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ZEN Hostel

2.0 star property
Travelers find tranquility in a peaceful garden setting near Yudanaka Hot Spring, with multilingual staff ready to enhance the zen-like experience

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Photo gallery for ZEN Hostel

Front of property - ZEN Hostel (Yamanouchi)
View from property - ZEN Hostel (Yamanouchi)
View from property - ZEN Hostel (Yamanouchi)
Reception - ZEN Hostel (Yamanouchi)
Interior entrance - ZEN Hostel (Yamanouchi)
ZEN Hostel provides a peaceful retreat just steps from Yudanaka Hot Spring. Guests can relax in the garden after exploring the area, connect with free in-room WiFi, and handle laundry on-site. The helpful multilingual staff makes everyone feel welcome and well-supported.

Reviews

8.6 out of 10
Excellent

Popular amenities

  • Parking included
  • Free WiFi
  • Air conditioning
  • Laundry

Room options

View all photos for Basic Shared Dormitory, Mixed Dorm

Basic Shared Dormitory, Mixed Dorm | 1 bedroom, free WiFi, bed sheets

Basic Shared Dormitory, Mixed Dorm

  • Sleeps 1
  • 1 Twin Bed
  • Free WiFi

View all photos for Basic Twin Room, Japanese Futon

Basic Twin Room, Japanese Futon | 1 bedroom, free WiFi, bed sheets

Basic Twin Room, Japanese Futon

  • 10 sq m
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 Twin Futon
  • Free WiFi

View all photos for Basic Triple Room, Japanese Futon

Basic Triple Room, Japanese Futon | 1 bedroom, free WiFi, bed sheets

Basic Triple Room, Japanese Futon

  • 12 sq m
  • Sleeps 3
  • 1 Twin Futon
  • Free WiFi

View all photos for Basic Quadruple Room, Japanese Futon

Basic Quadruple Room, Japanese Futon | 1 bedroom, free WiFi, bed sheets

Basic Quadruple Room, Japanese Futon

  • 20 sq m
  • Sleeps 4
  • 1 Twin Futon
  • Free WiFi

View all photos for Basic Suite, Japanese Futon

Basic Suite, Japanese Futon | 1 bedroom, free WiFi, bed sheets

Basic Suite, Japanese Futon

  • 40 sq m
  • Sleeps 6
  • 1 Twin Futon
  • Free WiFi

About the neighborhood

Yamanouchi is home to ZEN Hostel. Yudanaka Hot Spring and Shibu are worth checking out if an activity is on the agenda, while those wishing to experience the area's natural beauty can explore Jigokudani Monkey Park. Takayakushi Wakoan and Biande Shinshu Nakano are also worth visiting. Spend some time exploring the area's activities, including skiing. Visit our Yamanouchi travel guide
View more Hostels in Yamanouchi
Map
3031 Hirao, Shimotakai-gun, Nagano, Yamanouchi, 3840401

What's nearby

  • 0_214671247
    Shibu
    6 min walk - 0.4 miles
  • Heiwakannon
    Heiwakannon
    13 min walk - 0.7 miles
  • Nishimiya Shrine
    2 min walk - 0.1 miles
  • Yudanaka Hot Spring
    3 min walk - 0.2 miles
  • Shibuyu Bridge
    19 min walk - 1.0 mile

Getting around

  • Yudanaka Station
    4 min walk
  • Kaesa Station
    25 min drive
  • Shinshu - Matsumoto Airport (MMJ)
    95 min drive

Restaurants

  • 味処 みかさ
    3 min walk
  • 道の駅の食堂
    3 min drive
  • As it. - Craft Beer and Vintage Clothing
    2 min walk
  • いさみ寿し
    2 min walk
  • 中華料理 栄楽
    5 min walk

About this property

ZEN Hostel

Hostel near Yudanaka Hot Spring
Close to Shibu, ZEN Hostel provides amenities like a garden and laundry facilities. Stay connected with free in-room WiFi.
You'll also enjoy the following perks during your stay:
  • Free self parking
  • Multilingual staff
Room features
All guestrooms at ZEN Hostel feature comforts such as air conditioning, as well as amenities like free WiFi.
Other amenities include:
  • Shared bathrooms with showers

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Property amenities

Internet

  • Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
  • Available in some public areas: Free WiFi

