GuestHouse Shirakawa-Go INN

Very cosy guesthouse. Dining area, toilets and showers are on the first floor. Rooms are on the second. Was assigned a room with mountain view. Very whimsical and misty in the morning. Showers and toilets are VERY CLEAN. Didn't have to wait to use them as the guesthouse wasn't full. Host (Ari) is very friendly and hospitable - can speak and understand basic English. Offers his personal van shuttle service to Shirakawa-go bus terminal at 830am. Need to inform him the evening before. He also offers a pickup from bus terminal back to guest house at 5pm but didn't use it as I walk back from the village area (a proper 20-25 mins walk before sun sets. Location is quite far if you don't like walking. There's a convenience store (Yamazaki) midway between the bus terminal and the guesthouse. You can get your dinner/breakfast here if needed. Overall it was a pleasant experience staying there. Room is basic – 2 single beds, a small table for TV and some small space to put my backpack. Will be very tight if 2 people stays in this room or if they bring 2 big luggages. Free coffee in the morning and hot water top ups! They provide a face towel but a bigger bath towel is available to rent at 200 yen during your stay. Personally I feel they should just include the bath towel in the cost. I assume not many travellers will bring along their bath towels and people need to shower at least once a day right. The bath towel does smell very fresh though! If you arrive at Shirakawa-go bus terminal early in the morning, just store your luggages at the bus terminal lockers for 500 to 1000 yen. If lockers are full, there's another luggage storage hut located diagonally across the bus terminal (1 min walk away). After you are freed of your heavy bags, explore the village and/or go to nearby Ainokura and be back at the bus terminal for your luggages by 3.30pm, then you can start walking to the guesthouse (check-in at 4pm). Of course, you can check in later but the luggage hut and lockers are cleared by 5pm.

A bit old but well maintained. Not many restaurant options near by, easiest is to buy food from convenience store. They have microwave and other kitchenware. Staff are very friendly, neighbour next to guest house are also helpful. They offer free shuttle service from and to Shirakawago bus terminal (one time each day only), maybe useful for some travellers.

There are few guesthouse in Shirakawago and this is one of them. The guesthouse provides basic amenities like room & utensils, common bathroom could be very inconvenient especially at night since the floor on the second floor is made of wood, foot steps can be overheard so you really have to walk really gently so you won’t wake other guests up. Toilet i also shared although there are partitions, it could be very embarrassing to pass your bowel as other guests may be using the toilet at the same time could here your nature calling. Hahaha but anyway our stay here was pleasant. Shuttle is available just make sure you let the staff know that you will take advantage of the shuttle. Free shuttle is provided only by specific schedule. 9am and 530pm. Restaurants in the area closed really early and opens kind of late, so better buy food before heading back to the Inn. Although they have instant noodles for sale at the counter and you can just leave your payment in the box provided.

Cet hébergement est bien organisé, avec plein de règles. Accès à la cuisine pour pouvoir préparer des choses de base dans le mini four ou le micro ondes. C'est très propre. Cela dit, le point le plus négatif est certainement que c'est situé à 25-30 minutes à pied du village typique et qu'il n'y a pratiquement pas de transport en commun. Vous allez devoir alors effectuer la distance à pied. Il n'y a personne pour vous accueillir avant l'enregistrement, alors, laissez vos bagages à la gare de bus si vous arrivez avant 16h30, heure à laquelle une navette est offerte. Une navette est également offerte vers le village à 8h30 le matin. Je dirais donc que l'emplacement n'est vraiment pas pratique pour explorer le village si vous ne disposez pas de votre propre mode de transport

Thank you, Arie and to your wife for being responsive and helpful. Just a few suggestions for the Inn :) Toilet smells a bit off so kindly check especially in women’s toilet. Rooms partition is too thin, we can easily hear our neighbours. Other than this, we had a great stay :)