Nara Park Hotel

The onsen was a real bonus, and our room was huge, almost three times the size of the other rooms we stayed in during our Japan trip. The building is old and was okay, though it didn’t seem well maintained. Staff were kind, friendly, and very helpful despite their limited English. The location was the main problem: it’s beside a busy highway and a long way from the old town and Nara Park.

The website had the wrong hours for the onsen. It was supposed to stay open until 9PM, but after a 30-minute Uber ride, I was told it had closed at 3PM.

Americans, be aware that this hotel is nowhere near what the listing suggests. It’s very far from Nara Park, and the shuttle doesn’t collect you from the train station as advertised. It only runs a couple of times a day. Hospitality was sparse at best. The whole place smelled of cigarette smoke and looked frozen in 1962. My room was awful, dirty, and smelled of cigarettes. Terrible experience. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

The onsen felt liberating, and Nara itself is a great city. I’d absolutely stay here, and I’d pay extra for the food: the buffet was really good and let us try lots of unusual Japanese dishes. I’d read comments saying the onsen photos didn’t match the real thing, but the pictures look just like the women’s section. I think the men’s side is different. The hotel isn’t on a train line and is a bit far from Nara Park, though there are buses. The hotel arranged a shuttle to and from the park on request, plus a ride back to the train station when we left Nara. They even gave us cookies for the deer. I handled the reservations, and my friend loved this one because it felt less touristy and more like something a local would choose. Highly recommend.