Uwajima Dai-Ichi Hotel

At 5900 for a single room without meals, the Uwajima Daiichi Hotel was fine as a place to sleep. Still, as a henro I might stay somewhere else if I returned. I chose it because the bath looked good, but there was no laundry on-site. The coin laundry the front desk pointed me to had several broken machines, cost quite a bit, and didn't sell soap. That leaves henro choosing between washing away from their lodging or trying to do laundry in the sink, neither of which is much fun.

A good place.

The public bath was the one part that felt new, and it was comfortable with a nice cypress scent. The rest of the place seemed worn down and neglected, with old room fixtures, peeling and torn wallpaper, and insects. I also waited around ten minutes to check in. If staff were too busy to help, I wish they had called another employee.

The parking area was quite roomy, which I appreciated, and there was a Family Mart nearby, though it seemed to be the only convenience store around. The hotel has the feel of a business and tourist place with a large public bath. Its building is old but kept up and doesn't seem dirty; the bath is in a separate, newer building that looks like an addition. I stayed in summer, and the halls weren't air-conditioned, probably to save costs. The room wasn't cooled either, and the afternoon sun made it scorching.