Hotel Tsuruya (Niigata)

Good!

At around 6,000 yen a night with breakfast, this felt like very good value for a solo traveler. The breakfast was filling, with unlimited rice refills, and there weren’t many guests on the weekday I stayed. I was pleased to have the well-cleaned, comfortable large bath to myself. It’s only open from 5 to 11pm, then again from 6:30am, so keep that in mind if you arrive early or want a late-night soak. The hotel is about a 30-minute walk from Mitsuke Station, so I’d suggest coming by car. There’s a Family Mart and a 7-Eleven within walking distance, which makes it convenient for picking things up. It’s used for weddings and company meetings, with an impressive ceremony hall on the second floor. Guest rooms are on the third and feel like a standard business hotel. My room had an old-fashioned pay-per-view feature, but I couldn’t find any cards, so it seemed unusable. The refrigerator was there but unplugged, so I had to plug it in myself. On my visit, there were so few guests that I could count them on one hand, including myself. The first-floor lobby and all of the second floor were dark, with the lights off. This place suits solo travelers looking for value, but I didn’t get the sense it would work well for someone seeking company or a stylish atmosphere.

There’s a large public bath here, and I liked the Japanese breakfast, with its hot-spring-inn feel. The small portions and wide range of dishes made for a nice start to the day. The service was solid and the atmosphere calm, more like a traditional Japanese inn than a casual business hotel. The building isn’t new, but it’s clean and well maintained. Wi-Fi isn’t in the rooms, though you can ask to borrow a unit, and wired LAN is available. I’d stay here again if I’m in the area.

This has happened before, too. I thought they’d fix it, but apparently not. I used the venue for a conference and, though it was packed, parking was easy to find. I had arrived early. At the cloakroom by the conference hall entrance, I left my expensive down jacket with the attendant and got a numbered ticket for collection. After the conference, I handed in the ticket, but nobody was there. People who were going to a banquet afterward took their jackets from the room next door where they were hanging. I was heading straight home and had trusted the cloakroom with mine. What if someone else had taken it? Who would be responsible? It was frightening. I’m never wearing expensive clothes there again, and I won’t leave my jacket there again at all. This is beyond time to fix. It feels like we’re living in a time when people think it’s fine to take other people’s things. (￣frustrated￣frustrated)