Overview

Stay in historic Asama Onsen at Itoen Hotel Asama no Yu, around ten minutes by car from central Matsumoto. This convenient setting places you within reach of Matsumoto Castle, the old castle-town streets, Kamikochi, Utsukushigahara, and the mountain landscapes of central Nagano.

Asama Onsen has welcomed bathers for around 1,300 years and has long been known as Matsumoto’s hot spring retreat. After a day of sightseeing, you can return for a sixth-floor bath overlooking the city, a generous buffet dinner, and easy entertainment inside the property.

With 64 rooms, complimentary leisure facilities, free parking, and a reservation-only shuttle from Matsumoto Station, the hotel works well for couples, families, friends, and longer sightseeing trips through Nagano.

Accommodation

Choose from Japanese rooms, Western rooms, a Japanese-Western room, and a spacious Special Room. Free Wi-Fi is available in every room.

The 51 Japanese rooms offer between eight and 12 tatami mats and use futon bedding. Low tables and floor seating create a traditional setting where you can rest after bathing. Selected layouts include two connected Japanese rooms, giving you additional space when you stay with family or friends.

The Special Room combines twin beds with a ten-tatami Japanese room. You can sleep in a bed while using the tatami area for tea, conversation, or additional futon bedding.

The Japanese-Western Room also pairs twin beds with a ten-tatami Japanese room. This flexible layout gives you separate areas for sleeping and relaxing.

The 11 Western rooms are available with single or twin beds. Their straightforward layouts suit solo stays, couples, and shorter visits focused on exploring Matsumoto.

Rooms look towards the traditional streets and buildings of Asama Onsen rather than wide mountain scenery. Shampoo, conditioner, body soap, hand soap, bath towels, face towels, and toothbrushes are provided. Pets cannot stay inside the property.

Dining

Dinner is served as a buffet in the second-floor restaurant. You can choose from around 50 to 60 Japanese, Western, and Chinese dishes, with changing hot dishes, salads, rice, noodles, desserts, and seasonal specialities.

Your dinner session lasts 90 minutes. Alcoholic drinks and soft drinks are included, allowing you to enjoy beer, sake, wine, highballs, or non-alcoholic choices with your meal. Starting times depend on occupancy and are assigned during your stay.

Seasonal food fairs add limited-time dishes to the standard buffet. Menus change throughout the year to highlight ingredients such as Shinshu pork, Shinshu beef, mushrooms, and other regional flavours.

You can also add selected dishes to your dinner, including soy-simmered splendid alfonsino, Shinshu Tateshina beef steak, A5-grade Shinshu Premium Beef shabu-shabu, Shinshu salmon sashimi, and salt-grilled yellowtail collar.

Breakfast is also served as a buffet in the second-floor restaurant. Around 50 Japanese and Western dishes give you the freedom to choose a light morning meal or a filling breakfast before sightseeing. Breakfast is available from 7:00 to 9:00.

Onsen and Wellness

Relax in the sixth-floor observation bath, where large windows provide views across Matsumoto. The elevated setting lets you watch the city change between the afternoon light, evening glow, and early morning.

The bath uses natural water from Asama Onsen, a hot spring with a history of around 1,300 years. The water is classified as an alkaline simple hot spring. It is clear, almost colourless, and has very little scent, giving it a gentle and approachable character.

The alkaline water has long been associated with a smooth feeling on the skin. Its listed bathing qualities include support for fatigue, lower-back discomfort, nerve discomfort, stiff shoulders, sensitivity to cold, bruises, joint discomfort, and general well-being.

You can use the shared bath from 15:00 to midnight and again from 5:00 to 10:00. The men’s and women’s bathing areas switch according to the hotel’s bathing schedule.

Itoen Hotel Asama no Yu does not have an open-air bath, sauna, private rental bath, or private natural hot spring bath inside the rooms.

Guests with Tattoos

You cannot use the shared observation bath if you have tattoos. Covering the tattoo does not create an exception under the property’s published bathing rule.

There is no private rental hot spring bath or private in-room onsen available.

Facilities

The first-floor shop sells Matsumoto products, regional souvenirs, snacks, and some of the sweets served in the rooms. It opens from 15:00 to 21:00 and again from 7:00 to 11:00.

The shared karaoke room is located on the basement floor and is available from 15:00 to 23:00 without a reservation. You can also reserve the first-floor table-tennis area for a 30-minute session between 15:00 and 22:00.

A game corner on the first floor operates from 14:00 to 21:00, while the yukata corner allows you to select a suitable size for your stay. Free Wi-Fi is available in every room.

Complimentary parking is provided across three nearby parking areas, with space for approximately 55 vehicles. Covered motorcycle parking is also available.

Activities

Visit Matsumoto Castle, around 15 minutes away by car, and walk through one of Japan’s best-preserved historic castle areas. From there, continue to Nawate Street for small shops, cafés, snacks, and the atmosphere of Matsumoto’s old town.

The Former Kaichi School is also around 15 minutes away by car. Its distinctive nineteenth-century architecture introduces you to Japan’s early approach to Western-influenced school design.

For a day in the mountains, travel towards Kamikochi for riverside walks and views of the Northern Alps. Reaching the protected valley involves driving to a transfer area and continuing by public shuttle transport.

Utsukushigahara Highland is around one hour away by car during its operating season. You can enjoy highland walks, open grasslands, mountain views, an outdoor sculpture museum, and a drive along the Venus Line.

You can also explore Asama Onsen on foot, visit local bathing spots, or enjoy a slower afternoon inside the hotel with table tennis, karaoke, and the sixth-floor hot spring bath.

Additional Features

Check-in begins at 15:00, and standard check-out is by 11:00. For stays from August 1 to August 31, 2026, check-out is by 10:00.

A complimentary reservation-only shuttle connects Matsumoto Station with the hotel. Two afternoon services travel from the station, while one morning service returns to Matsumoto Station.

By local transport, you can take a bus from Matsumoto Station to the Yusaka stop and walk for around five minutes. The journey from Matsumoto Interchange takes approximately 25 minutes by car.