4-Star Hotels in Nara City

We stayed at Mikasa Ryokan (万葉若草の宿 三笠旅館) in Nara, and overall it was a great experience — but there are definitely some things you should know and plan for in advance. 🏞 1. Location & Transportation The ryokan is located halfway up Mount Wakakusa, with beautiful views over Nara city — the scenery is stunning, especially at night. But getting up and down the mountain isn’t very convenient. At first, I thought the location was right near Todai-ji Temple and would be easy to access. Turns out: The mountain road is very narrow and winding, and it actually takes longer than expected. According to the staff, walking up the mountain is not allowed. There's a gate, and the staff inside don’t permit people to walk up. Luckily, the hotel offers a shuttle bus up the mountain, but you should arrange it with the hotel in advance. Once you’re at the ryokan, getting out isn’t very easy either. Even if you want to take a taxi, you need to book it in advance — it’s not like calling a cab from the street. So I’d recommend planning your itinerary carefully before you arrive. While Todai-ji Temple, Nara Park, and Kasuga Taisha are technically just at the bottom of the mountain, they’re not within walking distance from the hotel, so you’ll still need transport. 🛌 2. Room Experience We booked the Japanese-style room with a private open-air bath. I did quite a bit of research before booking: Sites like *********** say the room is about 28 sqm (307 sq ft) But Ctrip listed it as 56 sqm, which was confusing After checking in, I think 28 sqm is probably just the indoor area, and 56 sqm includes the balcony, private onsen, and garden area. The room is traditional Japanese-style with tatami floors and a low table in the center. In the evening, while we were out having dinner, staff came in and set up our futon beds for the night — a really nice touch. This was our first time sleeping on Japanese futons. It was surprisingly comfortable, and the room temperature was perfect. If you're traveling with kids, this type of setup could be extra fun. 3. Onsen Experience We tried both the public onsen and the private one in our room: The public bath areas are located on the first and second floors, with men’s and women’s baths alternating daily. They include both indoor and outdoor hot spring pools. The water is hot — after about 10 minutes, we felt totally warm and relaxed. The private bath in the room was also very enjoyable. The garden had high fences and trees for privacy, and the tub was perfectly sized for two people. 🍱 4. Meals We booked a plan that included both dinner and breakfast. One important thing to note — you need to confirm your dinner time with the hotel before arrival, because if you arrive after 7 PM, you might miss dinner. Dinner is served in private dining rooms, which gave us a cozy and quiet atmosphere. The food was beautifully presented and very Japanese — including Wagyu beef and sukiyaki. Breakfast was also very traditional — grilled fish, rice, and various small dishes. Personally, I prefer something lighter for breakfast, and there was no coffee, bread, or buns included. If you want coffee, you can get it later in the lounge near the lobby.

This was my second time visiting Nara, and this time I traveled completely independently. The hotel's location is incredibly convenient. Coming from Kyoto on the Kintetsu Nara Line, you just walk straight down a bustling shopping and food street from the subway station, and the hotel is right at the end. It has a resort-style feel. There's no hot water dispenser in the room, so if you want hot water, you have to go downstairs, which is a bit inconvenient. I ended up bringing my own water every day. Bus route number 2 stops right outside and is a loop line, making it easy to get to all the attractions whenever you want.

Hygiene: Yellow stains that had not been cleaned were found on the toilet Environment: Halfway up Mount Wakakusa, isolated from the outside noise. The overall design style is modern Japanese. If you want to experience pure Japanese living, you should pay attention to the difference Service: The service is still worthy of praise. The driver and front desk staff are very enthusiastic. They helped arrange the car to go up the mountain in the morning. It was very lucky to see 👀 deer🦌 on a rainy day Food: Most of the food arranged is made from local ingredients in Nara. The ingredients are not gorgeous, the taste is OK, and it is more down-to-earth

The hotel is in the forest, and you can walk along the mountain road to the hotel (it would be inconvenient to walk in to get your luggage, you can take a taxi to the door of the hotel). The scenery is so beautiful, leaving the noisy tourist area and getting close to nature. Dinner is kaiseki, in a private restaurant room, a great experience! When checking in, the time for dinner and breakfast will be arranged, and the time of the private bath room will be confirmed, and the service staff will come to the room to call. The breakfast has traditional tea and rice, delicious 😋The room is traditional Japanese style, not low-key luxury design. The environment is awesome!

The hotel is very enjoyable, located in the historic center and right at the entrance to Nara Park with deer. In the meantime, deer themselves are also walking near the hotel area. The service in the hotel has not been disappointed, the staff are very welcome. Breakfasts were very surprised (for each guest their kitchen). I am sure we will come back again

A fantastic designer hotel. The one-night stay with two meals is perfect for a relaxing vacation. All meals are in private rooms with a wonderful ambiance. The kaiseki dinner was excellent; I highly recommend trying it if you're staying at the hotel. The service was meticulous, and there was Chinese-speaking staff, so communication was no problem at all. Feeding the deer during the day and soaking in the private onsen in the afternoon was so relaxing and enjoyable. I slept very well and felt completely at ease. I would definitely stay here again next time I'm in Nara!

The hotel is located on the hillside next to the main hall of Kasuga Shrine. The entrance is Mount Rukusa. When you enter the tatami-style room, you will see green trees outside the window. The overall location is very good! The public hot spring and the indoor bath are not very big, but probably because there are not many guests, I was the only one using it, so it feels good. The overall service is also of a certain standard, but at this price, there is still room for improvement in terms of hardware and software, especially room facilities and supplies. In addition, the included meals are only mediocre in taste, and are generally suitable for tourists who want to experience Japanese inn accommodation in scenic spots.

The hotel is in a great location. The room is very nice, but with two main weaknesses: no hooks for towels, and no curtains so the sunlight will wake you up. The staff was very helpful in booking a restaurant for us, but very annoying at the end of our stay as they charged us 2000 yen when one of our bedroom cards fell in the bedroom into the space between the wooden floor and the wall! 😤😑

We love the special Japanese style rooms. The garden is big. But this property is a bit too cold in winter time. Owner locked one aircon in the room. Only left one aircon on, which is not enough during night time. We were suffering all the nights and early morning. I suggest owner to provide at least one mirror at the property, we couldn’t find any mirror for make-up.

The hotel is within walking distance of Kintetsu Yamato-Saidaiji Station and is also in a great location, just 3-4 minutes from Heijo Ruins Park. It's also perfectly located for soaking in hot springs, which are extremely rare in Nara City. The downside is that the facilities are old, and there are issues with facility management and maintenance, such as room and bathroom locks not locking in some places. Also, the hand washing areas in the rooms are not flush with the rooms, making them difficult to use. We strongly urge the hotel management to ensure that the age of the facilities does not become apparent.