Kinugawa Royal Hotel — Hotel in Nikko

This hotel is walkable from the train station, and was close to some attractions. I had been to Japan for many times, and this is the most awful hotel I had been in. First of all, we entered the hotel expecting an easy check-in process. When we finally get to speak to a hotel staff, after being ignored for 5 minutes, she told us in Japanese that check-in starts at 12pm, not expecting that we couldn't understand her. When the clock ticks at 12pm, a staff comes out of the counter holding a box speaking in Japanese. The other hotel guests lines up in front of her drawing cards with numbers, while we don't know what is happening. When we finally get to the lady and she pulls out a timetable asking us to choose a time slot. At that moment I finally realized that it is for the booking of the private hot spring. Next, we move to the counter, just like everyone else, to check-in. We met another lady who, does't understand any English, helped us check-in. After that, we walk to the town centre. Soon, we came back to the hotel to grab our keys which are only available after 3pm. When we get to our rooms, we are surprised at what we are seeing. Molds and dirts are everywhere, and the view of a nearby wall and the mystery staircase was shocking to us. Moreover, when we arrived at the dining venue for dinner, the smell of the cigarette from the smoking area combines with the smell of food. Even though the food may look appetizing, but they are defiantly not. At this hotel I ate the worst, sushi, ice cream, cotton candy, and other Japanese food, in all my life. The green tea ice cream did not have any taste of green tea. Also, the sushi easily falls apart, the fish has bones in them, and the rice has no taste at all. After the dinner, we didn't bother to go to breakfast the other day. The private hot spring was decent, but the water was colder than I expected, at 33.8°C. The wifi serves only in the lobby area, other parts of the hotel cannot connect to the wifi. Overall, this hotel could have done better as the location and the outside view are excellent, but what I saw form this hotel is not...

My cousin found a coupon for this place and it was a good deal. We ended up staying in this hotel which offered an all you can eat dinner and breakfast. The food was fine for US standard but definitely not close to the Japanese standards for an Onsen (Hot Springs). ||||The room was large. It had a living room and bedroom separated, as well a toilet and bathroom in separated area. However the furniture looked old and not well maintained.||||The hot spring was relatively empty, but I guess it was because the water temperature was so hot that people can't stay longer. It had two pools. One indoor and one outdoor. The outdoor pool did not have lights on, so it was a bit scary. But we went any way and felt better as it was cooler.||||The hotel looks old and has mold all around. From our bedroom we could see the pool area and I think it was a tennis or basketball court that needed a remodeling. See picture.||||Can't complain about the gorgeous view of the river and the mountain from the bedroom, but was a bit scared to go to the balcony. There were dead spiders and bugs.||||I would not recommend this hotel. It was my daughter first time (and maybe the once in life time) in a Japanese Hot Spring and she did not have a good experience. I wished we had decided to pay more and stayed in a...

My cousin found a coupon for this place and it was a good deal. We ended up staying in this hotel which offered an all you can eat dinner and breakfast. The food was fine for US standard but definitely not close to the Japanese standards for an Onsen (Hot Springs). ||||The room was large. It had a living room and bedroom separated, as well a toilet and bathroom in separated area. However the furniture looked old and not well maintained.||||The hot spring was relatively empty, but I guess it was because the water temperature was so hot that people can't stay longer. It had two pools. One indoor and one outdoor. The outdoor pool did not have lights on, so it was a bit scary. But we went any way and felt better as it was cooler.||||The hotel looks old and has mold all around. From our bedroom we could see the pool area and I think it was a tennis or basketball court that needed a remodeling. See picture.||||Can't complain about the gorgeous view of the river and the mountain from the bedroom, but was a bit scared to go to the balcony. There were dead spiders and bugs.||||I would not recommend this hotel. It was my daughter first time (and maybe the once in life time) in a Japanese Hot Spring and she did not have a good experience. I wished we had decided to pay more and stayed in a...