HOSHINOYA Karuizawa
星のや軽井沢
Area photo — not the ryokan itself · Kumoba Pond in autumn, Karuizawa, Nagano · Hiroaki Kaneko / CC BY-SA 3.0
Hoshino Resorts' flagship: a car-free village of rooms around a river, with no TVs, a light-and-dark Meditation Bath and seasonal Shinshu kaiseki — deeply restful, but meals cost extra and value is the sore point
HOSHINOYA Karuizawa is where Hoshino Resorts began: the family's hot-spring inn of 1914 was rebuilt in 2005 as the first Hoshinoya, a 'village in a valley' of 77 rooms set along terraced water channels. Staff drive you to your room in a small EV, rooms have no TV and are warmed by geothermal floor heating, and only guests and staff are allowed inside. Japanese guests praise the stillness — 'quiet rooms' and 'a calm atmosphere' are among the most-tagged comments on one review map, where it scores 4.24 across 83 reviews — as well as the river-side Mizunami rooms, the Meditation Bath with its 'room of light' and 'room of darkness', and seasonal kaiseki at the Kasuke restaurant (a 2024 guest's first matsutake of the year; a 2026 guest's venison fried in cherry leaves). Free drinks at the library and terrace lounges add to the ease. The recurring doubt is price: rooms are sold without meals by default, dinner at Kasuke is ¥21,780 per adult, and bloggers' bills run from ¥177,016 for two nights room-only (a family of four) to about ¥250,000 for one night for two with meals. Several reviewers call the value poor or the service assembly-line, the Mountain Alley rooms have steep stairs and no lift, and the public Hoshino area outside — Harunire Terrace and the Tombo-no-yu spa — gets crowded. One-night bookings open only 30 days ahead.
Room Selection Guide
What the guests who stayed here actually recommendRecommended
Mizunami (水波の部屋) — the water-side rooms
The default recommendation: 57–68㎡ rooms facing the river through the centre of the village, with a terrace where wild ducks swim past. A 2024 guest paid about ¥250,000 for one night with dinner and breakfast and found nothing to be disappointed by; a 2023 blogger in a second-floor triple praised the wide balcony and view. Warm even in sub-zero January thanks to floor heating. Specific rooms can't be requested.
Niwa-roji (庭路地の部屋) — garden-lane houses, including the dog rooms
The largest type (48–81㎡), in houses linked by garden lanes. The dog rooms are here, with tiled floors; a 2025 guest with their dog loved the stay but not the price, and a 2021 guest found the views limited but the resort the most dog-friendly of any Hoshino property.
Request To Avoid
Yama-roji (山路地の部屋) — the Mountain Alley rooms, especially with mobility issues
The entry category (44–67㎡). A March 2026 guest on the top floor wrote 'there's no lift, of course, and the stairs are steep — the complete opposite of barrier-free'; a 2023 reviewer said the upstairs rooms don't suit older guests or small children. Ground-floor rooms have little view, and the upper-floor view looks over the Mizunami rooms. Rooms have a wooden tub, but we found no confirmation that it's filled with onsen water.
Know which room you want?
Check live rates and availability for HOSHINOYA Karuizawa.
We may earn a commission if you book through these links, at no extra cost to you. Affiliate disclosure
Dining Deep Dive
Breakfast Consensus
4.2/5The 'mountain breakfast' at Kasuke (¥4,235) — a soy-milk tofu hotpot, fluffy rolled omelette — or a Japanese or Western breakfast in your room at the same price; one 2026 guest found it 'fairly orthodox'
Book dinner when you book the room — Kasuke and in-room dining fill up, and a 2021 guest got no reminder and ended up queueing in the Hoshino area. Bathe at Tombo-no-yu in the guests-only hour, 9:00–10:00, before day visitors arrive.
Dinner Insights
4.3/5Rooms are sold without meals by default. Kasuke serves a seasonal 'mountain kaiseki' or beef shabu-shabu from 17:30 (¥21,780 per adult including service; a vegetarian kaiseki with five days' notice). Bloggers describe first-of-season matsutake and chestnuts, carp sashimi from the resort's own tanks, venison fried in cherry leaves and rice with sakura shrimp. In-room dinners come in stacked boxes or as a hotpot and are generous. The cheaper Sonmin Shokudo (¥9,800) is outside in the public Hoshino area. Critics call the food ordinary for the price, and one 2021 reviewer wrote that the value was 'extremely poor'.
