Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Premium Kinugawa Kanko Hotel — Hotel in Nikko

After watching too much Anime, we decided this trip to Japan we wanted a "Real" Japanese Hot Spring Experience. And this place delivered all that we were expecting. It is not the fanciest or best around, but it worked for us.||||We reserved a Japanese-style room (i.e. tatami mats in the room, sleep on futons on the floor). We walked into the room and started laughing, because it was EXACTLY like being in an Anime, down to the square fluorescent light fixture on the ceiling that makes clicking sounds when you turn it on. It even had the type of "shower" that consists of a faucet, a bucket, and a stool. [Don't worry, it does have a Western-style toilet :-) ] Every evening the staff would unroll the futons and make the beds, and place them away during the day. For three nights it was a fun experience, and I would recommend it if you've never tried it before. The hotel also has "Western" style rooms (i.e. beds) if you prefer that. It seems that almost all the tatami rooms face the hills, with the Western rooms facing the river. ||||The hotel itself it a large 8-story concrete block with no character, surrounded by similar hotels. The hot springs are artificially created pools in the basement, with almost no view outside, although the water is (mostly) true hot springs. So if you're looking for that picturesque all-wood house in the middle of a forest, with a natural outdoor onsen and monkeys, this is not it. [Although we did see some monkeys from our hotel room!] We decided that a more traditional hotel would have too many language and transportation issues, so we were OK with this.||||Note that there is no internet access there, save for 3 computers in the lobby (free to use). Once I got over the initial panic it was more relaxing, but it does mean you can't do traveling planning while here.||||The hot springs are, in Japanese tradition, split by sex and swimsuits are NOT allowed. This can be uncomfortable to those who are not used to being naked "in public", and unfortunately means you cannot go with your spouse. [One advantage of same-sex marriages? :-) ] They have two private onsen rooms which you can reserve, cost is about US$35 for 50 minutes. The rooms are basically large spa rooms, with an area for changing, and two pools with water constantly flowing in. We went for the "partial outdoors" one, which we thought was nicer because one pool has no wall next to it, so you partially feel like you're outdoors. You can reserve ahead (we had a Japanese-speaking friend call for us), but although we went at a very busy time of year, we could still reserve a day or two ahead.||||I note with amusement that as of right now, the four other reviews here in English consist of two with Japanese wives, one from someone who's lived in Japan for a long time, and one with relatives nearby. The hotel website does not have an English version. If this gives you the impression that this is all Japanese, you'd be right. We were there for 3 nights, and the entire time I didn't see another non-Asian person. There was only one staff member who spoke any English, and we speak no Japanese, so when he wasn't working we had to point. Signage was almost exclusively in Japanese. However, we never felt unwelcome. Never once did we feel slighted, the staff were uniformly friendly to us, and we never noticed any exasperation when having to deal with us. So don't let language issues scare you away.||||The rate plan we selected includes breakfast and dinner at the hotel. This was good, as there was basically no restaurants within (close) walking distance, and even if there were, I'm sure they wouldn't speak English. Meals are buffet style, which was perfect for us. Perfect because it's faster, and because we don't need to worry about reading menus (just grab what looks good). I'm no expert on Japanese food, but I would call it a Japanese version of Old Country Buffet: food quality is decent but not great, with fairly standard (boring) but wide selection of dishes (maybe 100?), pretty much the same food every day. And even a chocolate fountain! They did have sashimi for dinner, so I was in heaven; even our uber-picky 7-year-old found enough food to eat. Some dishes were trying to be western food, but frankly I wouldn't recognize them if it weren't for the labels. For three days, and not having Japanese food every day normally, it was fine, but don't expect top-quality Japanese dining.||||Transportation is not the easiest. It is about a 1 km walk from the Kinugawa Onsen train station to the hotel (I think, we didn't actually try that….). Taxis from the train station to the hotel are JPY780, and there is a taxi stand outside the train station with taxis waiting every time we were there. From the hotel to the train station it is about JPY1200, and the hotel needs to call the taxi (which I believe accounts for the extra charge). There is a public bus as well, but for three people the cost is almost as much as a taxi, and serves all the hotels so a 5 minute taxi ride can turn into a 15 minute bus ride, plus you need to wait for it.||||To go to other places, there are buses from the hotel to the nearby Edo Wonderland and Tobu World Square; you need to reserve them the night before through the hotel (or else?? I'm not sure). But I couldn't find out how to take them back to the hotel (language issues…), so we ended up taking the public bus to the train station and a bus/taxi from there to the hotel. To get to Nikko (for the temple) you can take the train from the Kinugawa-Onsen station to the Tobu-Nikko station, with a transfer at the Shimo-Imaichi Station (TN-23). It takes about 30-35 minutes, assuming you get a short transfer. But make sure to check HyperDia ahead for the train times, I forgot to do that for the return trip and we had a 35 minute wait at Shimo-Imaichi. Be careful: some trains splits at Shimo-Imaich, so just make sure you get on the train that says it's for Tobu-Nikko and...

