Family-Friendly Hotels in Gifu: Gero, Takayama & Okuhida Onsen Trips

When families start looking for a place to stay in Gifu, plenty of them find the sheer size of the prefecture hard to narrow down. Sitting almost exactly in the center of Japan, with hot spring towns scattered through the mountains of the Hida and Mino regions, Gifu is chosen by families of every stage, from those traveling with a baby to those with elementary school children.

Alongside Gero Onsen, the prefecture includes Takayama, Inuyama Onsen, the Takayama and Hida area, the Okuhida Onsen villages, Gujo Hachiman, Seki and Mino, and Minokamo. Gero Onsen is a hot spring town with abundant water and a dense cluster of ryokan and hotels; Takayama and the Takayama and Hida area make an easy base for visiting Shirakawa-go, the village of steep thatched farmhouses; and the Okuhida Onsen villages are known for open-air baths with the feel of a hidden mountain spring. Gujo Hachiman, Seki and Mino, along with Inuyama Onsen and Minokamo, are areas where you can enjoy historic townscapes and the surrounding countryside.

The room style and the bathing style are the two things most families weigh first. There are 22 inns with Japanese-style or Japanese-Western rooms, which is a large share, and their tatami floors make it easy to lay a little one down for a nap. There are 19 inns with a private bath you can reserve for your family alone, 19 inns with simple springs, a mild, low-mineral water type considered gentle on a baby's skin, and 15 inns that accommodate food allergies, so you can choose to suit your child's age and constitution.

How you eat and how you spend time in the room are the other points worth comparing. There are 16 inns that serve meals in your guest room, 14 inns with a toddler meal menu, and 13 inns with private or semi-private dining rooms. There are 16 inns with a bath in the guest room and 8 detached villas or cottages rented to a single group, so you can pick the style of stay that matches your child's age.