Parking and transportation

  • Free self parking on site
  • Limited onsite self parking

Family friendly

  • Laundry facilities
  • Separate bedroom

Conveniences

  • Laundry facilities
  • Limited-hour front desk
  • Shared microwave
  • Shared refrigerator

Guest services

  • Multilingual staff
  • No housekeeping service

Outdoors

  • Garden

More

  • Designated smoking areas

Room amenities

Bedroom

  • Bedsheets provided

Bathroom

  • Shared bathroom
  • Shower
  • Towels provided

More

  • Air conditioning
  • Heating

Policies

Check-in

Check-in start time: 3 PM; Check-in end time: 10 PM
Minimum check-in age: 18

Check-out

Check-out before 10 AM
Contactless check-out available

Special check-in instructions

The front desk is open daily from 3 PM - 10 PM
Front desk staffed during limited hours
This property doesn't offer after-hours check-in
Information provided by the property may be translated using automated translation tools

Access methods

Front desk (limited hours)

Pets

Pets not allowed

Children and extra beds

Children are welcome
Rollaway/extra beds are not available
Cribs (infant beds) are not available

Property payment types

Important information

Fees

You'll be asked to pay the following charges at the property. Fees may include applicable taxes:

  • A city tax may be collected at the property. The city tax ranges from JPY 100–10,000 per person, per night based on the nightly room rate. Please note that further exemptions may apply. For more details, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.

We have included all charges provided to us by the property.

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
This property accepts credit cards
Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher

We should mention

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare requires all international visitors to submit their passport number and nationality when registering at any lodging facility (inns, hotels, motels, etc. ); additionally, lodging proprietors are required to photocopy passports for all registering guests and keep the photocopy on file

Frequently asked questions

Is ZEN Hostel pet-friendly?

No, pets are not allowed at this property.

How much is parking?

Self parking is free at this property.

What time is check-in at ZEN Hostel?

Check-in start time: 3 PM; Check-in end time: 10 PM. After-hours check-in is not available.

What time is check-out at ZEN Hostel?

Check-out is at 10 AM.

Where is ZEN Hostel located?

Situated in Yamanouchi, this hostel is within a 5-minute walk of Nishimiya Shrine and Yudanaka Hot Spring. Shibu and Yumiya Shrine are also within 10 minutes. Yudanaka Station is only a 4-minute walk.

Can I cancel my reservation for free and receive a full refund?

Yes, this property offers free cancellation on select room rates, because flexibility matters! Please refer to the property cancellation policy on our site for more details about any exclusions or requirements.

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Reviews

ZEN Hostel Reviews

8.6

Excellent

8.6

Cleanliness

9.0

Location

8.8

Staff & service

8.2

Property conditions & facilities
Rating 10 - Excellent. 24 out of 48 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 16 out of 48 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 6 out of 48 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 2 out of 48 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 0 out of 48 reviews

Reviews

Verified

10/10 Excellent

Hon Nam

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Super friendly host.

It is a very new hostel. Bright, comfortable, modern. Owner has tastefully decorated the hostel. He speaks good English, friendly and helpful. Price is very reasonable. Best hostel that I have stayed so far.
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very chill, run by nice people
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2020
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Lorena

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Enjoyed our stay at Zen hostel. The staff was attentive and helpful in planning activities.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2019
Verified

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Le personnel est très accueillant, l’hotel Est très calme et d’une parfaite propreté. Notre chambre était très spacieuse, avec un petit balcon charmant.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2019
Verified

8/10 Good

Jon

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities

Nice on a budget

Cheap, clean, friendly staff, lots of trust, good breakfast
Stayed 1 night in May 2019
Verified

10/10 Excellent

luis

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Great value and attention to details from the hist

It was a great stay! Everything that you could need was provided! Very friendly environment both the staff and the guest! Special Kudos to Maya who manages the hostel very professionally and welcoming. She provided very useful information as well as the gentleman that was also there!
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2019
Verified

8/10 Good

Suma

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
スタッフは良い。チェックインの際、ペーパーに基づいて説明があるので利用に安心できる。ドミトリーの消灯は22時。シャワー個室に脱衣かごがあればより便利と思う。湯田中駅から約5分で近い。駅に近い所にコンビニエンスストアがある。
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2019
Verified

8/10 Good

Suma

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
スタッフは良い。チェックインの際、利用についての説明をペーパーに基づいてしてくれるので安心。ドミトリーは22時消灯。個室シャワーに脱衣かごがあれば便利と思う。
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2019
Verified

10/10 Excellent

holly

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Great place to stay in Yamanouchi!