After watching too much Anime, we decided this trip to Japan we wanted a "Real" Japanese Hot Spring Experience. And this place delivered all that we were expecting. It is not the fanciest or best around, but it worked for us.||||We reserved a Japanese-style room (i.e. tatami mats in the room, sleep on futons on the floor). We walked into the room and started laughing, because it was EXACTLY like being in an Anime, down to the square fluorescent light fixture on the ceiling that makes clicking sounds when you turn it on. It even had the type of "shower" that consists of a faucet, a bucket, and a stool. [Don't worry, it does have a Western-style toilet :-) ] Every evening the staff would unroll the futons and make the beds, and place them away during the day. For three nights it was a fun experience, and I would recommend it if you've never tried it before. The hotel also has "Western" style rooms (i.e. beds) if you prefer that. It seems that almost all the tatami rooms face the hills, with the Western rooms facing the river. ||||The hotel itself it a large 8-story concrete block with no character, surrounded by similar hotels. The hot springs are artificially created pools in the basement, with almost no view outside, although the water is (mostly) true hot springs. So if you're looking for that picturesque all-wood house in the middle of a forest, with a natural outdoor onsen and monkeys, this is not it. [Although we did see some monkeys from our hotel room!] We decided that a more traditional hotel would have too many language and transportation issues, so we were OK with this.||||Note that there is no internet access there, save for 3 computers in the lobby (free to use). Once I got over the initial panic it was more relaxing, but it does mean you can't do traveling planning while here.||||The hot springs are, in Japanese tradition, split by sex and swimsuits are NOT allowed. This can be uncomfortable to those who are not used to being naked "in public", and unfortunately means you cannot go with your spouse. [One advantage of same-sex marriages? :-) ] They have two private onsen rooms which you can reserve, cost is about US$35 for 50 minutes. The rooms are basically large spa rooms, with an area for changing, and two pools with water constantly flowing in. We went for the "partial outdoors" one, which we thought was nicer because one pool has no wall next to it, so you partially feel like you're outdoors. You can reserve ahead (we had a Japanese-speaking friend call for us), but although we went at a very busy time of year, we could still reserve a day or two ahead.||||I note with amusement that as of right now, the four other reviews here in English consist of two with Japanese wives, one from someone who's lived in Japan for a long time, and one with relatives nearby. The hotel website does not have an English version. If this gives you the impression that this is all Japanese, you'd be right. We were there for 3 nights, and the entire time I didn't see another non-Asian person. There was only one staff member who spoke any English, and we speak no Japanese, so when he wasn't working we had to point. Signage was almost exclusively in Japanese. However, we never felt unwelcome. Never once did we feel slighted, the staff were uniformly friendly to us, and we never noticed any exasperation when having to deal with us. So don't let language issues scare you away.||||The rate plan we selected includes breakfast and dinner at the hotel. This was good, as there was basically no restaurants within (close) walking distance, and even if there were, I'm sure they wouldn't speak English. Meals are buffet style, which was perfect for us. Perfect because it's faster, and because we don't need to worry about reading menus (just grab what looks good). I'm no expert on Japanese food, but I would call it a Japanese version of Old Country Buffet: food quality is decent but not great, with fairly standard (boring) but wide selection of dishes (maybe 100?), pretty much the same food every day. And even a chocolate fountain! They did have sashimi for dinner, so I was in heaven; even our uber-picky 7-year-old found enough food to eat. Some dishes were trying to be western food, but frankly I wouldn't recognize them if it weren't for the labels. For three days, and not having Japanese food every day normally, it was fine, but don't expect top-quality Japanese dining.