Kid-Friendly Hotels in Nagano City: Zenkoji Temple & Hot Spring Stays

When you start looking for a family stay in Nagano City, it is hard to decide what matters more: being close to Zenkoji, the great Buddhist temple that has drawn pilgrims here for centuries, or having a room where the children can get to bed early. Hotels cluster around the Zenkoji exit of Nagano Station, and you can reach the temple simply by walking straight up Chuo-dori, the old approach road. Many families arrive on the Hokuriku Shinkansen, spend the first night near the station, and head out to Togakushi, Matsushiro, or Obuse the following day.

The heart of the 7 properties listed here are the hotels you can walk to from Nagano Station. Natural Hot Spring Zenko-no-Yu Dormy Inn Nagano has large hot spring baths on the top floor; children ages 0 to 2 sharing a parent's bed stay free, while ages 3 through elementary school pay a facility use fee. Only one co-sleeping child is allowed per bed. At Toyoko Inn Nagano-eki Zenkoji-guchi, children of elementary school age and under share a bed and eat breakfast free of charge; there are no shared baths, so bathing happens in the room's own unit bath, which means you can relax even if your child is not yet potty trained. Hotel Nagano Avenue has just two family rooms, with low beds lined up behind a tatami area; the breakfast buffet is half price for elementary schoolers and free for preschoolers, and the building also holds a sauna and bathhouse and a manga library.

If you are traveling with a baby, 3 properties here can lend you a crib. Hotel Metropolitan Nagano, connected directly to the Nagano Station building, lets children ages 0 to 12 share a bed, one child per booking, and arranges a crib free of charge when you reserve in advance. THE SAIHOKUKAN HOTEL, which stands between Nagano Station and Zenkoji, allows co-sleeping for ages 0 to 6 and lends cribs free, along with Japanese-style rooms for two to five people, children's meal sets, and thermometers and humidifiers on loan. Hotel JAL City Nagano lends baby cots free for children up to age 3 and has deluxe twin rooms that sleep four. Numbers are limited at every one of them, so ask when you book.

For families who want a proper soak, Mercure Nagano Matsushiro Resort & Spa in the Matsushiro district is the one to look at. It sits beside the Nagano Interchange and runs a free shuttle bus from Nagano Station, with Japanese-style and Japanese-Western rooms and co-sleeping allowances that vary by room type. The open-air baths use Matsushiro hot spring water, the lounge has a playroom, and meals are served buffet style with children's dishes added on weekends. In all, 4 properties in this area have Japanese-style rooms, so families who want to spread out on tatami can find one near the station or out in Matsushiro.