Yamabe Hotel

A good option if you’re after a cheap stay!

I spent one night here by myself with dinner and breakfast included. The owner and mother were kind, and I enjoyed chatting with them, though cleanliness and footsteps were concerns. Paintings by the mother hang around the building. They’re said to be originals, and they’re lovely. Dinner was brought to my room. That night it included roast beef, sukiyaki, simmered fish, and dessert, with generous portions and great flavor. Breakfast was the usual guesthouse meal served in a tatami room, and the miso soup was especially good. There’s also a fairly large bath on the second floor. You get a ticket and lock the door after each use, so you can relax in there at your own pace.

The food is delicious, the prices are reasonable, and there’s parking. It’s also close to the station, and the baths are comfortable. Just keep in mind that checkout seemed a little early.

I stayed one night without meals over the November three-day weekend, paying just 3,500 yen including tax for a six-tatami Japanese-style room on my own. I’d walked there from Kintetsu Sakurai Station along Yamanobe-no-Michi, one of Japan’s oldest roads. I’d hoped to book dinner after reading good things about the food, but the dining room was full. That wasn’t a problem for meals, though, since the Tenri Station shopping district is nearby. The room reminded me of my grandmother’s house in the countryside. There wasn’t much dust or rubbish, but I used the cordless vacuum in the hallway to clean before settling in. The toilets and washrooms had recently been renovated, which surprised me (lol), and they were clean and comfortable. The free washer and dryer were handy for a walking trip, too. The spacious bath is an old-fashioned family bath, and being able to use it 24 hours a day is great. It locks while someone’s inside. There are baths on the second and third floors, so it was easy to check another one, and with only a few guest rooms it wasn’t an issue. I’ve seen people leave terrible reviews, but if you book a place at this price near the station and expect the facilities of a city hotel, that’s a mismatch.