Hotel Lexton Kagoshima

The building looks old but has a classy feel, and my room was clean and comfortable. There was a bit of a musty smell, though it didn’t bother me too much. The TV had YouTube and other modern features, and the screen was much bigger than you usually get in budget hotels. It’s about a five-minute tram ride from Kagoshimachuo station, followed by another five-minute walk. The arcade is also about a five-minute walk away, so the location isn’t ideal, but it’s manageable. Women don’t get a public bath here. Instead there’s a rock sauna, where you wear a gown and lie face down on the hot stone floor for five minutes, then face up for ten, followed by a five-minute break. You repeat that for three sets, as they’ll explain. You have to book at the front counter.

The location worked well, very close to Kagoshima’s Tenmonkan area with its restaurants and shops. The place is old, but it has more of a vintage feel, like stepping back into Japan in the 80s, than looking worn out. It’s quite large and has several facilities, including a public bath. My friend and I had expected a very old, poorly maintained hotel, but that’s not exactly how it came across. The price was very low compared with most Kagoshima hotels, and seemed reasonable given that our weekend was a holiday weekend in Japan.

We had a great stay at Lexton Hotel, and the guest service was attentive. When we asked to switch from a smoking room to a non-smoking one, the staff did their best to communicate with tourists who don’t speak Japanese well and helped us feel at home.

I picked this hotel because it has a women-only hot stone bath and is close to Kagoshima central station. The bath setup was quite unusual. It’s a large, relatively luxurious hotel with wedding banquet facilities, right at the edge of the busy Tenmonkan district.