Guest House Kura

We've never experienced such friendliness and care before. Marina-san is a cool and energetic person, and her staff members are no different. The staff did above and beyond by anticipating all our needs and helping us visit many local attracttions. Kura Guesthouse is unique in how it connects the travellers to the local community, so almost every night we got a chance to meet young local people who come to the guesthouse just to hang out and practice English. Marina-san and her staff are the most amazing hosts we ever had. Every night we talked for hours with them and with other guests. The guesthouse is very accessible, only 40 minutes from Nagano by convenient public transport, and the local towns Suzaka, Obuse and Yudanaka have so much to offer that we felt like we just want to explore more and more. We stayed at Kura for 6 days, did nature hikes, saw beautiful temples and waterfalls, visited art museums and nice cafes, and there's still so much more to see that we couldn't fit in 6 days! Plus, there's a cafe run by Marina's mother and lots of tasty food at walking distance.

The owner and staff were always friendly and helpful including advice on the many local hiking trails. Very relaxed atmosphere making it easy to meet fellow travellers, staff and locals. The Japanese style rooms we’re comfortable and it has an excellent onsite cafe open Friday to Sunday. I stayed for 6 nights but will be back next year for a longer stay as such a great base to explore the area.