Itoen Hotel New Sakura — Hotel in Nikko

Foreigners keep complaining about this hotel. If you think the same as the others, I suggest you don't go to New Sakura. It's an old hotel made for japanese people and not for foreigners. But if you like to have a japanese experience, keep your mind open and try it. (Note: I'm a foreigner, a Nikkei that understands just a little of the japanese language)

To begin with, those reviewers forgot to mention how much they paid. It's very likely that they found New Sakura filtering for a cheap hotel and even paying a bargain, kept complaining.

I found this hotel at Google Maps, then read the reviews. You can clearly see the difference between the Japanese reviewers and the foreigners. If you keep digging and reach jaran, you'll notice a different view of the hotel that I certainly share.

I booked on April 2024 and paid ¥16500 (around € 100) per night for 1 bedroom, 2 adults with breakfast and dinner included. You won't find anything close to this deal in Europe or US or even in Tokyo. If you would pay for the food individually, certainly it would cost around ¥4000~¥5000 per person. The hotel offers some play area, karaoke, onsen and yukata, just like an average Ryokan style big hotel.

The hotel is old, probably from 90s, and has a large lobby room with a lot of wood, but it's old. They don't use anything very digital, and don't have guides in english, but, in Japanese and for japanese people, it works. The staff were very professional and kind in explaining. The check-in process took less that 10 minutes. The hotel offers WiFi for the guests.

Our room was quite spacious. The room was well preserved, no smoking smell, clean and with comfortable beds. Amenities like toothpaste/toothbrush were included and also some cookies and tea. The room also had an air conditioner (and also heater) included. There weren't many power outlets, as predicted.

There were 1 onsen with an external area. It were clean and quite spacious too. Amenities like shampoo, soap, blades, hair comb and even some hair products were included.

The hotel offers an area with some arcades and a Snooker table. Table tennis were also offered. There are some karaoke rooms also included.

The food was very japanese. Dinner included sushi, tempura, tarako spaghetti, nishime (cooked vegetables), gyoza, lamen, udon, rice, sashimi and others. Beer, sake and Shochu were also included .Breakfast were also very japanese with rice, miso soup, vegetables, yogurt, canned fruit and others. There weren't many western food...

I stayed with my mother for just 2 nights in May. We were mostly interested in the Nikko area and Kinugawa is a little farther away than we first thought. However, the hotel was pretty close to the Kinugawa-onsen station, so we didn't have to spend the annoying extra taxa-fee, that you sometimes have to with Japanese ryokans, to get to and from the hotel.||||We were greeted by a friendly staff by arrival. At that time, there was no English speaking staff present, but the next day we were approached by a very nice English speaking clerk that wanted to help us with any questions we had. ||||The hotel is very nice. A little bit worn perhaps, but very clean and nicely decorated. Our room was absolutely spectacular. We were worried when we heard that it was located 2 stories below street level, but the hotel is built on a cliff down to the big river which gives the rooms a great green view and a nice background river sound. We felt immediately relaxed. There were many amenities: toiletries, green tea set with local snacks, beautiful summer kimonos (yukata) and kimono jackets. The futon was soft to sleep on. However, the water in the shower was pretty cold. We didn't complain since we only stayed two nights, so I can't say for sure if it was a general problem. ||||I can't give a review of the hot springs/onsen in the hotel since I have visible tattoos, and these are not accepted in onsens overall in Japan, with few exceptions. In this case it was specified in the hotel handbook in the room.||||We chose a breakfast and dinner plan to our stay and we were pleasantly surprised by the huge selection of foods. They even had sashimi, sushi, and nice cuts of high quality meats, which are usually not seen in buffet style restaurants. the quality was also pretty good. A thing that is not in the description: THIS BUFFET COMES WITH FREE ALCOHOL. ||||There were several other activities in the hotel, like karaoke, darts and pool tables.||free Wi-Fi, not in the room, but in the foyer which is spacious and has nice comfy chairs.||||Overall...

I stayed with my mother for just 2 nights in May. We were mostly interested in the Nikko area and Kinugawa is a little farther away than we first thought. However, the hotel was pretty close to the Kinugawa-onsen station, so we didn't have to spend the annoying extra taxa-fee, that you sometimes have to with Japanese ryokans, to get to and from the hotel.||||We were greeted by a friendly staff by arrival. At that time, there was no English speaking staff present, but the next day we were approached by a very nice English speaking clerk that wanted to help us with any questions we had. ||||The hotel is very nice. A little bit worn perhaps, but very clean and nicely decorated. Our room was absolutely spectacular. We were worried when we heard that it was located 2 stories below street level, but the hotel is built on a cliff down to the big river which gives the rooms a great green view and a nice background river sound. We felt immediately relaxed. There were many amenities: toiletries, green tea set with local snacks, beautiful summer kimonos (yukata) and kimono jackets. The futon was soft to sleep on. However, the water in the shower was pretty cold. We didn't complain since we only stayed two nights, so I can't say for sure if it was a general problem. ||||I can't give a review of the hot springs/onsen in the hotel since I have visible tattoos, and these are not accepted in onsens overall in Japan, with few exceptions. In this case it was specified in the hotel handbook in the room.||||We chose a breakfast and dinner plan to our stay and we were pleasantly surprised by the huge selection of foods. They even had sashimi, sushi, and nice cuts of high quality meats, which are usually not seen in buffet style restaurants. the quality was also pretty good. A thing that is not in the description: THIS BUFFET COMES WITH FREE ALCOHOL. ||||There were several other activities in the hotel, like karaoke, darts and pool tables.||free Wi-Fi, not in the room, but in the foyer which is spacious and has nice comfy chairs.||||Overall...