||||Transportation is not the easiest. It is about a 1 km walk from the Kinugawa Onsen train station to the hotel (I think, we didn't actually try that….). Taxis from the train station to the hotel are JPY780, and there is a taxi stand outside the train station with taxis waiting every time we were there. From the hotel to the train station it is about JPY1200, and the hotel needs to call the taxi (which I believe accounts for the extra charge). There is a public bus as well, but for three people the cost is almost as much as a taxi, and serves all the hotels so a 5 minute taxi ride can turn into a 15 minute bus ride, plus you need to wait for it.||||To go to other places, there are buses from the hotel to the nearby Edo Wonderland and Tobu World Square; you need to reserve them the night before through the hotel (or else?? I'm not sure). But I couldn't find out how to take them back to the hotel (language issues…), so we ended up taking the public bus to the train station and a bus/taxi from there to the hotel. To get to Nikko (for the temple) you can take the train from the Kinugawa-Onsen station to the Tobu-Nikko station, with a transfer at the Shimo-Imaichi Station (TN-23). It takes about 30-35 minutes, assuming you get a short transfer. But make sure to check HyperDia ahead for the train times, I forgot to do that for the return trip and we had a 35 minute wait at Shimo-Imaichi. Be careful: some trains splits at Shimo-Imaich, so just make sure you get on the train that says it's for Tobu-Nikko and...

I am an American, been in Japan for the past 15 years; so I've seen my share of onsens and onsen hotels. This was by far one of the best I've stayed at. Upon arrival, we immediately got a glimpse of the snow monkeys that were wild and hanging out by the hotel--this place really takes you to a new level of relaxation. The outside needs a little work (hence the 4/5) but the inside is gorgeous, immacuately clean, and they have all the amentities you'll need. The onsen is wonderful and they offer in room massages/facials/foot work starting at 2500 yen. Within the onsen for women, there was the main bathing room with awesome shampoo/conditioner (seriously the best) and nice facial peeling gel, collagen cream, foot cream, hairdryer, etc. There's four more different tubs that have water from different places, these are considered the "outside" tubs. There's even 'private' onsen you can rent out with indoor and outdoor baths. They have an all you can eat buffet for breakfast and dinner (comes with your room) and the parking is free (valet style). The buffet consists of Japanese food along with western. There was huge crab legs, salmon, sushi, fried chicken, fries, tempura, salad bar, drink bar, all-you-can-drink option for 90 mins...for breakfast they had more 'traditional' foods along with eggs, pastries, bacon, sushi etc (I'm really not doing it justice, they had a little of everything) Everything was delicious. They also have a coffee cafe in the lobby along with a store and convience store. The bars are open until late hours and they have kareoke available. Also, on the onsen level they have ping pong rooms and an arcade. ||||In the room, they'll come in and make your bed of futons if you'd like or you can adhere to the western style twin beds. The room easily sleeps 6 adults with a nice deep bathtub if you aren't the onsen type. We got a river view room (6th floor) and the balcony gave us gorgeous views of the river and mountains across the way. The room offers two yukatas (size M) but every floor has a shelf of yukatas (differing sizes) right by the elevators. We wore ours to dinner/breakfast and around the hotel. It was such a relaxing time to 'get away' and I'd recommend this hotel to anyone. The staff was great, the area was perfect, and there really wasn't anything to...