Sasaya Hotel

It was a memorable flower-viewing trip.

We toured from Koshu to Shinshu, watching the weather and enjoying peach, cherry, and apricot blossoms. This was our first stay at Hounenmushi, and everything was very well maintained and comfortable. For some reason the indoor stone large public bath was quite lukewarm, but the wooden large public bath—both the open-air bath and the indoor bath—was excellent. The bath in our Room was a bit small, but we still enjoyed it many times. The meals were seasonal and just the right amount; everything at both dinner and breakfast was delicious. When I asked our attendant at dinner if there was anywhere to see almond blossoms, she kindly looked it up for us and carefully told us the next morning. On our way home we visited using Google Maps, and were thrilled to find almond trees in full bloom waiting for us. The exhibition at the Mizuno Museum of Art, which we learned about for the first time from a poster in the lobby, was also wonderful—making this an exceptionally luxurious early-spring flower trip.