Honjin Hiranoya Kachoan
飛騨高山 本陣平野屋 花兆庵
Area photo — not the ryokan itself · Sanmachi Suji old town, Takayama, Gifu · Ankur P from Pune, India / CC BY 2.0
Takayama's most central ryokan: 24 rooms and about 70 staff a minute from the Jinya, with a drum to welcome you, celebrations remembered and some of the region's top scores — but no room bath is onsen, and the better shared baths are across the street
Honjin Hiranoya Kachoan sits in the very centre of Takayama, by the Miyagawa river, a minute's walk from Takayama Jinya, the morning market and the red Nakabashi bridge, and three minutes from the old merchant streets. It's a 24-room inn run by about 70 staff, and its pitch is service: a car to meet you at the station, a taiko drum on arrival, your car parked and kept as long as you like, and, if you mention an occasion, a handwritten card from the okami and a framed photo at dinner. The Michelin Guide's 2019 Aichi–Gifu–Mie edition listed it as a 'particularly comfortable' ryokan. Scores are among the region's highest: 5.0 across 809 reviews on Jalan, 4.89 across 801 on Rakuten (breakfast and service 4.92) and 4.66 across 83 on Ikyu. Personal blogs since 2022 are scarce, so most recent evidence comes from booking-site reviews; one blogger who stayed in September 2024 was won over by the drum, the hinoki room bath and Hida beef that 'melts in your mouth'. Know before you book: Jalan's listing states that no room bath is onsen, and the shared bath in the main building is small. The rooftop baths and the women-only Kura bath are in other buildings across a busy street, and women get no open-air bath. Complaints from 2025–2026 include rough towels, a stained carpet, heavy doors, a cold room, a noisy dining floor, foam on the main bath and, in January 2026, a staff member walking into the women-only Kura while a guest was washing. A new sister inn is going up across the road. For a December 2026 weekday, two people pay from about ¥92,000 with two meals in a standard room, and about ¥100,000–180,000 in a Japanese-Western suite.
Room Selection Guide
What the guests who stayed here actually recommendRecommended
The six suites renewed in December 2023 — Izumaru (坐), Enishi (縁), Satoru (覚), Itsukushimi (慈), Hibiki (響) and Yui (惟)
60㎡ each: an 8-mat tatami room, a living room with Hida-made furniture, a twin bedroom and a hinoki bath you can use 24 hours a day, all on step-free floors. A September 2025 couple in Hibiki praised the roomy hinoki bath, and an August 2025 family loved Izumaru's bright mix of Japanese and Western style. They aren't flawless: a December 2025 reviewer in Izumaru found the room cold and the air-conditioning remote unresponsive, and a June 2026 guest in Enishi looked out on a new building and a crane. The top-floor Nagame (眺) is a similar 60㎡ suite with a hinoki bath.
Kaze (風) and Midori (翠) — 12-mat rooms with a semi-open-air bath and a stone garden, or the top-floor Hanayagi (華やぎ) suite
Renewed in August 2021, Kaze and Midori have a semi-open-air bath facing a small stone garden (Kaze's is octagonal), usable around the clock; you're given one or the other. A September 2026 repeat guest booked one for the private bath and liked the new wooden windows, though an August 2026 reviewer found the towels rough and the corridor carpet stained. For a splurge, Hanayagi (90㎡) is the one room the inn says looks down on Takayama Jinya, with a living room, a twin bedroom and a family-size hinoki bath filled with heated tap water. Families can also take Nagomi (和み), two tatami rooms of 12.5 and 6 mats on the top floor.
Request To Avoid
Standard 12-mat Japanese rooms and the jacuzzi suites — and anyone expecting onsen in the room
The standard rooms are plain 12-mat tatami rooms for two to five people; you'll use the shared baths for onsen, two of which are across the street. The 2018 suites Asanoha (麻葉), Kagayaki (輝), Shizuka (静), Hikari (光) and Sora (宇宙) have a jacuzzi; a January 2026 guest in Kagayaki said it took an hour to fill and the bathroom TV was not digital. Aoi (碧) has an ordinary bathroom. Reviewers also mention heavy room doors (May 2026), few power sockets in Nagomi (February 2025) and a splinter from a wooden frame by the window (May 2025). Ask whether your room faces the new building site across the road.
