Ōtsu hotellia

Plussat: Literally everything. It was a pretty late check in (from 5 pm) but it was an amazing price for one night. Huge hotel, exceptional staff and just an amazing interior. Room was perfect and the view of lake Biwa was stunning. Definitely recommended!

Plussat: Superb breakfast and wonderful window lake view.

Miinukset: Human hairs in bath tub.

Plussat: Large room Panorama Shops inside the hotel with essentials

Miinukset: A quite “locked in their systems” staff, little bit “rigid”... the feeling was that they was not very interested in meeting customers' needs (unless you are willing to pay handsomely for any request).

Plussat: I was pleasantly surprised by the view and area around the facility. It was a really nice to spend time waking around the hotel. The breakfast was great quality. The staff were very attentive and friendly. I would highly recommend this place for anyone.

Miinukset: The water pressure was a bit of sometimes as you could hear the pipes groan.

Plussat: The view is great in the afternoon. The bed was comfortable.

Miinukset: It's expensive for what it is. The view is really nice but the window fogged up so much in the morning and became really wet. All the restaurants in the hotel are expensive and only do courses/sets, there wasn't much flexibility. I expected more from the room, the pictures and description wasn't completely accurate but it was a comfortable, spacious, standard room.

Plussat: Bicycle rental service And the breakfast was good Also the view from my room was lake view and it was beautiful.

Miinukset: Nothing

Plussat: The rooms are clean and the scenery from the hotel is amazing. The staff here are extremely friendly and the location of the hotel is superb.

Plussat: Everything about this property was amazing. It is not central to Kyoto but totally worthwhile. Fantastic location for a bit of relaxation with a spectacular view of Lake Biwa. The Prince Hotel has a shuttle service from Otsu which runs hourly and very convenient, and if you're commuting outside the shuttle service, the closest subway station is Zeze and is only a short walk.

Miinukset: The pool was closed as it was off-season but would have been great to know at the time of booking. Especially seeing it was included in all the property photos and made no mention of the closure. Unfortunately, the whole outside area by the pool was unavailable, even if you want to just soak up some rays.

Plussat: Room was lovely.

Miinukset: Food was expensive and not good.

Plussat: The location is really good. And I particularly like the window view!

Plussat: The view, food, room

Miinukset: Nothing.. everything is excellent

Miinukset: Booked for 3 people in a room... Only had space for 2 people in the room.

Plussat: The restaurants inside the hotel were all excellent! Four different restaurants inside the hotel and one had four different styles of cuisines for a total of seven excellent resturants!

Miinukset: You must get reservations, all restaurants always crowded.

Plussat: Nice and modern room Free shuttle service just for 5 minutes ride Nice and lake view onsen

Miinukset: None

Plussat: Perfect view over Lake Biwa from the hotel room, which is spacious and well decorated. The room is clean and the beds are comfortable. There is a hot spring in the hotel which again offers an amazing view over the lake. The carpark is located on the ground floor and easily accessible.

Miinukset: Nothing

Plussat: Hotel location was superb and our bedroom was spacious and extremely comfortable. It was very good value for money and the buffet breakfast provided options for all tastes. Shuttle service to and from railway station was very useful.

Plussat: We loved our room so large for Japan. Great view of the lake and a fantastic breakfast. The indoor pool was a great bonus.

Miinukset: There really wasn't anything we didn't like. Just felt it would have been amazing with a bit of maintenance on the grounds.

Plussat: The Spa at the hotel was amazing

Miinukset: The facilities are very simple. The price is too high for the value

Plussat: We stayed for 2 weeks visiting family and had a good size room with seating area and a fridge. The room was very quiet with a huge comfortable bed - we slept very well! Staff were extremely polite, helpful and friendly ... and the huge buffet breakfast catered for all tastes. The bus to Ishiyama station was regular and a great bonus, although we also walked to Seta station.

Plussat: The lobby was grandiose, my room was clean and spacious, and the staff were great. The bathroom has a walk-in shower as well as a shower attachment in the bathtub. The water pressure was impressive! Also, Please note that many rooms face the interior grounds of the hotel, which makes for a mediocre view, but FROM ROOM 419 there is a good view of the southernmost part of Lake Biwa (where it flows into the Seta River). The night view of the opposite shore is quite beautiful. It really adds to the ambience of the place. Parking is administered by ‘Times’ but the hotel guests only pay ¥500 yen for a one night stay, and you can enter and exit as many times as you like.

Miinukset: It’s obvious that no one on the staff takes pride in maintaining the interior gardens. It’s unfortunate. Also, some of the furniture really should be replaced. I’d hate for this to be a deal-breaker for you, but the sofa bed in our room was kind of disgusting. (We decided not to use it.) The ones in other rooms might be fine.

