranoya Kachoan, Hidatei Hanaougi and the Takayama Green Hotel have several staff who can hold an everyday conversation in English. Hoshokaku, Ryokan Murayama and Minshuku Iwatakan have a few staff with some English; Hoshokaku’s English page asks guests to book in Japanese where possible.
Can I use the baths if I have tattoos?
We could not find a stated tattoo policy on the official website of any of these seven inns, so ask before you book rather than after you arrive. If you would rather not risk a communal bath, Ryokan Murayama has two hot-spring baths you can reserve for your party alone at no charge, and Hidatei Hanaougi has a reservable private open-air bath.
Which ones can I walk to the old town from?
Honjin Hiranoya Kachoan is one minute from the Takayama Jinya and three from the old town; Hoshokaku is about three minutes from the old town, the Jinya and the morning market; Futarishizuka Hakuun is about five minutes from the old town. The Takayama Green Hotel is six minutes from Takayama Station. Hidatei Hanaougi is about ten minutes away by car, and Ryokan Murayama is about ten minutes from the station on the Sarubobo bus, out near Hida-no-Sato.
Will I get a tatami room and a yukata?
All seven have tatami rooms. Kachoan, Hanaougi, Murayama, Iwatakan and Futarishizuka Hakuun put a yukata in the room, and Kachoan also provides a second yukata to wear outside. Hoshokaku gives you a samue, a two-piece cotton work outfit, instead of a yukata. The Takayama Green Hotel also has Western-style rooms, so book the Tenryokaku wing if you want tatami.
Do I need a rental car in Takayama?
Not for the town itself. Takayama Station is the hub for both the limited express from Nagoya and the highway buses from Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go and Matsumoto, the old town is walkable, and the inns further out will collect you: Kachoan picks up on demand, Hoshokaku between 14:00 and 18:00 by reservation, Futarishizuka Hakuun between 15:00 and 18:00 when you phone from the station, Hanaougi by shuttle bus reserved the day before, and Minshuku Iwatakan simply pays your taxi fare against the receipt.
Changes
- 2026-11-07 First published. Scored from 290 candidates.