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Dining Deep Dive
Breakfast Consensus
4.7/5Japanese or Western, served in a private room: the Japanese set has dashimaki omelette rolled once you sit down, the inn's own hōba miso, overnight-dried iwana and 'kakasa' simmered ginger; the Western set has local apple juice or house tomato juice, a warm marinade of Hida pork sausage and vegetables, and miso bread. Widely praised — a 2025 reviewer recommends the Japanese set, while a September 2026 repeat guest loved the Western one; a June 2025 guest on a breakfast-only plan, though, found the food 'ordinary'
Call ahead for the free pickup from JR Takayama Station or the Nohi Bus Centre. Luggage and cars are held before check-in and after check-out, so you can arrive in the morning and explore. Hang the 'oyasumi' tag on your door to keep your futon down after breakfast. Women can rent a coloured yukata at the Kura (¥1,100). In February and March the inn fills with hina dolls, and an August 2026 guest joined a free guided night walk through the town.
Dinner Insights
4.6/5A monthly kaiseki served in a private dining room (or your room, the inn says), built on Hida beef, local vegetables and fish brought in from Toyama Bay; upgrades include the small-portions Bimi Kyūshin kaiseki and an all-Hida-beef menu. Reviewers single out the tableware, simmered nodoguro (December 2025) and Hida-beef fillet, and the 2024 blogger called the meal unforgettable. Criticisms: a September 2026 repeat guest found the ayu under-salted and the pork belly slightly gamey, and a June 2026 guest found the dining floor noisy. Dislikes are handled: in December 2025 two guests who don't eat meat had the menu changed. Sushi-chō on the ground floor serves Hida-beef nigiri to guests and non-guests.
Onsen & Wellness Realities
Takayama Onsen, a simple spring (weakly alkaline, low-temperature) according to the inn. Jalan lists it as having water added and heated; neither source says whether it is recirculated. No room bath is onsen — Jalan's listing states it and 2025 reviewers confirm it — and the Hanayagi suite's hinoki bath uses heated tap water, per the inn.
Three free bath areas, each stocked with towels. Shakkyō-no-yu (石橋の湯), the indoor bath on the main building's ground floor with big windows, has men's and women's sides (6:00–10:00 and 15:00–24:00). On the top floor of sister inn Kofukan across the road are Tsukiakari-no-yu (men) and Kirara-no-yu (women), with views towards the Hida mountains, plus a men-only open-air bath, Relax Manten, with a sauna until 21:00 (5:00–9:00 and 15:00–24:00). Relax Kura, a Meiji-era storehouse bath with a riverside lounge, is for women only and doesn't admit children of primary-school age or younger (6:00–10:00 and 15:00–23:00). No private (kashikiri) baths and no open-air bath for women. Reviewers love the Kura but call the baths small; one found the water too hot for a child (July 2025), another saw foam on the main-building bath (September 2026), and in January 2026 a reviewer's partner was washing in the Kura when a staff member came in, apparently to check the temperature.
No policy found on the official site or Japanese booking sites — contact the inn. Many room types have a private hinoki, jacuzzi or semi-open-air bath (not onsen).
Local Warnings & Nuances
- 01
Check-in 15:00, check-out 11:00. Cancellation: 30% from 2–7 days before, 80% the day before, 100% on the day; bookings of three or more rooms or 10 or more people need a deposit.
- 02
Only the small Shakkyō bath is in the main building. The rooftop baths and the Kura are across a busy street, so you walk outside in yukata — in snow, one guest wished for an umbrella — and women have no open-air bath.
- 03
The group is building a new inn across the road, due to open around the end of 2026, reviewers say; a June 2026 guest was told about the crane outside the window only after arriving. Don't confuse Kachoan with its sister inn Kofukan (formerly Honjin Hiranoya Bekkan) or with that new inn.
- 04
There's a lift, a ramp at the entrance and wheelchairs to borrow, and the suites have step-free floors, but there are no barrier-free rooms. Step-free table seating at breakfast is available on request.
- 05
Children and babies are welcome, with cots, bouncers, high chairs and potty seats lent free (bring your own baby food and nappies); children without meals or bedding pay a ¥2,200 facility fee. The Kura bath doesn't admit children of primary-school age or younger.
Before your stay
Souvenirs from Takayama and practical help for your trip.
Takayama 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.
Things to do nearby
Takayama: sights, experiences and seasonal events from Trip Gacha, our sister site.
