Heian

It was nice to try a traditional Japanese room, and the staff were friendly. The hot spring was good too. The room felt a bit dark at night and not clean enough, with some stains on the tatami.

The hot spring bath was deeper than usual and had a bench inside. It was a shame the open-air bath wasn’t available, though I appreciated that the bath stayed open 24 hours. The hotel feels old overall, but I didn’t find that unpleasant. I’d heard there were no amenities, but the shop had various disposable cosmetics in pouches, and there was a hair dryer in the room. The food was very delicious. There was only one room key, which was inconvenient, and we could hear a lot from the next room, so bring earplugs if that bothers you. The elevator smelled awful the whole time, maybe like kerosene, as if a kerosene stove had spilled while being carried.

Nakai-san was very kind and considerate of my bad leg, and I’m really grateful to him. I stayed from February 14th to 15th, more than 20 years after my previous visit. I was sad that I couldn’t use the open-air bath. I called a companion and had a great time, and I’d like to stay again if I get the chance.

The rooms seem to have been renovated and are very clean, with a smart feel. The elevator smelled strongly of paint, probably from some kind of coating. Both the indoor and outdoor baths were large and clean, but apparently the boiler in the women's bath had malfunctioned, so the water was quite lukewarm, around 35°C.