Onsen & Wellness Realities
Hoshino Onsen, a simple alkaline spring opened in 1915, described officially as free-flowing. (One booking site lists it as a heated bicarbonate spring.)
The Meditation Bath inside the resort is for guests only (15:00–10:00, entered by code): you walk through a dark water passage from a 'room of light' to a 'room of darkness', with a sauna of about 70°C, a cold plunge and a terrace. Most guests love it; one found it dark and scary. Tombo-no-yu, the public day spa in the Hoshino area (10:00–22:00, ¥1,350–1,550), has indoor and outdoor baths and a sauna; bloggers say Hoshinoya guests bathe free, and 9:00–10:00 is for them alone. It's crowded at night. Rooms have their own wooden tub.
Tombo-no-yu refuses tattoos unless covered with up to eight of its cover stickers (10×8cm, sold at reception). Hoshino Resorts' group policy, linked from the Meditation Bath, doesn't bar tattoos outright but lets staff refuse the large bath if other guests might feel afraid.
Local Warnings & Nuances
- 01
Getting there: Tokyo to Karuizawa is 80 minutes by Hokuriku Shinkansen. The official Japanese page lists a free, reservation-only shuttle from Naka-Karuizawa Station (south exit), five minutes on from Karuizawa by the Shinano Railway; earlier guests were picked up at Karuizawa Station, so check when booking. Taxi from Karuizawa Station about 15 minutes; summer traffic can make it much longer.
- 02
Check-in 15:00, check-out 12:00.
- 03
One-night stays can be booked only from 30 days ahead; before that, only stays of two nights or more.
- 04
Not barrier-free: many rooms have steep stairs and no lift. Tell the resort in advance if you have mobility needs.
- 05
Pets are welcome in the dog rooms. Popular activities (firefly and flying-squirrel tours) can be full on arrival — book ahead.
Before your stay
Souvenirs from Karuizawa and practical help for your trip.
Karuizawa souvenirs on Rakuten
Rakuten prices as of Oct 18, 2026 — check the shop for current price and stock. Supported by Rakuten Developers Rakuten links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Sources
The real blog posts and stay reports this article draws on
- 「星のや軽井沢」に泊まったら思ってたんと違った件【旅行記#2】 (note, 海原こうめ)
- 【2024 宿泊＆旅行記 vol.1】軽井沢① 星のや軽井沢編 (note, cherichan)
- #31_星野リゾートに、ともだちと泊まってみた。〜星のや軽井沢〜 (note, OLのミカ。)
- 星のや軽井沢 旅行費用 (共働き子育て30代夫婦の日常)
- 星のや軽井沢の水波の部屋｜2階のトリプルの客室に宿泊しました (KANAMARI)
- 星野リゾート"星のや軽井沢"滞在ブログ!! 『インルーム夕食』レポート (ぐるめぐり)
- 2026年3月 星のやに泊まる軽井沢 (4travel.jp)
- 星のや軽井沢 クチコミ (Yahoo!マップ)
- 星のや軽井沢 (公式サイト)
Featured in our guides
Side-by-side comparisons that include this ryokan.
Freezing at a mountain onsen ryokan in Japan? How to stay warm tonight
Cold room, icy corridor or a snowy walk to the outdoor bath? What to ask the front desk for, which inns in our directory run cold and which lend coats, boots or blankets, buying kairo heat packs and warm innerwear at a konbini today, avoiding low-temperature burns, the official advice on bathing in cold weather, ordering warm gear to your ryokan, and winter tyres, chains and shuttles.
Read the guide
Ryokan easy from Tokyo: the best onsen inns within two to three hours
Fourteen real ryokan you can reach from Tokyo for one or two nights, with how to get there by Romancecar, Odoriko, Shinkansen or direct bus, which inn suits a tight budget, a private bath, history or food, and the catches Japanese guests report.
Read the guideTattoo-friendly ryokan — and how to soak in Japan when the shared bath says no
Three ryokan that openly accept tattoos, four that allow small covered ones, and eleven that ban tattoos in the shared baths but let you soak in your own room or a private bath — each inn's policy exactly as it states it, and the right room to book.
