Hotel Allamanda

Allamanda Nara is our favorite place we’ve stayed in Japan so far, even after trying several lovely and very different kinds of accommodation. The room was beautiful, and the food and refreshments were fantastic. Out front there’s an inviting Japanese garden, and the reception has a small display of local handicrafts.

We picked this hotel for the outdoor bath, but the ground-floor room had no view, and I had to clean dust from the tub. There were no bathrobes either, so that part of the stay was disappointing. It’s far from the center and hard to reach, though there is a bus stop about 10 minutes away. Without a car I wouldn’t recommend it, especially since you could probably find a better place closer in for the same price. The rooms are spacious but old, and ours didn’t feel perfectly clean. The equipment seems dated and in need of renewal. Wi-Fi connected, but there was no internet. When I asked, I was told that could happen and that I’d need to connect from the lobby, which I didn’t appreciate. There were few guests, but instead of giving us a better room, they put everyone on the ground floor with no view. Maybe that made cleaning easier, but we could hear the neighbors while they used the outdoor bath. There were only the bare minimum amenities, and a PlayStation 2 with no games made the hotel feel like it might have been great fifteen years ago. The card machine didn’t work. I asked to pay cash before check-in, but they wanted me to wait while they called the payment center, before I could get into the room. We’d been walking all morning and would have appreciated better service. At exactly 11am we got a call to leave the room, then at 11:15 another call warning that we’d have to pay extra if we stayed more than 30 minutes. The hotel seemed short on cash flow, and they may only book a cleaning team for the minimum time in the morning. I only saw staff managing things once.

It’s a decent hotel with what you need, plus parking and 24-hour room service. There’s no elevator, so you’ll need to carry your bags upstairs. It’s a bit removed from everything, meaning you’ll need to walk or drive to find dinner.

The rooms were lovely, breakfast was good, and the staff were friendly. There’s even a TV screen over the bathtub. Staff understand and speak some English, and one man at the front desk spoke very well and gave us useful directions for restaurants, shopping, and bus stops. If you’re coming by train, I’d take a taxi. The walking routes aren’t good for hauling luggage, and the bus stop location is confusing, it’s in front of the nearby military base.