Chigusa Hotel

We liked the room’s size and spacious layout, which worked well for travelers, and the hotel provided all the essentials. For the price, we felt it was good value, even though the building is older and that shows in the rooms. It also made a great base for the places we visited, like The Outlets and Shimonoseki. Free parking was easy to find. The lobby is above ground level and has only a limited number of spaces, while there are plenty of spots at ground level. See the map I posted.

For the Wisteria Corridor at Kawachi Park, book tickets online and try to arrive when it opens at 8 if you want photos without people in them. Later, people constantly get in the way. Cloudy weather may actually be better, since direct sun creates harsh spots of light and shadow on people’s faces. The flowers are pretty at any time, though. And shame on Google again for showing a bus that doesn’t exist. This is the nearest place to stay for visiting the Wisteria tunnel in Kawachi, but Chigusa is still quite far away. On the last stretch there’s no bus, even though Google Maps says there is, so you’ll have to walk along the dam lake for 45 minutes. It’s a pleasant walk, with nice views, plenty of toilets, and wild wisteria all around. The hotel itself feels rather classy, probably because it’s the area’s wedding hotel, and the service was very nice and polite. The room had everything I needed, including a desk where I could sit and work, with the power outlet inside the desk. The chair, though, was horrible and painful to sit on, and they really need to replace it. There’s a nice bathtub, but I couldn’t find any ladies’ cosmetics. Maybe you have to ask at the front desk, but there was no moisturizer or milk in the room, which I’d expect from such a classy hotel. If you choose not to have your bedding replaced during a stay of two nights or more, you get a 500 yen coupon to use at the hotel. The best use is cake from their cake shop. Use it before checking out the next day, since the shop opens too late for that. All in all, staying here was a good choice at the same price, and better than any hotel in front of hakata station.

The staff were very nice and helpful. The room was a little old, but it was large and really clean. Service was good, with a quick, courteous check-in, and parking was free.

Getting here by public transport was difficult, though the hotel itself was beautiful. I was here for business and used their private vans to travel to and from the hotel.