Read the guidePhoto credits
- Notoya Ryokan, Ginzan Onsen (Obanazawa, Yamagata) · さかおり / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Gora Kadan — the former Kan'in-no-miya imperial villa, Hakone · 663highland / CC BY 2.5
More Consensus Reports
Area photoJozankei OnsenClassic
Jozankei Onsen, Minami-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido — in the middle of the hot-spring town, joined to its sister inn Shikanoyu, a minute's walk from the Yunomachi bus stop, about 50 minutes by car from central Sapporo or an hour on the inn's free shuttle from JR Sapporo Station
9 sources
Jozankei Hana Momiji
定山渓 花もみじ
Shikanoyu's 77-room annex: a free bar and snack spread in the lobby that every reviewer mentions, three kaiseki grades, a 50-dish breakfast buffet and four big baths to roam — but only the top-floor rooms have their own onsen, the shared baths are recirculated, and it's a big house of lifts and long corridors
Read the Consensus
Jozankei OnsenClassic
Jozankei Onsen, Sapporo, Hokkaido — on a slope above the Toyohira river, about 26km and an hour from central Sapporo by the inn's free shuttle
9 sources
Jozankei Daiichi Hotel Suizantei
定山渓第一寶亭留 翠山亭
Every room has a bath of 100% spring water, the lounge pours free beer, sake and cheesecake from afternoon to midnight, and a free shuttle runs from central Sapporo — Hokkaido's easiest onsen escape, if you don't mind stairs and busy dinners
- Private Onsen Rooms
Area photoJozankei OnsenClassic
Jozankei Onsen, Minami-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido — beside the Toyohira river, about 45 minutes by car from central Sapporo or an hour on the inn's free shuttle from Sapporo Station
10 sources
Jozankei Yuraku Soan
定山渓 ゆらく草庵
A new 102-room inn built like a tea-ceremony hut, tatami from the entrance to the lifts, a hiba onsen tub in every room and four free private baths — but it's big, busy with tour groups, and 2026 reviews complain about slow dinners and thin staffing
- Private Onsen Rooms
- Design-Led
Area photoBeppuClassic
Kitahama, Beppu, Oita — on the Beppu Bay seafront in the city centre, about 10 minutes on foot from JR Beppu Station or 10 minutes by car from the Beppu IC
10 sources
KAI Beppu
界 別府
Kengo Kuma's bayfront 'onsen town under one roof': sea views from all 68 rooms and a festival in the lobby every night — but a small shared bath, shower-only standard rooms and uneven 2026 dinners
- Design-Led
Area photoLake HamanaClassic
Kanzanji Onsen, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka — on the shore of Lake Hamana, a minute's walk from the Hamanako Bay Street bus stop, about 45 minutes by bus or 40 minutes by car from Hamamatsu Station
11 sources
KAI Enshu
界 遠州
Hoshino Resorts' tea-themed inn on Lake Hamana: every room looks over the water, there are a dozen-plus teas to brew for free and an eel-and-fugu dinner — but the salty spring is recirculated in two small baths, and most rooms have only a shower
- Design-Led
Area photoHakonePremium
Yumoto-chaya, Hakone-Yumoto Onsen, Hakone — on the old Tōkaidō road above the Sukumo river, about 7 minutes by car or a short local bus ride from Hakone-Yumoto Station
10 sources
KAI Hakone
界 箱根
Hoshino Resorts' Hakone-Yumoto inn, reopened in August 2025 full of yosegi marquetry: every room faces the river, there's a free teahouse and a fun craft class — but the shared bath is a single heated, chlorinated semi-open-air tub, and most rooms have only a shower
- Design-Led
- Easy From Tokyo
Photo credits: Jozankei Onsen in winter, Sapporo · MIKI Yoshihito / CC BY 2.0 / Jozankei Dai-ichi Hotel Suizantei, Jozankei Onsen · 禁樹なずな / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Beppu city and its hot-spring steam, Oita · Japanexperterna / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Lake Hamana from the Kanzanji Ropeway, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka · Motokoka / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Gōra Park, Hakone · Daderot / CC0
HOSHINOYA Karuizawa
Compare rates across trusted booking partners · Affiliate disclosure