Hotel Around Takayama
by the TopOfHotel team
Hotel Around is a new Ascend Hotel Collection (Choice Hotels) build — all non-smoking, with a 24-hour concierge and a bar, at a mid-range price.
Hotel Around is a new Ascend Hotel Collection (Choice Hotels) build — all non-smoking, with a 24-hour concierge and a bar, at a mid-range price.
In-Depth Review
Rooms and decor
Hotel Around Takayama opened in 2022 as part of the Ascend Hotel Collection, the upscale arm of Choice Hotels USA, and it is a 9-minute walk (700 m) from JR Takayama Station. The six-floor building is modern-meets-Japanese, with brown-grey timber walls outside and a double-height lobby holding leather sofas, ikebana flowers and sumi-e ink paintings. Guests book the King Deluxe, a 28-sqm room running about $157 a night, with a Western-style 200x200 King bed, a work desk, a 50-inch TV and a minibar that includes free water, tea and Hida apple juice. The new unit bathroom has a Toto Washlet and MIKIMOTO toiletries scented with Hida cypress. The room is 100% non-smoking with no smoke smell at all, the Frette bedding is soft but firm enough, and the Wi-Fi is fast in both the room and the lobby.
Food and amenities
Breakfast is a buffet at the ground-floor restaurant, served 06:30 to 10:00 for about $51 per person, with an old-recipe Hida miso soup, an onsen egg, grilled fish, nukazuke pickled vegetables, fresh bread, fresh-pressed Hida apple juice and seasonal fruit. In the evening, the ground-floor bar runs 18:00 to 24:00 and pours six Funasaka Hida sake bottlings, cocktails and Hida-brewery craft beer, with glasses from about $7 — a sociable spot to drink local sake alongside other travellers.
Location and getting there
You are a 9-minute walk from the station and about 5 minutes from Sanmachi Old Town. The real edge here is the 24-hour concierge: staff in black suits, with excellent English, will book a Shirakawa-go day-trip for the next morning — they reserve the Nohi Express bus, a 50-minute ride each way, plus a guide, for about $71 per person, departing around 08:50. They will also book a table at Maruaki, the well-known Hida-gyu yakiniku restaurant in town, at about $80 per person for a 19:00 sitting — the kind of help you will not find at a small ryokan.
Things to know before booking
There is no in-house onsen here, unlike the Wat, Ouan and Alpina hotels — for a hot-spring soak you walk to the Yu public bath instead. The station walk is 9 minutes, further than the Alpina, so it is a longer haul with bags. And rates move with the seasons, climbing roughly 50% in peak periods, so the $120 starting figure is a low-season rate rather than what you will pay in a busy month.
Our take
Hotel Around Takayama brings the international Choice Hotels standard into town — a 24-hour concierge that sets up your Shirakawa-go day-trip, all non-smoking rooms, an in-house restaurant and bar, and free Hida apple juice in the room. The 8.7/10 guest score backs it up. From about $120, it runs roughly $17 cheaper than the Wat, which makes it a sensible pick for Choice Privileges members, anyone sensitive to smoke, and small groups who want a concierge but do not need an onsen in the building.
Score Breakdown
Assessed by our editorial team from data and real guest reviews
The Honest Verdict — pros & what to know
- It is an Ascend Hotel Collection property — the upscale-boutique arm of Choice Hotels USA — so you get an international-chain standard and can collect Choice Privileges points, which is rare in a town of family ryokan.
- The 24-hour concierge is the real reason to book here: staff book your Shirakawa-go day-trip and the Nohi Express bus, reserve restaurants like the Hida-gyu spot Maruaki, and hand out free maps.
- There is an in-house restaurant and bar, which is genuinely handy on a cold Takayama evening when you would rather not walk far for dinner or a drink.
- Every one of the 226 rooms is 100% non-smoking, so there is no lingering smoke smell — a clear step up from older hotels in town where some rooms still carry it.
- You get free Wi-Fi throughout, the 24-hour concierge, and a roughly 5-minute walk to Sanmachi Old Town, so the historic core is close on foot.
- There is no in-house onsen, unlike the Wat, Ouan and Alpina hotels in town. If you want a hot-spring soak you walk to the Yu public bath instead.
- It is a 9-minute walk from the station, further out than the Alpina, so it is a longer haul with luggage than some of the alternatives.
- Rates move sharply with the seasons and can climb about 50% in peak periods, so the $120 starting price is a low-season figure, not a year-round one.
Who It’s For
Match Score by travel style
Amenities
Location & Nearby Spots
Things to do near Takayama
Day tours, attraction tickets and experiences around Takayama — book ahead on Klook with mobile e-tickets.
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Insider Tips
- Have the concierge book the Shirakawa-go day-trip at about $71 per person — the price covers the round-trip bus and a guide, and it departs around 08:50.
- The bar runs 18:00 to 24:00 and pours six Funasaka Hida sake bottlings plus Hida-brewery craft beer, with glasses from about $7.
- Book a room on the Sanmachi Side — it is a 3-minute walk to the Old Town across the Nakabashi bridge.
- At the restaurant breakfast, go for the old-recipe Hida miso soup, the onsen egg and the fresh-pressed Hida apple juice.