Shimoda Ocean Park Hotel

The tatami rooms have a nice atmosphere and plenty of space, and the hotel is reasonably well maintained and clean, even though it’s clearly not new. Being close to the park and ocean is a plus. The tradeoff is the walk: the station is a bit far, and the nearest decent restaurants are at least 20 minutes away on foot. Still, there aren’t good hotels downtown, so this seems like the best choice in Shimoda. A bit of renovation and some bento, coffee, or snacks in the lobby would make it better.

I needed an affordable place within reasonable reach of the train station for three nights, and I was happy with everything. The food included in the half-board package especially impressed me.

We had a spacious room with an excellent ocean view, and there was easily enough space for a family of four and our luggage. It came with a fridge, tea, towels, and yukata robes for the onsen. The futon mattresses were the best I’ve slept on in Japan, though I personally doubled them up. The ocean view is amazing for the price. The front desk staff were friendly and spoke English. They took the time to explain the onsen, restaurant, and lobby hours, and check-in and checkout were quick and easy. The hotel is in great shape, with recently renovated bathrooms that were very nicely done and huge by Japanese standards. At night the road noise was just a soft whoosh, though traffic picked up around 7am and construction started at 9am. The location worked really well for us. There’s a Jonathan's restaurant and a 711 downstairs, downtown Shimoda is a 7-10 minute walk, and across the street there’s a museum with more food options and a scenic Commodore Perry replica tour ship. My stay was honestly better than the Tokyo Hilton at a fraction of the price, and I plan to use this as my base on future Shimoda trips. Motorcycle riders can use one of the few parking spots under the awnings out front, with no parking charge.

The walk from the station was a little longer than I expected, but still manageable if you aren’t carrying much luggage. You can also ask for a shuttle pickup there. The staff were very nice, the rooms had lots of space, and the hot spa, or onsen, was a good size and enjoyable.