Sources
The real blog posts and stay reports this article draws on
- 【旅館レポ】岐阜県の飛騨高山「本陣平野屋 花兆庵」 (note / Masumi)
- 本陣平野屋 花兆庵 - クチコミ・評判 (一休.com)
- 飛騨高山 本陣平野屋 花兆庵 に実際に泊まった方のクチコミ・レビュー (楽天トラベル)
- 本陣平野屋花兆庵 クチコミ・評判 (じゃらんnet)
- 本陣平野屋花兆庵 〜古い町並に佇む、心酔の味覚を楽しむ宿〜 施設情報 (じゃらんnet)
- 花兆庵のおもてなし | 【公式】本陣平野屋 花兆庵
- お部屋 | 【公式】本陣平野屋 花兆庵
- 温泉 | 【公式】本陣平野屋 花兆庵
- お料理 | 【公式】本陣平野屋 花兆庵
- 宿泊約款 | 【公式】本陣平野屋 花兆庵
- 女性専用施設-りらっくす蔵- | 【公式】本陣平野屋 花兆庵
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Read the guidePhoto credits
- Sanmachi Suji old town, Takayama, Gifu · Ankur P from Pune, India / CC BY 2.0
- Shibu Onsen, Yamanouchi, Nagano · David McKelvey / CC BY 2.0
- Notoya Ryokan, Ginzan Onsen (Obanazawa, Yamagata) · さかおり / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Ryokan entrance, Minamisoma, Fukushima · Hajime NAKANO / CC BY 2.0
More Consensus Reports
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Honbo-machi, Takayama, Gifu — a quiet residential area about 2.3km west of JR Takayama Station (around 8 minutes by the inn's free shuttle) and 10 minutes' drive from the old town
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Hidatei Hanaougi
飛騨亭 花扇
Takayama's crowd-pleaser: a wood-built, tatami-floored inn with its own silky spring piped into most rooms' open-air baths, one attendant from arrival to farewell and Hida-beef kaiseki in private dining rooms — though the water is recirculated and heated, and the cheapest rooms have no onsen at all
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Hon-machi, Takayama, Gifu — at the foot of the red Nakabashi bridge on the Miyagawa river, across the road from its sister inn Kachoan; a minute's walk from Takayama Jinya and the Jinya morning market, three minutes from the old merchant streets and about 10 minutes' walk (or a free three-minute pickup) from JR Takayama Station
10 sources
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Kachoan's larger, cheaper sister by the red Nakabashi bridge: a taiko drum to greet you, names remembered and Hida-beef kaiseki in private dining rooms — but the rooms are plain, none of the in-room baths is described as onsen, and women get no open-air bath
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飛騨高山温泉 宝生閣
A five-storey hilltop inn above Takayama's old town, loved for warm, old-school service and huge Hida-beef dinners — but only the shared outdoor rock baths use (heated, recirculated) hot-spring water, and the in-room open-air baths are not onsen
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Area photoKusatsu OnsenClassic
Kusatsu Onsen, Gunma — at the southern entrance to the town, about a 10-minute walk from the Yubatake hot-water field, with a free shuttle from the Kusatsu Onsen bus terminal
10 sources
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草津温泉 ホテル櫻井
Kusatsu's biggest onsen 'hotel' is really a 179-room ryokan: mostly tatami rooms, a 30-metre bath fed by three free-flowing springs, a live-cooking buffet and a nightly yumomi show — but it's big and busy, and the in-room open-air baths aren't onsen
Read the ConsensusArea photoKusatsu OnsenClassic
Kusatsu Onsen, Gunma — in a quiet villa district on the hill above town, a 15–20-minute walk from the Yubatake (uphill on the way back), with free shuttles to the Kusatsu Onsen bus terminal
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Yuyado Toki no Niwa
湯宿 季の庭
A tatami-floored Kusatsu inn where all 64 rooms have an open-air onsen bath, plus 23 tubs shared with a sister inn — but the room baths are filled on demand rather than free-flowing, it's a 15–20-minute walk from the Yubatake, and 2025–2026 guests report an ageing building
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Area photoKyotoLuxury
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Kanamean Nishitomiya
要庵西富家
An eight-room sukiya inn in the heart of Kyoto where dinner is the point — a Michelin-starred kaiseki kitchen you tour before eating, hinoki baths in every room, and two MICHELIN Keys since 2026 — but it isn't an onsen, the water runs very hot, and old floors carry sound
- Destination Dining
- Historic Ryokan
Photo credits: Sanmachi Suji old town, Takayama, Gifu · Ankur P from Pune, India / CC BY 2.0 / Yubatake at night, Kusatsu Onsen, Gunma · Σ64 / CC BY 4.0 / Arashiyama and the Hozu River, Kyoto · KimonBerlin / CC BY-SA 2.0
Honjin Hiranoya Kachoan
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