Hotel Route-Inn Hirosaki Ekimae

The staff are very kind, as you’d expect, and it’s a Route Inn with good value for the money. But the wireless internet is often overloaded and unusable. I know the hotel is fairly old and may be renovated in a few years, but the connection needs more capacity now, not in 5-10 years. At that point, please add power outlets closer to the beds too.

The free parking was a plus, and it’s next to Sega world arcade, which could be good if you have kids. There’s also a nice restaurant across the street, and breakfast was just okay. Still, this was a horrible stay. We’d locked in a price online, but when we arrived the hotel added charges. Cancelling would have meant losing part of the payment, so we stayed and paid an extra $80 for two more guests over our two-night stay. Our reservation clearly said two nights for five people. The rooms are really small and smelled horrible, and the carpets had lots of stains. The mattress was like a rock, not firm in a good way, and I expected to wake up with back pain. Internet was extremely slow and kept disconnecting. For the price, it should have been decent. If I’d known about the extra charges, I would have stayed at the Art Hotel, which is in a better downtown location, within walking distance of a mall, arcade, and lots of restaurants.

There’s a nice onsen on the 14th floor, and the rooms are simple, compact, and clean, comfortable enough for an overnight. No tobacco smell. The breakfast buffet had standard choices, both Western and Japanese. The hotel is directly across from the station, so access is excellent. WiFi was a little slow. For Covid measures, there was sanitizer, and guests were asked to wear masks and plastic gloves at breakfast.

There’s an onsen and lounge on the 14th floor, and the room and breakfast were decent by Japanese standards. The hotel is conveniently opposite the JR station, reachable from the street or through the underpass.