Business Hotel Iwagawa

There's nowhere to walk to nearby, with the closest store or restaurant more than 2 kilometers away. The hotel lobby had a few items for sale, but its attached convenience store was temporarily closed, as was the yakiniku place next door where I'd planned to eat. That remoteness is part of the charm, I guess. The building is old, but it has a lovely Showa-era character, and the guest rooms are spacious and comfortable.

I come here when I visit my hometown in Ariake-cho, since I have friends nearby. The parking lot has lots of space, and the grilled meat at the sister restaurant next door is delicious. You can have breakfast there too. The front desk staff are polite and give you a 300 yen voucher. If you like a drink, there are snack bars in the livelier area, a taxi ride away.

I chose this place for a Forest Adventure trip because the Google reviews looked good, but my stay was awful. The room felt old, with obvious stains on the furniture and in the bath, and there was basically nothing there. The convenience store next door had a thin selection too, though I expected that and could tolerate it. What really bothered me was the hot stone bath being open only from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The booking page mentioned a hot stone bath and beauty salon without giving hours, and there was no notice at the entrance. I only learned the schedule after arriving and asking if I could use the bath. Who stays at a hotel between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM? We couldn't use it either. Had we known, we wouldn't have booked. I can't help wondering if they chose those hours because they didn't want people using the bath. I wanted to get home earlier and tried to cut my two-night booking down to one night, but was charged a 70% cancellation fee. The room details said cancellations the day before were free, but apparently cancelling through the booking site the day before means a 70% fee. There's really nothing here beyond a place to sleep.

I stayed for a month on a work trip. The front desk is run by a husband, wife, and son, and they're really friendly. Every day you get a 300 yen ticket for ice cream or juice from the convenience store, like a little candy shop, lol. Meals are served in a room next to the yakiniku restaurant. Breakfast is good, but dinner rotates through meat dishes and sometimes includes instant curry or hamburger steak. They keep that morning's rice warm in a jar, which I can't stand. Breakfast may be enough. Degawa was visiting.