Ryokan in Takayama

Both reviewed inns are in Takayama, Gifu, with tatami laid along every corridor so you walk without slippers, Hida-beef dinners and hōba-miso breakfasts, and a free shuttle from JR Takayama Station — but they sit in very different spots. Hida Takayama Onsen Hoshokaku is a five-storey inn on the hill of Shiroyama, where Takayama Castle once stood, about 15 minutes' walk from the station and three minutes down a steep slope to the rooftops of the old town. Hidatei Hanaougi is a 45-room inn built around rare jindai keyaki zelkova in a quiet residential area about 2.3 km west of the station, 10 minutes' drive from the old town, with its own spring drilled 1,200 m down that reviewers describe as slippery, lotion-like water.

Hida Takayama Onsen Hoshokaku (classic) suits anyone who wants to walk to the old town and be looked after in an old-school way: valet parking, sweets from a local confectioner, celebration rice or wine for birthdays, and Hida-beef dinners big enough that many guests can't finish them; fifth-floor rooms with an open-air bath look across the town. The inn says only the rock outdoor baths in the shared bathhouse use hot-spring water, heated and recirculated, so the in-room baths are not onsen; the building is dated, and 2026 reviewers mention dim lighting, heating they couldn't adjust, a thin futon and some smoking rooms. Hidatei Hanaougi (premium) suits couples and families who want onsen in the room: ten of its twelve room types have an open-air bath filled with its own spring, one attendant looks after you from arrival to departure, and meals come in private dining rooms, with scores among the highest in the region. Its FAQ says the water is recirculated, filtered and heated, the two cheapest room types have no onsen bath, and 2026 complaints include 75-minute dinners, food that didn't justify the top rates and late-night ceiling noise in a ground-floor room.