Shimoda Izumiso — Attraction in Shimoda

Stayed in Shimoda Izumiso during the period of Black Ship Festival 2023. It’s solo trip with a tight budget.

Before coming here, I was worried about this hotel after reading some Japanese comments. However, as far as I’ve experienced so far, I should write a review for some non-Japanese traveler to address some aspects of this hotel. I hope this review is detailed as possible for giving traveler more accurate description.

PROS:

It is located just next to Shimoda station. It is just a few minutes walk from the station.

Hotel price comes with breakfast and dinner which I was not aware during my reservation of this hotel. The breakfast and dinner are good. Of course it’s not the best ones but it is good enough for the start and end of your day. The breakfast time is 7:30am or 8:00am. Dinner time is early, 6pm.

There are 24-hour Aeon MaxValue just opposite to the hotel. If you need extra food or drink and daily utilities, it is very convenient.

The owners and staff are friendly. The grandpa owner speaks little English. And, even though I don’t speak Japanese, the grandma owner still tries to engage conversation with me and remind me of the fireworks.

CONS:

Toilet and bath are separate, at least for my case, on the second floor of the hotel. You will need to go to 4/F to have your bath. If you miss your towel for drying your body then you will be quite annoyed with this. You may also want to prepare your own shampoo and body soap if you don’t like their default one in the bathroom.

Toilet in my room (2/F) is my concern. It is clean superficially but it’s still smelly. Maybe the drainage has some problem because every morning the hand wash drainage will make some sound and some water will flush out making the floor wet. I have no idea why. Also the toilet has no modern style washlet, you will be disappointed if you expect this. I don’t like to use the hair dryer because it seems it is not clean. I rather use the one just outside the bath at 4/F. This aspect needs improvement.

Facilities and outlook are old, maybe for some people who prefer a modern style family-run hotel, you will be disappointed.

Some people may think it is not “professional” or “appropriate” that the hotel’s owner combining their living trace (like kid’s bicycle, watching TV etc.) with their business. So if you care about the professionalism like this, you will be disappointed.

As one Japanese comments said, you will also need to pay for using the bath. I was asked to pay 300yen for two nights when I checked out. That means 150 per person per night. You need to aware of this.

Only one or two electric socket to be used for your charger. Maybe not ideal for family travel.

Final thoughts:

It is really hard to run a family hotel business, especially the persons in charge are getting old (even they have other staffs). Improvement is needed but after a second thought and considering what I’ve experienced so far, I would recommend here if you think the accessibility and budget is your first priority. And yet, if you are having a wedding vacation and good hotel experience, this place may not for you or you may need to choose the room on 3/F.

In fact, there are lots of good hotel (and expensive) with good facilities in this area. When you are browsing the hotels here, if you see the pricing gap between this hotel and other hotel in this area has not much big difference, I would suggest you go for a better-facilities options.

If there is no issue with toilet, I would...

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