Towadako Lakeside Hotel — Hotel in Towada

We stayed for one night in order to walk Oirase stream and break up our travel around Aomori. We just loved this place. The locals know where it's at; the other hotel guests were all Japanese. Perhaps this is why the hotel isn't rated higher on TA...||It is perfectly located with Lake Towada right in front of the hotel and restaurant. Beautiful views from the rooms and at meals. A 5-minute walk from JR bus station. The town isn't much; our impression was it's past its prime, a little tired and old, not many tourists (a good thing...), and most of the people here are of an older generation as well. I can see why because of the quietness and (relative) remoteness and difficulty getting here - only a few buses a day, or you'd need a car. But again this is part of Aomori's charm. ||We chose to eat at the hotel as it has a dinner and breakfast plan, and there are few eating places around. The keiseki dinner was absolutely memorable - beautiful presentation, detailed little touches, and so tasty. That evening the dishes had Aomori hallmark foods: fish (including princess trout from the lake) and apple, in various forms. We could see the attention and effort that went into it. Just delightful. ||The staff did not speak much English, but important information was gotten across. We felt the service was genuinely warm. ||We chose a standard Japanese-style room. Incredibly spacious, perfectly clean, well maintained. Heating was good especially since the weather was still cool, and we saw that the room also has aircon. The bathroom is the typical Japanese hotel-style toilet, small but fine. The hotel provides a "turn down service" - we came back after dinner to find the tatami beds had been prepared, and a fruit dessert left on the table.||This place has a small public bath. Do not expect a full-on onsen experience, this is not the place for it. You do go in without clothes and and it is a communal bath. The bath has hot water - perhaps 40+ degree Celsius - in a pool a fair bit larger than a jacuzzi, with tiled floor, and charming wooden carved leaves floating around the water (adds to the scent?). This is perfectly adequate for a pleasant little soak and shower. ||Although the hotel looks old fashioned on the outside, I can only recommend this place highly. A real gem in Lake Towada, and coupled with the beauty of Oirase stream and the Lake, made this one of our favourite...

We stayed at Lake Towada/Towadako Lakeside 2 nights during our extended DIY tour of Tohoku this July. We used it between Mutsu/Shimokita and Hachimantai-Akita/Komagatake - and used it as a basecamp for hiking the Hakkoda Mountains and visiting Oirase Stream. From Mutsu, it was a 2-3 hour drive (it's about an hour to Hachimantai, and another 2 to Akita-Komagatake). The hotel is one of very few lake-shore hotels that is not out of business and/or boarded up, which is very sad. This was shocking to me personally because Lake Towada is beautiful and has always been pushed hard by the tourism industry. Looking at googlemap, the peninsula where the hotel is looks thriving - but when you actually arrive, it is shocking how economically depressed the area is. That said, the hotel was very good and when we were there, the dining room was about 60% full of Japanese couples and families on vacation. There is free parking on site. Although some rooms have lake-views, ours did not. My sister visited the on-site onsen and said it was decent. You can walk from the hotel easily along the scenic lake-shore, visit the Maidens and local shrines. We purchased a reservation with breakfast and dinner included - requesting the no-fish option. The dinners were set affairs that were large and elaborate - with 12-15 different items. On our first night, a Japanese couple bought us a big Sapporo because they thought our chopstick skills were so great! The breakfast buffet was 70:30 Japanese:Western. We strongly recommend including meals in the reservation because there are not a lot of nearby options given the economic situation. Hakkoda hiking is just over an hour away - and was a more challenging drive than we were expecting. We also enjoyed the Oirase Stream area (along the way) - but pretty much all of that "trail" is roadside, which was convenient but I wouldn't call it remote. We did not partake in any boat-touring of the lake; that is still going on - but likely serving only bus-touring daytrippers. We sincerely hope tourism returns to...

this ryokan was very pleasant. we had stayed at the much larger hotel towado the night before so at first we were a bit disappointed by the small onsen; however, the difference was the staff. The people were very attentive - the same person serves you the kaisekiryori dinner and the wonderful breakfast, the food was local, high quality and very tasty. The lady who attended to us was also very knowledgable about the local products and the food served. This is a good base for travelling around Oirase (hiking) and Towado. ||||My wife and I highly recommend this area if you want to visit aomori/akita prefectures and get away from the mass tourism. One thing you should note. this area, despite being serene, is no longer popular as it was 25 years ago. My wife and I noted while walking around the many closed hotels and boarded up restaurants on this wonderful lake side. Be prepared for the joyful yet rude and loud Chinese tourists whose manners differ so much from the Japanese. (fortunately this hotel is small so you will be spared Chinese tourists - who prefer the larger fancier venues. 没有中国朋友. Firstly, the Japanese bubble is over. The go-go years of the 80s and early 90s is over. The region has been hurt first by JAL and ANA cutting service to local airports, somewhat remote (we have our own car so not an issue), secondly the fukushima incident which is hundred of kms away has somewhat put a damper on the tourism in the region (even though tokyo is much closer), the popular attractions in osaka and tokyo Harry Potter, Disney Land. So you will see in mid July not many Japanese tourists staying (other than elder tourists coming by large...