Toya Gokirakutei

Dinner was the highlight for me, and it was a very complete meal. Breakfast was good too, served Japanese style. The rooms are spacious, tidy, and traditional. The hotel is close to the lake, though another hotel blocks the view. It’s a short walk from the bus station, and there’s also a bus stop nearby. The building needs renovation. My room window was broken, so I couldn’t see outside clearly, and the baths are very old and need new tiles and baskets. The bath water is quite brown, which can look dirty, but it isn’t. The fireworks over the lake every evening are really beautiful.

Being so close to the lake is a good reason to stay here. I also enjoyed the food. There’s no air conditioner, but that didn’t bother me since I was only in the room at night, when it was cool. The ground-floor baths were in shocking disrepair, with cracked tiles and dirty, crumbling plaster. I’d skip them and go straight to the baths at Kohantei instead. Those were adequate, though less luxurious than other baths I’ve visited in Hokkaido and Osaka. The dining hall felt stuffy because the air didn’t circulate.

The price is very low, and the hot spring bath is nice. The hotel has few facilities and basic rooms, but the food is good. I liked both the room and the location. The lake, where you can see the fireworks, is within walking distance, and there are restaurants and a convenience shop nearby.

The hotel’s public bath was tiny and didn’t feel clean, so I used Kohantei’s bath instead. It was really good, and you can use it for free. In our bathroom, there was hair stuck to the wall and some dust on the windowsill. Dinner was a single set menu with little choice. Apart from the rice and miso soup, everything seemed prepared ahead and was cold.