Hotel Kinugawa Gyoen — Hotel in Nikko

This hotel dates from the bubble era and the wear and tear shows. We went as a couple and I couldn't wait to check out but I could see that the facilities and style were well suited to a young family. ||||Good points:||1) Clean||2) Quiet despite having about 240 rooms||3) Reasonably central to the town - we walked to the station area easily||4) everything was as promised||5) Lobby - they are making an effort to make the place cheerful||6) Large rooms||||Other points:||1) The place needs closing down and renovating badly - it is shabby, tired and worn. For example, the air con is the push button kind with three settings only - low, medium and strong - and quite noisy. ||2) The indoor bath - large but is completely separate from the outdoor one, so you have to get dressed to go from one to the other. There is also no washing area in the outdoor bath. ||3) The wasn't a single power point in the bedroom - not one - the kettle was plugged in on the balcony with an extension cord and we had to charge our phones in the bathroom||4) All decoration had been removed from the room - there was a patch on one wall where a picture once hung - this made the room feel charmless||5) The fridge had all its shelves removed - so it was just a giant chill box||||And last, but not least, the food - which my partner said was the highlight of the hotel. It was like eating in a highway service area or student dormitory. The buffet was full of all kinds of mediocre tasteless stuff that my partner described as, 'It is OK - I mean...erm...there is...

This hotel dates from the bubble era and the wear and tear shows. We went as a couple and I couldn't wait to check out but I could see that the facilities and style were well suited to a young family. ||||Good points:||1) Clean||2) Quiet despite having about 240 rooms||3) Reasonably central to the town - we walked to the station area easily||4) everything was as promised||5) Lobby - they are making an effort to make the place cheerful||6) Large rooms||||Other points:||1) The place needs closing down and renovating badly - it is shabby, tired and worn. For example, the air con is the push button kind with three settings only - low, medium and strong - and quite noisy. ||2) The indoor bath - large but is completely separate from the outdoor one, so you have to get dressed to go from one to the other. There is also no washing area in the outdoor bath. ||3) The wasn't a single power point in the bedroom - not one - the kettle was plugged in on the balcony with an extension cord and we had to charge our phones in the bathroom||4) All decoration had been removed from the room - there was a patch on one wall where a picture once hung - this made the room feel charmless||5) The fridge had all its shelves removed - so it was just a giant chill box||||And last, but not least, the food - which my partner said was the highlight of the hotel. It was like eating in a highway service area or student dormitory. The buffet was full of all kinds of mediocre tasteless stuff that my partner described as, 'It is OK - I mean...erm...there is...

The room size was huge where at least 20 people could fit in and sleep easily. We stayed on the 8th floor.

The onsen itself was good. If you have ever been to an onsen then you know what to expect.

The staff is friendly enough. I am 190cm tall and on the shelf they only had up to 180cm yukatas but a staff member came up to me instantly to offer a bigger one.

The dinner buffet was pretty good. Lots of food to choose from and alcohol.

No Wi-Fi in the rooms is a massive no-no. You can only get Wi-Fi access in the lobby but even then you need to in a specific spot. This is especially bad for foreign tourists travelling and they don’t want to use roaming charges on their data plans. Hotels by default need to provide WiFi across its premises.

The charging port in the room was whack. There was a knob that said up to 400w but when I plugged in my phone charger nothing happened. Only when I turned on the bed light and turned the knob which the bed light was connected to it started to charge. You basically need to sleep with the bed light on if you want to charge your phone. Someone need to check the wiring.

Overall very pleasant ryokan without...