Nipponia Sasayama Castle Town Hotel

“Special weekend memories in Sasayama!”

We found this hotel by chance on website in March, and very interested in the story of NIPPONIA group. They made old town Sasayama into a modern hotel complexes and restaurant. Our June last weekend plan included our favorite violinist concert in the new town concert hall, and having French dinner … Mais

We found this hotel by chance on website in March, and very interested in the story of NIPPONIA group. They made old town Sasayama into a modern hotel complexes and restaurant. Our June last weekend plan included our favorite violinist concert in the new town concert hall, and having French dinner back in a hotel.An accommodation they provided us is using old town houses renovated to nice cosy rooms(actually all rooms are), but still keep original old Japanese style with modern toilet and bathroom. So we decided to rehearse our trip there to know. It was only little over one hour drive to get there by car from Osaka. We arrived there around 2 pm , we thought we were little late for lunch time.but they welcomed us without reservation. It was quite a nice foods, they use materials from the area. Taste was beyond our expectations, French cuisine in the old house with the view of nice Japanese garden. Quite a experience. After the lunch we could visit Sasayama castle before we go home. @ June 29th we arrived around two hours prior to the concert, and spend some time in the section of old “samurai houses” Despite the weather (it was just rainy day), we could enjoy sitting and watching the garden in the historical house., listening the sound of rain in quiet surroundings. Besides nice concert, we went back to the main office where they have dining place. Again we enjoyed the dinner as well, eat at the same table we had a lunch and at end, on the dessert dish it was written with chocolate “ welcome back in Japanese. with the draw of the violin “ they remembered us. After the dinner they took us back to our place to stay, it was second floor in front of old court house ( now it’s became historical museum.) . On the way up to our room, we just met the musicians we’ve enjoyed, they were happy to talk with us. Made our day!!! Next morning hotel people came to pick us up for the breakfast, and after that they gave us many tips for touring the town. For example any city parking place you can park one hour free, and you can buy ticket good for four historical place etc( quite a reasonable) they keep our luggage and let us use their parking place until we leave. The service of people concierge reminded me of old Ritz Carlton services. They have many separated facilities where you can stay with your dogs as well. Good memories in Sasayama!

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“Beautifully restored houses, warm service and great food!”

Nipponia (Sasayama Castle Town Hotel) has five properties spread around Sasayama. The hotel restores old houses in this town and repurpose it for guest accommodation. Check-in was in the main building which had some rooms on the property. The on-site restaurant is guided by a Top Zagat chef. Room… Mais

Nipponia (Sasayama Castle Town Hotel) has five properties spread around Sasayama. The hotel restores old houses in this town and repurpose it for guest accommodation. Check-in was in the main building which had some rooms on the property. The on-site restaurant is guided by a Top Zagat chef. Room We stayed at Yomena in the old quarter of Sasayama. It’s a Large house capable of fitting 4 pax on beds on upper floor and maybe another 4 on tatami beds on the ground floor. Walking into the house through a typical holding area, you are greeted by a Large country-style dining table and chairs, next to a small kitchen. Three bottles of water was placed in the fridge for our consumption. Walking further in is a tatami living room with modern low table and lights. These overlook a nice garden. Next to the living room is a small glassed in patio with easy chairs overlooking the same garden. Out a small door is a smoker’s corner with chairs. Walk even further in, you’ll find the bathroom. Back around the kitchen/dining area, and on the right (as you enter the house) is the toilet and the second, older style bathroom. Up a steep staircase are two attic rooms. One master bedroom at the back of the house and another bedroom at the front. Both bedrooms have with two single beds each, with big fluffy quilts. Side lamps on tables complete the room. There’s a panic button left on side table and the main panic button is downstairs on the wall. Our master bed room was bathed in green light as the “exit” sign from the staircase shone into the room, plus a small window let in light from the park. Sleep was a little interrupted. The toilet downstairs also meant a trek down the stairs to get some relief. WiFi is via “Handy phone”, of which 3 were provided. There is no TV in the house. We left the heater on downstairs and in the toilet to combat the cold. We turned off the air con in our bedrooms or else it would be too hot. Toilet As mentioned, there is only one toilet, which is downstairs and two bathrooms. A Modern bathroom round the back of the house and an old style bathroom with a round bath tub near the front. The Modern bathroom is in a connecting bathhouse. It has a Modern metal sink and large surface area for personal toiletries. The Hotel provides amenities in a personalized pack for each guest. There’s an air heater around the sink area, but the granite floor was very cold in the morning. Bathroom was equally large, with a large wooden cedar bath tub and a wide area for bathing. The bathroom looks out to a private garden which is fenced in for privacy. Shower Gel, shampoo and conditioner is provided in large bottles by the shower. Bathroom and sink water temperature is controlled via wall mounted electronic pads. Bath, hand and face towels are provided on towel drying racks. Dinner was in the restaurant in the main building. We were ferried to there via the hotel’s car. Our lodgings were about 5min away. Dinner was delicious, great service and warm hospitality. We “upsized” our dinner menu to include Tajima beef and it was worth it! Sasayama is a quiet town, much like old Kyoto. There are castle ruins and temples to visit as well. This town has active programs to encourage the reclaiming of old buildings and make them relevant again; a great initiative for those who enjoy old towns. We enjoyed our stay in this beautifully restored house. It is quite large and fit us very comfortably. We would have liked to have stayed for more one night, but alas, it was time to move on.

