Breezbay Shuzenji Hotel

The private outdoor onsen was the best part, though you have to book ahead and only get 40 minutes. The town is beautiful, and its best attractions are just five minutes from the hotel. The bamboo walking forest was lovely, and the temples are along the way. Most of the town shuts by 5pm, though, and the only dinner spot within walking distance is a ramen restaurant. The hotel is uphill from Shuzenji station. You can catch a few buses there, but I enjoyed walking up the hill, which took 45 minutes. The staff were all very nice and include about half Japanese and half foreign staff, so they can help in several languages. The old photos are outdated. The hotel was renovated five years ago and still looks new. I skipped dinner, which cost 4,400 yen extra. At 3pm and 9pm they have free oden, soup noodles, and alcoholic drinks as snacks. Breakfast was amazing, with a big selection. I made sushi with the provided fresh raw tuna, salmon, scallops, yuzu fish, rice, soy sauce, and wasabi, but the breakfast doesn’t change from day to day. They don’t clean rooms daily, but leave fresh towels outside the door. A loud group of Japanese tourists arrived on my last night. They smoked, filling the whole hotel with the smell, and made enough noise to affect my sleep. Thankfully it was my final night. I’d recommend staying two nights at most, since it got a bit monotonous after that. Thanks to the kind staff!

The public onsen was good, and there’s free coffee and drinks in the bar area. The beds were very soft and the linen was clean. There’s a strange plastic-wrapped tunnel with holes connecting reception to the rooms, which felt like another cost-cutting measure. The breakfast seemed to be all packaged or tinned. The selection was fish, salad, sausages, powdered scrambled egg, and curry, and there wasn’t any breakfast tea. The rooms themselves seemed clean, but the corridors and elevators smelled strongly of mould, and the toilet area had an odd smell. The public toilets were far from clean, and there seemed to be no English-speaking staff. They looked short-staffed, and everything felt old and poorly maintained, as if management were using things until they broke. The private onsen was mixed with hot tap water, and I could smell fumes from the boiler.

The decor looked old, but the staff were hospitable and helpful. Our clean, comfortable room was right by the trees, so you should expect to see bugs. There are two free-to-book private baths in addition to the gender-separated public ones, and they made for a nice little experience. You can also borrow board games or an SNES for your room at no cost. Shuzenji Temple is walkable, but getting there with luggage may be difficult without a taxi. There’s no food nearby, so eat before checking in if you haven’t added meals.

The dinner was sublime, and the baths were really good. We had an interesting experience in the mixed bath, and the room was very clean for a very nice price. The staff were really foreigner friendly. It was awesome, well worth it, and I’d like to go again.