Hot Springs Hotels in Shiga Prefecture, Japan

The location is very quiet and calm. For those who want a break from the main cities this place is highly recommended. The hotel picked us up from the nearby station and the communication was very active and accommodating (I emailed them when we were in Kyoto station in advanced and once we reached the local station, their shuttle was already waiting for us 🥹). Biwako Valley is near so it was our only planned big activity in the area aside from walking along the quiet road and trying convenience store food and using the 24 hour laundry place nearby. The food is very healthy and you will experience traditional Japanese service (they prepared colorful Yukatas for us and we wore them for bfast and dinner in their restaurant) . The private onsen was great and you can also use the public bath in the hotel itself. I cannot list everything but our experience here was truly amazing!

The hotel is about 800 meters from JR Nagahama Station. As I missed the last shuttle bus on arrival, I ended up dragging my luggage and navigating for at least 15 minutes. On the way back, I was familiar with the route and it took less than 10 minutes with luggage. The next day, I took the Chikubushima ferry, and Nagahama Port is also not far from the hotel, reachable within a 10-minute walk. It's very close to Lake Biwa, just seconds away, and the sunsets are absolutely stunning. Due to my early-to-bed, early-to-rise itinerary, I didn't book breakfast or dinner. From 3-6 PM, there are complimentary drinks and snacks, and from 9-11 PM, various alcoholic beverages and snacks are offered. Recreational facilities include table tennis. The public bath was also quite clean. The ventilation in the room's toilet wasn't great, and the drain smell was tolerable. It seemed there were many families with children staying over the weekend, so the soundproofing might not be ideal; I could clearly hear children making noise in the hallway from my room. On the first night, I was knocked on the door twice in the middle of the night... After reporting it to the front desk, the hotel stated it wasn't done by staff. It made me feel a bit uneasy, especially traveling alone.

The hotel has a good environment, very convenient transportation, friendly staff, and good hygiene. It's clean with just the right amount of light, and the air conditioning is nice and cool. (It has a window with comfortable sunlight).

Yumotokan was our first stay at an onsen and first trip to Otsu and Lake Biwa. It blew us away at how amazing and wonderful everything was. We took a local train from Kyoto Station to Ogotoonsen Station. The views of the mountains on one side and the lake on the other were stunning and the shuttle service from Ogotoonsen Station to Yumotokan was much appreciated. We reserved two of the Kotone suites with their own private baths attached to our rooms for one night and we were not disappointed. The rooms included breakfast, dinner, and a hour later check-out time with the reservation. The staff were very kind and accommodating, helping us with whatever we needed (so glad we asked for help with the yukata! It became a cute memory for us). The rooms were comfortably spacious with a gracious amount of amenities and the attached private onsen baths were incredibly healing. We utilized them as many times as was healthy. Both the breakfast buffet and course dinner were amazingly delicious and something that'll be on our minds for awhile. Even our check-out was stress free and we were able to buy souvenirs from a little shop they had inside the lobby. I wish I knew what shampoo and treatment they use or where I can purchase it because it left our hair super soft and silky smooth, nothing like what we use at home. Our stay was amazing and we would highly recommend Yumotokan. We'll definitely visit again on our next trip to Japan, hopefully for a couple more nights!

I like it very much. It is not worse than Yuyuanguan, and the price is good. The chef's cooking skills are very high. The decoration is a bit old-fashioned, and it feels like a Japanese drama. The hot spring robe is better than Yuyuanguan. The dinner is invincible and delicious! Wagyu! Mushroom rice! Sukiyaki! I ate so much! But the breakfast is not very delicious. The pickled cucumber tastes the same as in China. I thought I couldn't eat it far away from Shanghai. In the end, it tasted like the pickled cucumber and pickled radish at home. But it's very photogenic! There are all kinds of colors, but the taste is killed by the xiaolongbao, wontons and pancakes in my hometown Shanghai. The hot spring in Yuyuanguan is very comfortable! There is just an old lady who keeps coming in to clean the hot spring in the morning! I was scared and didn't care about the front and the back. It was so embarrassing!

The room view is wonderful and quiet. Free shuttle bus between Ogotoonsen and hotel, it takes abt 5’min ride time, very good. The hotel restaurant staff are friendly and polite. We stayed 3n and the food menu were changed daily, very impressive. The indoor and outdoor onsen are perfect and relaxing. I will recommend others go there, very good experience.

This hotel is a renovated old building, but the refurbishment was very thorough. The room was clean and new, with a great view. The staff were enthusiastic and helpful. The hotel also offers a shuttle bus service. Besides the dinner being a bit pricey, there's really nothing to complain about. By the way, I'd love to know what brand the lobby's air freshener is, it smelled wonderful!

It was great that there were two large public baths for men and two for women, and they were open 24 hours. Thanks to this, the baths weren't crowded at all, even for such a large ryokan. Dinner was served in a grand banquet hall at a designated time, and it was so lavish that the dishes barely fit on the table – everything was delicious! The facilities are quite old, so I did notice noises like the motor and the bathroom fan, but all the staff were very kind, and I had a pleasant stay overall.

The views are absolutely stunning, but this hotel has quite a few downsides. First, the good points: The scenery is incredibly beautiful, and you can see Lake Biwa right from your window. The public bath isn't crowded, and the views from there are also lovely during the day. This was the hotel with the best views during our entire trip to Japan. The room itself is huge, with plenty of space for multiple suitcases. Now for the cons: 1. It's an 8-minute shuttle bus ride from Otsu Station. However, the shuttle bus is a mid-sized vehicle, and I always felt bad for the driver struggling with luggage, especially when it was full during peak hours (packed, with just enough seats for everyone). The bus's air conditioning wasn't very strong, so it got quite hot when there were a lot of people in summer. It would be great if they had a larger bus, similar to the Biwako Hotel. 2. The hotel has a very strong, unpleasant odor, almost like body odor. It lingered for several days and was really off-putting. I'm not sure if all rooms have this issue. 3. You absolutely cannot open the window at night. They should really put up a warning sign, because if you do, a swarm of small, light-seeking insects will fly in, and you won't be able to get rid of them all. On our first night, we didn't realize and didn't close the window tightly, and we were incredibly bothered by bugs all night. Even though it's an older hotel, I really hope they can address these issues.

Even though this hotel isn't a villa resort, everything was impeccable. It's incredibly busy, yet perfectly managed. The dinner, in particular, was absolutely amazing, easily comparable to a Michelin-starred experience. Chef MAEDA's menu was incredibly thoughtful, with dishes that excelled in color, aroma, and taste, using top-notch ingredients. He even came out frequently to check on guest satisfaction, which was a lovely touch. It's truly worth revisiting! The private onsen in the room was so comfortable; we used it several times a day, soaking while enjoying the sea view. ♨️