Hotel Wakow

Good.

The place already feels nostalgic from the entrance, and even the elevator has an old-fashioned look. The hallways and rooms have a Showa-era style, but they’ve made useful updates, like adding outlets, so I didn’t find it inconvenient. I stay in this kind of hotel now and then, and this one kept the usual grime that can come with age very much in check. I was comfortable here. It’s still not a modern hotel, though, and noise from the corridor comes right through the door. If you’re not bothered by little things like that, the price and what you get are a satisfying match.

We came with the family and would stay here again on a future visit to Yonago. The facilities are old but clean, and the rooms and unit baths felt more spacious than those in newer business hotels. There’s a free massage chair, and the kids had fun at the ping-pong table, which costs 1,000 yen per hour. Our room’s air conditioner wasn’t working properly. I mentioned it to the staff, and they quickly brought over two fans, which was great service. Later, I reset the air conditioner with the remote and got it working.

The massage chair on the 5th floor was broken. I’m here for work, so I don’t mind an old building, but the room setup felt oppressive. Depending on your room, you may face the atrium with no outside view. If you open the curtains, people on the 4th, 5th, and 6th floors can see straight in, so I couldn’t open them at all. At 5,000 yen, it felt far too expensive for what I got. It might be okay for a day stay or just to sleep, but I don’t think I could manage several nights. In this situation, I think Smile, diagonally across the street, might be a better choice.