Flower Hotel

The meals were a real plus. Rice and miso soup are self-serve, and you can have as much as you like. I bought a late-night snack in case we were still hungry, but that wasn’t needed. I was full. Dinner is tasty and the meal plans are reasonably priced. I usually search near Kitakami Station, but this hotel came up when I widened the area. It’s a bit far to walk, though less than 10 minutes by car. Despite being a business hotel, I stayed in a relaxing Japanese-style room. There’s a large public bath and sauna, both clean and nice. My room had no bath or toilet, but there was a sink and toilet down the hall, which was fine. One thing to watch: the restaurant closes at 9 PM, and dinner-plan check-in is only available until 8 PM, so arriving late means you can’t eat there. I’d definitely stay again, especially for business trips by car.

The room was spacious, and the receptionist with a Tohoku accent was very friendly when I checked in for my work trip. But there were blood-splattered marks on the walls that a simple cleaning should have removed, and they hadn’t been touched. That wasn’t good. Dinner was cold, though I liked the breakfast buffet. At checkout, the older man didn’t say hello or thank you, and handed me the receipt with his head down. What a jerk.

For ¥4,800, I got a special Japanese-style room with two meals included, and there’s also a large public bath. The food was delicious and filling. My room was above the boiler room, but it wasn’t too bad. Cleaning was impeccable, and the staff were very friendly.

I’ve stayed here for several nights almost every time I come to Kitakami for work over the past few years, and I plan to keep coming. The price still feels like good value, and the long-time staff know my face. I hope they keep taking care of me. Lately, though, some things seem to be going astray. The TV has been removed from the restaurant, and music comes from a skeleton speaker. Sometimes they forget to turn it on, so dinner is quiet. I used to check the time on the TV in the morning, and hope it comes back. Dinner also seems more repetitive now. I like the food, but I’ve started to know what day it is by the menu, so a little more variety would be nice. The coin laundry machine also seems to break down a lot.