Kochi Annex Hotel

It was old, but clean, and I appreciated the free breakfast. Given the age of the place, I can understand why things like the sauna and hair dryer often broke. What I didn’t expect was that the two of us only had one key, and the lights in the room depended on that key. If one of us went to the bath while the other was showering, we’d be locked out. I never imagined it would work out that way...

The 13th-floor public bath was a highlight, with a sauna, cold bath, hot tub, and a relaxing view across the city. My airline package included this hotel, which is a decent 10-minute walk from the station to Hirome Market. Breakfast in the first-floor cafe space was a decent spread of rice balls, bread, salad, sausages, miso soup, soup, and more. There’s no dinner, perhaps because the hotel is short on space and has streamlined things, but there’s a convenience store nearby and restaurants about five minutes away on foot. I thought it was good value for a night, though parts of the hotel feel dated since its renovation was a while ago. The single room has a semi-double bed and a desk where I could set up my laptop. Driving can be a hassle: the alley outside is narrow, the multistory garage is tight and difficult to park in, and loading luggage is awkward, especially if you don’t unload it all first. I didn’t see any cockroaches, but there were lots of small-dropping traces around the bathroom ventilation ducts and ceiling, which made me think there could be many in the ducts. It definitely felt old.

It’s an easy walk from the station, and the rooms are well cleaned. The inn feels a bit old-fashioned, but free breakfast helps make it good value. The observation bath was disappointing, though: the water wasn’t warm enough, and the women’s area was small.

It’s near the bar district, so it works well if that’s what you’re after, though the proximity may mean noise at night. The open-air observation bath has a sauna. Neither is very large, but on a weekday around 9 a.m. it was almost always empty. Breakfast is rice balls; the selection is limited, but I was more than satisfied. The facilities are a little old, but the service was good, the rooms clean, and the price was lower than at other hotels, so I chose to stay.