Hotel Urashima

There’s self-service laundry, and it’s child friendly, with kids’ yukata, plates, and cutlery. The Onsen experience was wonderful, with two cave Onsen and several smaller indoor ones, though it takes a good 15 minutes to get from my room to the cave. One night is enough for this massive hotel. The food wasn’t great, but I came for the Onsen. The place is old and dated, with a lot of history associated with it.

The onsen is the highlight, with four in total, including two cave onsens facing the sea. Soaking in the cave was next level and very shiok. The food was good, and if you’re lucky, there’s live tuna cutting during the buffet, so the tuna is super fresh. The whole place feels like a huge resort, and there’s a long, cool escalator built into the mountain. Prices are very reasonable. It’s near Nachi Falls, so don’t just rush back to Osaka on a day trip. Stay here and enjoy Wakayama properly. Great value, very relaxing, and I’ll come back again.

Getting around takes stamina and plenty of time because the hotel is so large. I’d recommend staying several nights to appreciate its charm. The staff were friendly, the meals delicious, and the hot spring experience was superb, unlike anything I’d had at another hotel. It was an excellent stay.

We left after one night because the problems we raised were never addressed. The hotel let us cancel the second night without a fee, but charged us for the first night and for extras like drinks with dinner. There was no compensation or gesture of goodwill. At checkout, we got only a quick “sorry,” and no real effort to understand what had happened. The trouble started when we arrived: we had to carry all our luggage along a long, difficult path to the room ourselves. I nearly fell, and staff offered neither help nor concern. Their manner felt cold. In the room, the towels were stained, and the kettle had heavy residue and rust inside, so it didn’t feel safe to use. We reported both the service and hygiene issues on our first night. Nobody came to check the room, nothing was fixed, and we heard nothing further. The whole response was disappointing, and I wouldn’t recommend the hotel to anyone who cares about cleanliness and basic service.