Kinugawa Onsen Nikko Kinugawa Hotel Mikazuki

I came with my parents for their first trip to Japan, and we all enjoyed our stay. The hotel is only a five-minute walk from the train station. Our room was clean, spacious, and comfortable, though a little old. There’s a large onsen area with plenty of pools, plus activities like ping pong, which you need to sign up for in advance. The food had lots of variety and was very solid, though after two days I was getting a bit tired of it. It was great to have beer and wine on tap. Our only issue was a group of very loud drunk people on the floor above us at night. The walls and floors didn’t seem particularly thin, they were just extremely boisterous. The front desk worked hard to quiet them, and I commend them for trying.

The jacuzzi room I got was really large, and the onsen helped me relax. The waiter greeted me very politely during my stay.

This family resort has a cafeteria-style buffet and lots of kids around. The room was clean but a little dated, and it was much too warm. I can’t imagine how it feels in peak summer. There’s a great variety of food, though the quality was only so-so. The location also wasn’t especially convenient for visiting the heritage sites.

The rooms are huge, around 400 square feet each. The buffet was the other standout: nine stations with everything from raw shrimp and Hamachi to tuna, toro sashimi, Wagyu, chicken, and Italian, Chinese, and Western dishes. The food felt like five star hotel quality, and there was even a station just for kids. Drinks were all you can drink too, including beer, wine, sake, tea, coffee, and soda. I think they had at least 15 wines and four kinds of beer. The indoor and outdoor hot spring pools were hot and cold, with separate nude bathing areas by sex. Visible tattoos aren't allowed.