Hotel Euro City

The rooms were okay, but the WiFi barely worked and the signal in ours was awful. The service was worse: the receptionist kept pestering us, insisted we pay a tax we’d already paid even after we showed the receipt, and then yelled at us. A really bad experience. I wouldn’t recommend it.

We stayed in two maisonette rooms as a family of four in mid-October. There were two beds downstairs and two more in the upstairs bedroom, so each of us had a bed. We’d booked with tickets for the food hall beside Casual Euro, ordered takeaway, and ate in our room. The rooms were clean and had no cigarette smell, though we found three stink bugs. The next morning we saw the staff getting ready to clean with the entrance and windows open. With nature all around, bugs are probably hard to avoid. The rooms seem older, with few power outlets and no USB ports. The open-air bath was a real plus because we could use it whenever we wanted. There are also separate men’s and women’s open-air baths that can be used privately from night until morning, when available.

Being close to Nikko Toshogu Shrine may be the main reason to choose this place. The room had a strange smell, maybe kerosene, paint thinner, or aldehyde, and I caught four stink bugs. It’d be tough if you really don’t like bugs. The walls are thin, so I could hear the people next door stomping and talking. The unit bath wasn’t secured and rattled around, while the shower pressure was weak. Even at full blast, the water swung from too hot to too cold, making it hard to adjust. There’s also a separate free-flowing hot spring bath. Restaurants are in the affiliated hotel across the street, at the back. They serve teppan, seafood bowls, udon and soba, pizza, and yogurt, but seem to rely mostly on hotel guests. It looks hard to keep going, so the limited menu is understandable.

That dinner steak was the highlight, really good. I was there for two nights and three days, but the maisonette walls are thin, so next-door guests can make it noisy. If noise gets to you easily, I wouldn’t suggest staying here. The in-room open-air bath is small and runs cool, so you’ll need to adjust the temperature.