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“Great stay”

The reconstruction of old buildings to become beautiful hotels attracted us to Nipponia. The huge timber that were easily spotted in the building was a glimpse of history that no other hotels could offer. The reception was lovely. A room that’s nicely heated is where we could check-in. I found out … Mais

The reconstruction of old buildings to become beautiful hotels attracted us to Nipponia. The huge timber that were easily spotted in the building was a glimpse of history that no other hotels could offer. The reception was lovely. A room that’s nicely heated is where we could check-in. I found out that I left important pouch in the bus and the staff quickly made calls to find out where my pouch was. Very grateful for the lovely assistance. Although there are natural gaps between timber and wall, we’re surprised by how soundproof the building was: we couldn’t hear the sounds of the first floor when we’re in our rooms on the second floor. We had dinner here too. Added 2,200 yen to have a little more of the beef. The only thing on our wish list is to have transportation provided to and fro the train station with our luggage at a more convenient time. There’s such service at the station to the hotel only at stipulated times (3 times in the afternoon) eg. 2.30pm,4.30 and 6.30. There was no transportation to the train station when we wanted to leave at 4.15pm though. We relied on the town orange bus to reach the hotel. Quite easy access. it’s a short ride of 290 yen by bus to the hotel.

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“Wonderful and exciting concept; execution could use some fine tuning”

We love the Nipponia's mission. Take old homes in historic/traditional neighborhoods, renovate them with modern conveniences while maintaining the authenticity and vibe of the house, and top it off with great food at their main restaurant. Nipponia is replicating this formula in quite a few locatio… Mais

We love the Nipponia's mission. Take old homes in historic/traditional neighborhoods, renovate them with modern conveniences while maintaining the authenticity and vibe of the house, and top it off with great food at their main restaurant. Nipponia is replicating this formula in quite a few locations throughout Japan; Sasayama Castle Town is the first of what we anticipate will be quite a few visits to the properties in their fledgling porfolio. At least right now, Nipponia is also a very good value given what it has to offer. Sasayama Castle Town hotel is located in the Tamba Sasayama region, which is renowned for its fruits and vegetables as well as Tajima beef. Sasayama itself is a former castle town, and much of it is still well preserved from ancient times. The main building serves as reception, dining area as well as a handful of rooms that are located on the 2nd floor. Its Edo-era appearance, both inside and out, really makes one feel like they're entering into a time machine. It's definitely a spine-tingling moment when checking into the hotel. The rest of the rooms are in houses that are scattered throughout Sasayama; some of the houses contain several rooms (for multiple groups of guests), while others are stand-alone units for one group. The website is a bit confusing; Nipponia does not do the best job in describing each accommodation, nor is there info on things like room size, resulting in a crapshoot in terms of knowing what to expect. We stayed at a house called "Noji," (aka "Nozi;" they randomly use both spellings for this particular house) which consisted of two separate units that were connected under one roof. While it's sufficiently segregated and have separate outdoor entrances, they both share the same small garden out back. Fortunately, it was the three of us staying at Noji, so we took both rooms, allowing us to have the place all to ourselves. It was good that we did. While the building and interior were charming in a historic way, they were laid out in a way where more than 2 people would not have had a comfortable stay. Each room in Noji had a bedroom (with two Twin Western-style beds) and a sitting area. The sitting area in Room #302 of Noji was a proper tatami room with a coffee table, whereas the one in #301 was substandard in comparison - it was more like a wide hallway where there was a bench seat and a table. It was smaller and colder than the one in #302 (I'll get to the coldness in a minute.) Both rooms are definitely charming, and makes you feel like you're living in an Edo-era house. Each room has a long hallway that features an old cooking stove area and an old-style wooden tub - both of which are there for decorative purposes only and not usable. The bedroom itself is surrounded by sliding shoji doors; outside of the room and it's COLD, at least in December when we were there. There is no central heating, and no portable heating units in the hallway, bathroom or (in the case of room #301) the sitting "room." Not to mention, you really have to blast the overheat heating unit in the bedroom to stay warm. Problem is, in room #301 it's located and positioned in a way where the heat blasts directly into the face of the person sleeping on the bed located on the far end of the room. Not ideal. My wife and her mother stayed in the nicer room (#302), but said they were shivering all night, and dreaded getting out of bed to take bathroom breaks. And, because the heat was set to high, the air in the room became very dry and uncomfortable. Every other aspect was fine. They supplied toiletries in individual wrappings for each guest, and other amenities were on offer, just like any other upper-tier hotel. The toilet and shower were modern and functional as well. Meals were a highlight, especially dinner. The hotel staff came to pick us up from our room at a pre-arranged time, and drove us to the restaurant (about a 5 minute drive from our Noji house.) The cuisine is hybrid European-Japanese, mainly using local ingredients. Much of it was innovative, creative and memorable. The first dish was a vegetable medley - mostly fresh, uncooked local vegetables with very light flavoring. Among the vegetables were Red Daikon Radish, Mustard Leaf, Japanese Purple Sweet Potato, Red Turnip, etc. All fresh, healthy, unique and delicious. Another small plate consisted of Kabu (Japanese Turnip) Puree with Balscamico, together with local salami, Red Japanese Turnip, Pickles and Persimmon. They meshed together surprisingly well! And the Tajima Roast beef charcoal grilled over bamboo, together with grilled Japanese Nasu eggplant, Manganji Pepper, Daikon Radish and Mushrooms with a miso sauce was an absolute delight. And the Sweet Red Been ("Anko") Ice Cream with Strawberry Jelly was incredible. Breakfast was also a unique affair, although we felt that the portions were too modest. There's a grilled fish on offer, along with vegetables (mainly of the pickled variety) to compliment the local rice and miso soup. It was good, but we would've liked to have seen a more varied (and larger) spread in the morning. If we were to return, it would definitely not be during the Winter months. Also, we are more likely to try out the the numerous other Nipponia properties before a repeat visit to Sasayama Castle Town Hotel. We have high hopes for the future of the brand, and hope that they're able to iron out some of the kinks by the time we pay them another visit.

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