3-Star Hotels in Nikko

I want to thank hosts of Akari no yado personally. The hosts were nice and worked really hard to feel ourselves at home. The place was clean and the common room was big and comfortable. Bathroom was old fashioned but if you want modern bathrooms you were able to use the bath house for showers and toilets in the common area. Breakfast is made of pastries and all I had was pretty delicious. You can also have marmalade and margarine with breakfast pastries and there are drinks (tea/coffee/milk/juice) to choose from. We checked out early and hosts prepared our breakfast to go even if it wasn’t breakfast time yet. They even drove us to the station when we asked if they would be able to call us a taxi! Bath house was spacious with two different baths. System is easy and we were able to use it whenever we wanted (between 16.00-23.00 of course). They are giving free rental yukatas and they were so comfy. They also have guides everywhere to help you (our room even had a guide on how to prepare a futon bed!) the place felt like we were part of a  family and that was the most amazing part for me. I even got teary eyed when it was time to go. Thank you Akari no yado! Hope to see you soon again!

The hotel is actually closer to Kinugawa-Koen Station; it's a bit of a trek from Kinugawa-Onsen Station, and it's an uphill walk, so I wouldn't recommend it if you have luggage. Overall, the hotel is decent, typical for a one-night stay with two meals. Both meals were substantial, though they featured no high-end ingredients, more like refined, simple fare. The onsen (hot spring) had everything you'd expect, and the water quality was good. A unique feature is the hotel's collection of Western and Japanese dolls, which adds an artistic touch. However, for those who don't appreciate them, they might find them a bit creepy! The Kinugawa River flows right behind the hotel's garden, and the sound of the rushing water is indeed quite loud. Finally, it's not that the cleanliness was bad, but I caught four crickets in the room over one night. If they had been cockroaches, that would have been unacceptable. Perhaps it just means the local ecosystem is thriving?!

Hotel facilities and service attitude are OK, but the location is a bit off, there are not many places to eat around, a bit far from the center.

A rather unique hot spring hotel. The room I booked was a Japanese-style room (washitsu), purely tatami room, and there's no bathroom inside – please be aware of this. To bathe, you need to go to a separate, traditional Japanese hot spring bath, separated by gender, where you must be naked and thoroughly washed before entering. Opinions on the experience vary, but the Japanese seem to enjoy it, haha. The hotel includes breakfast and dinner, which were surprisingly high quality, and the menu changed daily, which was a pleasant surprise. The service was excellent, with the typical Japanese attentiveness, and the staff spoke decent English, so communication wasn't a problem. Overall, a very unique hotel, definitely worth experiencing.

I spent at Kaniyu 2 nights and absolutely loved it! Upon my arrival, there was an English-speaking staff member at the reception, Mr. Tamaki, who kindly upgraded my room for free - thank you so much for that! The room was spacious and clean. It was a bit cool inside, but the heating system worked really well and warmed up the room quickly; the controls were very simple and convenient to use. The futon was comfortable, the blanket was warm and cozy, and although the pillow was a bit too firm for me, I slept just fine without it. The room was equipped with everything needed: towels, yukata for changing, bathroom amenities, and more. Both breakfast and dinner were made from a variety of fresh ingredients — everything was delicious and filling. I tried many dishes for the first time and really enjoyed them! The stuff was very nice and friendly, a canteen lady who helped me to take a picture was very kind! The onsen was absolutely amazing. The hot, milky water was incredibly relaxing (not that smelly for my taste), and the cool outdoor air felt refreshing. I visited it after sunset as well, and it was an unforgettable experience: chilling in hot springs while watching night sky and listening to forest sounds. --- To sum it up, if you're looking for a peaceful retreat off the beaten path and for affordable price, then this place is absolute gem~ P.S. l was mesmerized by the road trip to the Kaniyu itself: mountains, rivers and lakes, a troop of monkeys on the side of the road, tunnels, a hairpin turns and so on.

Both breakfast and dinner are buffet style. They offer fresh tuna and squid sushi, and during the New Year, traditional Japanese New Year dishes. It's quite good value for money. However, the buffet is limited to 1.5 hours and requires a reservation, so you need to check in early to book your preferred time. From what I've seen on Japanese TV programs, the buffet at Mikazuki, which is within a few hundred meters, seems better. But if you don't know that, the service here is overwhelmingly superior compared to other regions.

