Guest House Kura

I really loved my stay at Guest House Kura. Firstly the beds were really comfortable. It was lovely to have a heated blanket on my bed. The duvet was really comfortable and the room felt very cosy. Although there is only one bathroom and toilet, I never had to wait to use any of the facilities and they were always clean. You can purchase food and drinks at Guest House Kura and they have lots of recommendations of where to eat and drink locally. Tassei even organised for vegan bento boxes to be delivered to Guest House for us after our long day visiting the snow monkeys. This was such a kind gesture and he was always very acommodating of all of our needs. He even drove me to a local onsen and picked me back up afterwards. There is a Lawson’s a few minutes walk away and Suzaka station is just over a 15 minute walk. It was a great location to visit the snow monkeys from and the staff will give you all the relevant directions you need. It was a sociable hostel and I was able to meet people easily. Although it’s sociable hostel, you can also get a very nice sleep and there is a very mixed demographic staying at the hostel as I also saw families with younger children. It’s a very small quiet town which felt like a lovely escape away from the larger Japanese cities. It’s very reasonably priced to wash and dry your clothes (400 yen for a wash and dry). There is also a kitchen space available for you to cook should you wish to. Overall I would really recommend anyone to stay at Guest House.

This place is very authentic, has a lot of history and you feel like you are travelling back in time! Staff were very helpful and kind, including Marina, the host, who welcomed us and showed us around. We loved that we could use the shared facilities, the kitchen was well equipped and very cosy. The atmosphere was great, with lots of travellers keen to have a chat :)

We've never experienced such friendliness and care before. The staff did above and beyond by anticipating all our needs and helping us visit many local attracttions. Kura Guesthouse is unique in how it connects the travellers to the local community, so almost every night we got a chance to meet young local people who come to the guesthouse just to hang out and practice English. Marina-san and her staff are the most amazing hosts we ever had. Every night we talked for hours with them and with other guests. The guesthouse is very accessible, only 40 minutes from Nagano by convenient public transport, and the local towns Suzaka, Obuse and Yudanaka have so much to offer that we felt like we just want to explore more and more. We stayed at Kura for 6 days, did nature hikes, saw beautiful temples and waterfalls, visited art museums and nice cafes, and there's still so much more to see that we couldn't fit in 6 days!

Yuki is so kind and hospitable. She has so much knowledge of where to go and how to get there. I enjoyed meeting other solo travelers in a cozy environment with complimentary tea.

I stayed four nights at Kura and it was perfect. Staff were super nice and helpful! They gave me restaurants recommendations and activities to do near Nagano and Suzaka. The house is beautiful. It’s an old traditional Japanese house where you sleep on futon. They have all the equipment you need. The house is next to a combini, it’s super convenient. It was a great experience. Thank you to the Kura Team!