Super Hotel Otsu-Ekimae

The room was small, though it was clean. Otsu itself seems like a nice place to stay, but I’m not sure about this hotel. I booked a room for three with breakfast included, thinking Otsu would be a good stop on my way to Kyoto during a recent Osaka and Kyoto trip. I’m a foreigner, so perhaps I’m not reading local customs correctly, but this felt like a business hotel for work stopovers rather than a leisure stay. A notice said front desk support was available only during certain hours, so arriving late could make check-in difficult. At check-in, a senior male staff member seemed sarcastic and indifferent instead of welcoming. I’d told him I arrived by car and parked downstairs, but because I hadn’t reserved parking in advance, he told me to move it as soon as possible, saying I might upset someone I’d accidentally parked in the way of. He gave me little room to explain and didn’t seem interested in pointing me to a nearby lot with a lower rate. Later, after we had trouble finding food on foot, I asked if the hotel could provide dinner. He looked at me and my parents as if the question was nonsense. He could have simply said dinner wasn’t available. I was taken aback and annoyed, and he eventually told us that restaurants near the station should still be open.