KOKO STAY Izumi

The hotel is old, but it was kept clean. There’s a large station right nearby, with quite a few restaurants and izakaya around. One downside is that they don’t clean the room every three days of a stay.

The room was an okay size and the facilities were good. I liked the shampoo, shaving gel, and moisturizer, though you can only get those toiletries in the lobby. My first impression of the staff was pretty bad. They didn’t seem as kind as staff at other hotels I’ve stayed at, and I wondered if they weren’t used to talking with foreigners. By around my third night, though, the interaction had changed and they felt warmer and more accommodating. Overall, the stay was decent.

The buffet breakfast costs a little extra and had a good range of food. It’s only a few steps from the Hisatsu Orange Railway side of the station, and nearly all the signs are in Japanese and English. This is a business hotel, so the room is typically small, but it’s fine if you mainly need a place to sleep. The prices are inexpensive. Reception is used to foreign guests, and the person I spoke with had excellent English.

The staff were extremely friendly, and this little hotel has a real charm to it. The beds were among the most comfortable I’ve had at any hotel chain in Japan. There’s even a free hot lemon drink machine in the lobby, which was lovely for a sore throat. The air pollution in izumi can do that.