Shikitei — Hotel in Morioka

Name of Accomodation: Tsunagi Onsen Shikitei 24-26 April 2025 (Morioka) Duration of stay: 2 nights, for 2 pax. Driving direction: It’s 13.4km from Morioka JR Station. We drove from Toyota Car rental next to the station. It took around 22minutes. Parking: There are 4 slots inside the hotel. And there are more right opposite the hotel. Hotel room: There are 22 rooms in this hotel. Very cosy. Our room is on level 3. We can hear the small waterfall when we opened the window, which was nice. Room is tatami style with attached bathroom. Hotel Meals: we had dinner and breakfast. Dinner was kaiseki (懐石) where we have a fixed place to sit throughout our meals. All the dishes were delicious and superbly presented. Onsen: Breakfast was delicious and fantastic too. All the servers were very attentive. Two of them provided exceptional service: Nagako-san, and Shizue-san. Especially Nagako-san, she was knowledgeable and very friendly. Surrounding attractions: Must watch! and it’s free. Make reservation with the hotel when you checked in. MORIOKA SANSA ODORI Festival, Held every day from April 17th to November 30th, Held every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from December 2025 to March. There is the famous over 100 years old lone cherry tree nearby, as well as cherry trees around Gosho Lake. There’s a Morioka Handcraft Village nearby which one can take lessons, as well as purchase nice local handicrafts. Overall, from check in to meals, service and to checkout, the service level at Shikitei is of the highest standards we have seen in so many places that we have stayed in Japan. Overall, will i come...

Stayed for one night in a 10-tatami Japanese style room with open air bath. I arranged with the ryokan for pick up service before boarding a bus from Morioka JR Station and the ryokan’s van was there waiting when we got off the bus after the 35-minute journey. The drive from the bus station to the ryokan took only 3 minutes, but we needed the service because of our big luggage and the ryokan’s uphill location. ||The ryokan was recently renovated and everything was well maintained. The men’s public bath was not very big but was good enough. We had an outdoor bath in our room but you have to adjust the water temperature as the hotspring water is really hot. Amenities in our room including skin lotion, towels were in good quality and in ample supply. ||The meals were served at the second floor restaurant. You can see their attention to detail in their choice of food, the food quality, the food layout, the cooking, how food was served, etc. Very delicious and satisfying meals. ||On checking out, I was supposed to take the 11:10 am bus but made a last minute change to take the earlier one at 10:10. The ryokan staff were so helpful and flexible that they immediately helped me load my baggages onto the van. In a matter of minutes we were taken to the bus stop. ||Shikitei left me a very good impression. We didn’t walk around the Tsunagi Onsen area due to the coldness, and hope to do so if we visit again in...

This was my second stay and I really enjoyed my time at this hotel. It is relatively new, the rooms are roomy and the size of the hotel is relatively small, meaning more personalized, sincere service and enhanced privacy. ||Traditional Japanese inns offer both dinner and breakfast, and the food here is definitely top notch. I had a Maezawa steak dinner, which is the regional (Iwate Prefecture) brand of beef which is highly regarded. Everything was delicious, and there was a amuse bouche plate of 5 dishes, followed by a sashimi assortment, then steamed fish, and finally the steak accompanied by a salad, rice, miso soup and assorted pickles. It was a bit much really, but everything was great. Breakfast was very Japanese, with a grilled salmon, assorted pickles, miso soup and a soup dish.||The hot spring bath are great and due to the relatively small size of the hotel, I had the baths to myself both times I used it, one is outside, and the other inside. These are very Japanese, so please be familiar with using them. The first I went, it was the middle of winter and sitting in the outdoor bath while snow falls nearby was heavenly. In summer, they have thoughtfully draped transparent netting around the outdoor bath to keep...