Hotel Route - Inn Omagari Ekimae

The staff were helpful and nice, and the station is right across the street, which is easily the best thing about this place. It’s an older, budget business hotel, but there’s nothing really wrong with it. I imagine the atmosphere would be livelier in summer, when there’s a Hanabi and the shops next door are open.

The hot springs were the highlight for me. I stayed one night and found the place clean, with welcoming staff and a really good breakfast. Definitely worth a stay if you’re visiting.

Breakfast was filling enough to set me up for the day, and I could get my washing done and upload things to the internet before heading out. I stayed two nights in April 2016 while cycling solo around Tohoku, and the hotel worked well as a base for visiting Kakunodate. I’m always glad to stay at a Hotel Route-Inn when I’m traveling around Japan.

The breakfast was delicious, and I liked it better than what we’d had during our three days at an inner city hotel in Tokyo. We also ate at Shabu-Shabu across from the hotel, which I’d recommend. We booked two rooms online and accidentally chose smoking rooms. The hotel couldn’t switch us to non-smoking after we arrived, but the staff were accommodating and we accepted that it was our mistake. We used the washer and dryer, 200¥ each, and didn’t try the hot baths.