Nikko Sansui — Hotel in Nikko

This is a typical traditional guest house with hot spring albeit more towards the basic than luxury end of the market. Having said that, it is not as expensive as other hotels in the area and at Y22,000 a night for a double including dinner and breakfast it is not a bad deal. The room is the usual tatami set up with small seating area by window, private bathroom, TV and fridge. It is comfortable but the decor has seen better days (slightly peeling wallpaper here and there and stained curtains). However the hotel is right across from the lake and there is a wonderful view from the window of our room. The dinner and breakfast were both very good (traditional home cooked Japanese food) and the hot spring small but nice. Don't miss the "rotemburo" (outdoor bath) as it just looks like a reflection in the glass when you are in the main onsen, but go through the door and there's another bath. We booked on the Rakuten website which was easy to use. We drove from Narita which took around 4 hours on the backroads - more scenic (and cheaper) than the highway, but slower, obviously. The scenery was pretty most of the way as you pass by rice fields and small villages and the last leg takes you up a steep winding mountain road as you climb up towards Nikko. Chuzenji Lake is about another 14 km after Nikko, and the lake setting is really stunning surrounded by mountains. There is a 24km path going all around the lake which can be walked or part of it can be combined with the boat that plies the lake or one of the local buses. We walked about 8km along the lake path and then returned by bus. There is not much to do in the town besides walk or hire a pedalo or boat on the lake but it is very quiet and relaxing. We are staying for 2 nights which is about right - any longer would probably get boring. I would recommend this place for a simple but very Japanese experience and quite good value for money. One tip for non-Japanese speakers is that the hotel sign is only written in Japanese. It is reasy to recognise the building from the photo though as it is the only yellow one and it is opposite the ferry terminal. I have taken a photo of the sign so that it can...

This is a typical traditional guest house with hot spring albeit more towards the basic than luxury end of the market. Having said that, it is not as expensive as other hotels in the area and at Y22,000 a night for a double including dinner and breakfast it is not a bad deal. The room is the usual tatami set up with small seating area by window, private bathroom, TV and fridge. It is comfortable but the decor has seen better days (slightly peeling wallpaper here and there and stained curtains). However the hotel is right across from the lake and there is a wonderful view from the window of our room. The dinner and breakfast were both very good (traditional home cooked Japanese food) and the hot spring small but nice. Don't miss the "rotemburo" (outdoor bath) as it just looks like a reflection in the glass when you are in the main onsen, but go through the door and there's another bath. We booked on the Rakuten website which was easy to use. We drove from Narita which took around 4 hours on the backroads - more scenic (and cheaper) than the highway, but slower, obviously. The scenery was pretty most of the way as you pass by rice fields and small villages and the last leg takes you up a steep winding mountain road as you climb up towards Nikko. Chuzenji Lake is about another 14 km after Nikko, and the lake setting is really stunning surrounded by mountains. There is a 24km path going all around the lake which can be walked or part of it can be combined with the boat that plies the lake or one of the local buses. We walked about 8km along the lake path and then returned by bus. There is not much to do in the town besides walk or hire a pedalo or boat on the lake but it is very quiet and relaxing. We are staying for 2 nights which is about right - any longer would probably get boring. I would recommend this place for a simple but very Japanese experience and quite good value for money. One tip for non-Japanese speakers is that the hotel sign is only written in Japanese. It is reasy to recognise the building from the photo though as it is the only yellow one and it is opposite the ferry terminal. I have taken a photo of the sign so that it can...

We booked a couple nights at Nikko Sansui, and each day the view from our room over the lake took my breath away. We opted for the breakfast/dinner package and were NOT disappointed! Definitely traditional Japanese style food, not for the picky eater!||||The building itself is a tad worn with age, but the room itself was clean, well-kept. The futons were comfortable, food was delicious and the people were friendly (even with the language barrier). Far enough from the bus terminal that its peaceful, but not far enough to be a pain in the butt to haul luggage.||||While this was the most expensive place out of six that we stayed at during our travels, it was...