Book Higashi Naruse hotels

We were the only foreigners here, which was fun. The staff were incredibly kind and patient with us, even after we missed our dinner reservation. The dinner and breakfast we did have here was AMAZING. For dinner our kids’ meals were already on the table when we were seated and it comprised of maybe ten or more different things, including soup, sushi, fried chicken, hamburger meat, ketchup spaghetti, and crab mac and cheese. Our meal had two soups cooked right at the table with fresh seafood and lentils with clams. We had a hot stone to cook our own meats (including a beef similar to wagyu), plus assorted sashimi, beef curry with rice, pickles and more. Dessert was a flan (custard with brown sugar sauce) and mochi. The breakfast buffet was seriously fantastic, including both traditional foods (smoked fish, sashimi, pickles, seaweed salads, soft-boiled eggs, rice, etc) and western foods (scrambled eggs, bacon, cereal, toast, croissants, coffee, yogurt, fruit, etc). This hotel, like any hotel with baths, gives you an outfit to wear and slippers and discourages you from wearing your outside shoes in the building. This place had lovely kimonos. Wear a red belt if you are a woman and a blue if you are a man. People wear these to dinner and the hot spring. You enter the public baths and hot spring on the second floor. Men and women are separate, but young children can accompany either parent regardless of gender. The indoor baths have a door to the gendered hot springs outside.

The hotel exceeded our expectations and was very cozy

highly recommend

Really nice and clean

Location - there is a pick up service from jr nakuro onsen station. You need to notify the hotel in advance for the pick up service. Staff- they are very nice. I got off at the wrong jr station. The next train will be an hour later but the hotel staff was already at the station waiting for me. I was very lucky to get some assistance from a local gentleman. He called the hotel and the hotel staff drive to my station and picked me up. I also asked the reception about the transport to naruko valley. The staff helped me check the transport arrangements. I was very lucky to ask the staff coz the google map info was wrong. Room - very spacious. You have all the amenities. The onsen is great. Fining - dinner and breakfast were just great. I was offered a lot of delicious local ingredients. It is a very good valued for money onsen hotel. I will def come back if I go to nakuro onsen again.

I really didn’t see much of Kitakami, I used it as a home base for sightseeing elsewhere.