The BEST hostel I ever stayed in! If you are staying in Lake Chuzenji in Nikko you got to stay here. It is a hostel within a hotel so it is very clean, safe and very big. The staff are very friendly and everything is amazing. They have a free onsen + a lounge with drinks, tea, wine, coffee, and ice cream bars that you could take! They have a microwave too if you need it and a hot water dispenser. The hotel is right in front of the lake so you know you’re gonna have a good time! The bus station is also right in front and if you are parking they have plenty of space! You have to come here. I will come here again!

The exterior of the hotel is pretty, but the interior of the hotel is dated and needs a bit of updating. There were parts of the hotel that were completely shut down (maybe there are saving up enough money to one day renovate). However the facilities and rooms are well maintained and the onsens are beautiful and peaceful. There are 2 main onsens, that are separated by men and women. Each day the onsens are switched, in the morning you will go to one, and in the evening before dinner you can experience the other onsen. Onsite there is a really nice restaurant and gift shop that featured local products at reasonable prices. There is a 24 hour coffee/tea station that is free to use. It's a short 10 minute walk from Kinugawa Onsen Station. When you arrive they provide you a yukata to wear while you are staying at the hotel. The rooms are spacious with options for a western bed or japanese style (sleeping on the floor). We opted for the western bed to be higher off the ground as we thought it would be colder to sleep on the ground. Although the rooms are very well heated and was a bit too warm, that we needed to open the window to cool the room down. The rooms have nice views of the countryside. They provide a pitcher of ice water in the room and you can go to the front desk to refill with ice if more is needed. The bathroom is quite large and has both a shower and toilet in a separate room of the bathroom; although we mostly bathed in the onsen. There is a 7-eleven nearby that was open 24 hours, but otherwise there isn't much else around the hotel. Also the town of Kinugawa Onsen closes quite early, around 8pm it's quite deserted. We were there at the end of November 2024, and it seemed that the hotel was mostly unoccupied, so we felt like we had the place to ourselves. It was a very nice one night stay.

I don’t understand why someone would leave a negative review due to their own negligence. Trip.com clearly mentioned the additional 300-yen tax (I assume this is the onsen tax) per person, yet they still claimed they were “scammed.” My overall experience at Hotel Euro City was wonderful. The staff were extremely nice and helpful, and the shuttle bus service was amazing. If you want to get to the hotel easily, check the shuttle schedule on the hotel’s homepage so you don’t have to walk from the station. They run it every day at 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 15:15, 16:15, 17:15, and 18:15 from “Nikko Station Hotel Classic,” right next to JR Nikko Station. The room was spacious and comfortable, and the onsen in the backyard was great. It’s true that the room had a mild smell, but I assume it was due to recent pest control (it smelled like pesticide). Just open the windows for a while and it goes away. Breakfast was okay—not as fancy as in the advertisements, maybe because it wasn’t peak season. Overall, I think this is a very good choice, especially if you’re traveling with family. 自分の不注意が原因なのに、なぜ悪いレビューを書くのか理解できません。Trip.com にはきちんと「1人あたり300円の追加税金（おそらく入湯税）」と明記されているのに、それでも「だまされた」と書く人がいます。 私のホテル・ユーロシティでの滞在はとても快適でした。スタッフの皆さんはとても親切で、シャトルバスのサービスも素晴らしかったです。駅から歩きたくない場合は、ホテルのホームページでシャトルバスの時刻を確認すると良いと思います。毎日、JR日光駅のすぐ隣にある「日光ステーションホテルクラシック」から 9:00／9:30／10:00／15:15／16:15／17:15／18:15 に運行しています。 部屋は広くて快適で、裏庭にある温泉もとても良かったです。確かに部屋には少し匂いがありましたが、おそらく害虫駆除をした後の匂い（殺虫剤のような匂い）だと思います。窓を開けてしばらく換気すればなくなります。 朝食は普通で、広告ほど豪華ではありませんでしたが、ハイシーズンではなかったためかもしれません。全体的に、特に家族連れの方にはとても良い選択だと思います。

The most important buffet dinner during the stay was served very late, and the dishes were often empty, which is very rare in Japan. Because it was less than 700 yuan and included two meals, although the hotel had many flaws, it was understandable, but the faucet in the room seemed to be broken, and the water flow was not smooth, which should be replaced. Overall, this room was acceptable.