Business Hotel Yamamoto

The view of Togo Lake from my room was really relaxing, and there’s a parking lot too. It’s a retro-feeling inn, but perfectly comfortable for a solo stay. What I especially like is having hot spring water in the unit bath. I can soak whenever I want and set the temperature myself, whether I want it normal when I arrive or a little hotter before bed or in the morning. Large public baths are nice, but you have to adjust to the temperature they provide. I was able to relax very well.

This place is right by the Togo Hawai Onsen Tourism Association, and the first floor has a souvenir shop. It’s a hotel, so I suppose that makes sense. The main draw is that it’s in a hot spring town, and apparently every room has hot spring water. There’s no large public bath, but it’s reasonably priced and you can bathe as often as you like. The tub is small, though, so stretching your legs is hard. I didn’t notice much smell or any particular qualities in the water, and it didn’t really feel like a hot spring bath to me. Rooms start at just over 5,000 yen without meals. There’s a microwave but no dining facilities, so plan on eating at a restaurant or buying food at a convenience store or supermarket. There’s a coffee shop nearby, though the convenience store and supermarket are a walk away. A popular izakaya is also close by, and booking ahead seems wise. If you drive, there’s open-air parking and you don’t have to tell the front desk in advance, so you can go out to buy something after checking in. The facilities feel old-fashioned and simple. The room doors only have keys on the doorknob, no chain lock, which might make women staying alone uneasy. Guests can come and go through the hotel’s private back door after check-in, so in theory non-guests could get in if they knew about it. Check-in is at the front desk, which is also the souvenir shop, so just enter through the shop. There are two parking spaces beside the hotel, and if those are full, you can use the tourist association lot by the vending machine in the square across the street. Amenities include a toothbrush and toothpaste, body soap, rinse-in shampoo, one large and one small towel, a yukata, and a hair dryer. You need to ask the front desk for a razor. I didn’t see facial cleanser, so bring one if you need it. There are Japanese-style and Western-style rooms. Unless you specifically want a Japanese-style room, I’d choose Western-style. The futon isn’t laid directly on the tatami, and it seemed thin enough that your back might hurt. The LCD screen was also hard to see when I tried watching TV while lying down. There seems to be some slack in the antenna cable, so maybe the TV can be moved off its stand. I don’t think the toilets and bathrooms are particularly different between the two room types.

The ice cream they sell there was delicious. It seems to be a regional specialty sold only in limited places, and I highly recommend it. My visit to the souvenir shop downstairs was less pleasant. An elderly woman came down from upstairs, apparently helping her son or someone, and kept following me around explaining products while I browsed. I hadn’t asked for help, and it felt like pressure to buy something, though maybe she just wanted to chat. I didn’t want anything in particular, but the explanations went on so long that I got tired and grabbed something nearby so I could leave. When I tried to pay by card, she laughed and said she didn’t know how, then asked if cash was okay. Ugh, give me a break. The shop does accept cards and electronic payments.

There’s a souvenir shop attached, which is handy. The room has a lake view, so mornings are pleasant when the weather is nice. It’s a unit bathroom, but the water is from a hot spring. It starts out cold, then reaches just the right temperature once the tub is full.