Zen Hostel is in a neat, old, traditional Japanese building. The lounge overlooks a pretty Japanese garden which can be viewed through the giant windows making it seem like you are outside. The walls throughout the hostel are adorned with nice photos from around the world. The floor in my private room was covered by beautiful tatami mats on which a futon is placed for sleeping. The futon was a little thin for sleeping on my side (boney hips) but was otherwise comfortable. Everything is clean. The heaters provided kept the room as toasty as I needed but the common spaces are pretty cold so bring warm jammies in the winter for the trip to the restroom. I don't consider this a negative for this hostel as I found it is normal for there to be cold common spaces in places in the low budget range (I wouldn't know about the fancy hotels in Japan). The staff were super nice and speak English. The breakfast options were yummy and reasonable at 600 yen. The dinner menu is limited but my curry was good. The location is perfect, just 5 minutes walk to the bus and train station and close to all restaurants. I definitely recommend this place!
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2019
Verified

8/10 Good

Nelson

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Clean hotel, but wifi is slow and too far from metro or JR station
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2018
Verified

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

ゆっくり寛げます

ラウンジにある薪ストーブが最高です 歩いて3分ほどの場所にある、よろずやのお風呂に割引で入れるのも素晴らしいです。 スタッフの方はみなさんフレンドリーですし、朝食もおいしかったです
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2018
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Kevin

Amazing, non expensive and clean place.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2018
Verified

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Liked: Staff & service

Not bad but expensive for what you get

We stayed at a "private" twin room and once our door was opened by someone while we were away, and another time while we were still inside someone came into our room even though it was locked! It was a mistake but I couldn't recommend the private room if you are concerned about someone entering the room. Furthermore my girlfriend didn't think the room was that clean, personally I thought it was average. Service was nice and it's not far from station. However this area doesn't have many stores or restaurants that are open. I chose to come here because my girlfriend lives close by, but hotels in Nagano city are much cheaper and cleaner if you book in advance. Unfortunately my girlfriend was a bit picky and didn't want to travel to Nagano so I ended up paying more money for less. If you have the choice, stay at a hotel in Nagano city or choose this if you want to be close by some specific tourist attraction.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2018
Verified

10/10 Excellent

ANDY

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
個室に泊まりましたが、旅館のような部屋に泊まることができくつろげました。 また、近くの有名温泉旅館と提携していて、追加料金で温泉に入れる仕組みがあり、助かりました。
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2018
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

良かった。

居心地が良かったです。特に気を使うこともなく、特別にサービスを求めず、滞在重視な方にはおすすめだと思います。朝食が美味しかったです。スタッフも親切です。わが家に帰ってきたようなくつろぎを感じました。
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2018
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Daniel

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Proche de la gare Yudanaka + Super deal Yorozuya

Très bon séjour: le bâtiment est ancien, avec un cachet certain. Espaces bar et lounge au rez-de-chaussée. Staff sympa et serviable. Dans les chambres, les banquettes sont en configuration auberge à l'européenne - c-à-d dos-à-dos plutôt que côte-à-côte, avec des rideaux sur le côté. Je suppose qu'installer des capsules aurait dénaturé le bâtiment. Elles sont confortables, pas de souci. Il n'y a que 4 douches dans la salle de bain (il y a peut-être d'autres sdb?), donc il y aurait un risque d'embouteillage - SAUF QUE: l’hôtel a un super deal avec le Yorozuya à proximité: il est possible d'accéder à leurs bains intérieur (on se croirait dans un temple en bois) et extérieur pour 800 yens, de 22 à 00h. De quoi profiter d'une super expérience d'onsen, et d’être sûr de ne pas faire la queue à la douche le lendemain, si l’hôtel est plein. L’hôtel n'est pas loin de la gare Yudanaka - super pratique! Le quartier est moins pittoresque que Shibu Onsen, mais en fonction des lieux que vous comptez voir il est potentiellement mieux situé (plus central) et en tout cas mieux desservi (gare Yudanaka). Pour le Monkey Park, il est assez loin dans les deux cas et il vaut mieux s'y rendre en bus (je m'y suis rendu en vélo: ~10min de Yudanaka Onsen à Shibu Onsen; puis 30min ou plus vers le Monkey Park par le chemin forestier [mais il est vallonné et fatiguant]).
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2018
Verified

8/10 Good

adam

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Town stay for snow monkey trip

Convenient for snow monkeys and nice nearby onsen. Employees very kind made nice breakfast and drove us to the station
Verified

6/10 Okay

ren

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities

Beware, this is NOT in Shibu Onsen town!

We chose this hostel by mistake. We thought it was in Shibu Onsen since this what we searched for when booking. Our fault!! We were disappointed to learn this place is in neighboring village and can not provide key to the 9 public onsens in Shibu Onsen. The owner didn’t bother explaining where we got it wrong. He pretended he doesn’t know what we are talking about and offered to sell us entry to an Onsen nearby his place where he has a deal. What is the problem helping us understand the situation? This is not the friendliness and hospitality we got accustomed to traveling around Japan. The hostel itself is ok, very basic and abit unhygienic in Japanese standards. It is quite cheap so you get descent value for money.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2018
Verified

4/10 Poor

TAKASHI

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

個室を利用しました

【悪い点】 ・寒い日ではあったが、とにかく部屋が寒く、エアコンををフルで動かしても温まらない（部屋の広さに対応しているエアコンではないと思われる） ・ガスストーブも置いてあるのに、物理的に使えない（使えなくしているのか故障しているのか不明で使えない旨の説明等一切無し） ・部屋内に洗面器と水道が付いているのに使えない旨の表示（理由不明） ・広い室内にコンセントが一箇所のみ。古いコンセントで口の間隔が狭くMacのアダプタを挿したら他の機器が使えなかった。 ・お茶や湯沸かしポット等一切無し。ティッシュも置いてない。 ・室内にコタツのような机はあるが、座椅子が無い（座布団はあり） ・共同トイレはとても華奢な造りで、プライベートの確保が完全ではない ・館内に温泉設備が無い（シャワーはあり）のはまだしも、館外の温泉設備へのアクセス情報が無い ・１階がBAR兼レストランになっているが、メニューが置いてない（言えば渡してもらえる）ので何が食べられるか分からない 【良かった点】 ・到着予定が大幅に過ぎてしまったが対応していただけた ・Wi-Fiが使える
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2018
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Friendly English speaking staff, good breakfast, private showers, comfy bedding and good location handy for the snow monkeys.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2017
Verified

10/10 Excellent

B.W.Rider

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

So good stay

Nice and clean hotel close to the station. It was so comfortable stay. So it has nice cafe and bar, we could get good time in morning.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2017
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

とても綺麗なゲストハウス

とても綺麗なゲストハウスでした。近くの萬屋という旅館のお風呂に入れるのも良かったです。純木造伽藍建築で、平成15年に国の登録有形文化財に指定された素敵なお風呂でした。
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2017
Verified

10/10 Excellent

CC

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Nice Hostel close to the mountains, friendly staff

Out family of 6 stayed in the self contained suite that had our own toilet and bathroom very comfortably.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2017
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Jörgen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Bra plats, en plats att återvända till.

Älskade mottagandet och servicen. Man fick god hjälp med allt man behövde få veta. Värden hade en bra engelska vilket hjälpte. Onsenbesök i närheten går att ordna för 800 japanska yen, ta med egen handduk, allt annat finns på plats på onsen badet. God mat på Zen hostel, speciellt frukosten och den japanska omeletten. Bor gärna där igen i framtiden.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2017
Verified

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

便利な場所

親切なフロントの方でしたし、お部屋も十分なほど広く、快適でした。 湯田中温泉駅まで徒歩圏内ですし、駅前にコンビニもあり、宿の周りに飲食店もあり便利です。宿にはシャワーブースのみですが、シャンプーやボディーソープもあり、駅前に激安の天然温泉、少し歩けば有形文化財桃山風呂のよろずやがあります。 渋温泉も近いです。 古い建物だからなのか、上の階に子供連れのかたがいるとものすごく響きますし、虫も多く、ネズミの声が何度も聞こえました。