Plussat: Classy hotel with dated decor. Very spacious room and excellent bathroom and layout. Very good choice of food for breakfast. The free Shuttle bus to Ishiyama Station was useful. Very good diner down the road called Joyful, next to Lawsons shop. Very good food and price.

Miinukset: We were down about 30 minutes before breakfast ended on the first morning and some of the food was only tepid. It should have been hotter. TV has no English speaking channels. Restaurants were pricey. Too far from Kyoto city centre but trains will get you there in 30 mins. Extra charges for gym, pool and spa, etc.

Plussat: Second visit. Location is great. Faces Lake Biwa which was really beautiful. Food was good, private onsen really made a lot of difference in the experience.

Miinukset: A little pricey for the experience. Could do with more queen sized beds rather than single beds in the room.

Plussat: Kylpyläalue ja japanilaistyylinen huone ovat viihtyisät. Maisema huoneesta hieno.

Miinukset: Käytävämelu kuuli todella selvästi huoneeseen. Hotellin ulkopuolella Ruokaravintoloiden tarjonta ja aukioloajat olivat vaatimattomat. Kannatta varata ruoka hotellilta varauksen yhteydessä varmistaakseen ruokailun pääsyn

Plussat: The onsen was great and the food fantastic. Highly recommend it!

Plussat: Hot spring and food (including dinner and breakfast ) are very impressive, so is the shuttle service.

Miinukset: The space is not as big as I thought, but is still enough for a four-person family. I found some instant noodle on the tatami. Staff should walk around the room after their cleaning.

Plussat: The food, since the first night, we are looking forward to every dinner, we stayed three nights and have had wonderful dining experience. The buffet breakfast is very good too, you can grill your own fish at the table and various types of fish available

Miinukset: The In Room refrigerator Our ice cream turned into milk shake We always love an ice cream after the hot bath :(

Plussat: Friendly staff, attentive service, good food which is value for money

Miinukset: Breakfast with a selection of grilled items which is not our favourite, it would be good if hotel can add more variety of bread, cereals etc for guests to choose

Plussat: Food was awesome!!

Plussat: Great service from all the staff. Very comfortable rooms. Food was amazing. Onsen has amazing views on L11.

Miinukset: Location is a bit inconvenient. Games room is a bit old and run down. Mahjong room is a bit too expensive.

Plussat: Our room with the private onsen was excellent! The room was very clean and they provided us with complete amenities. The staff were really friendly. We also availed for the half-board and the dinner was really delicious. I would recommend for those booking this hotel to avail for the dinner and breakfast as they are both worth the money and will save you time as well. For anyone who wants to relax and experience staying in a Japanese-style hotel, I would recommend booking here especially the room with the private onsen.

Miinukset: It would be better if the payment would go be done directly through websites such as booking.com or any other trusted website. The email that was sent by the hotel looked a bit dodgy so I was hesitant to pay through the PayPal link that was sent. I had to confirm first and make a call to the hotel to make sure that the email was really sent by them.

Plussat: We like staying there we try japanase style room and we were enjoy there and love it . The private onsen was great and very clean. The staff very helpful.

Miinukset: We did not like the dinner .

Plussat: Lovely Kaiseki dinner and authentic Japanese breakfast was provided. The staff were considerate to remember my request for specific meal plan (no beef and pork) as one of my family members requested so. We expected to eat in our room but had our meals in the restaurant instead as our room only had one room. As such, staff came and set up the bedding in our tatami room when we were having our meal. The room though old, was impeccably clean. The indoor bath on the second floor was old but big and clean. The outdoor bath on the 5th floor was incredible and the locker/powder room area was big, warm and clean. The bath on the 8th and 11th floor were smaller than expected but still great to soak. While the bath on the 8th and 11th floor have a view of the lake, it must be noted that Yumotokan is still a distance away from the lake, as such, we could only see the lake in the distance. On the day of the check-out, we did not know that the shuttle bus to the station operated at certain timings only. The staff called us 2 taxis due to the amount of luggage we had. However, 1 taxi could only arrive 20 minutes later, which was too late for us as we had a train to catch. The staff asked us if we were alright with taking just 1 taxi (which could arrive 10 minutes earlier), but shared that one of us would have hug the extra suitcase due to the lack of boot space. We told them we were okay with that as it was only a 5 minute car ride to the station. However, the staff decided that that was not okay for us and found one of the front desk staff who was licensed to drive the shuttle to ferry us to the station. This was such a kind and generous gesture and we were so touched by it! Really thankful to the front desk staff at Yumotokan who helped us catch our train on time! This was our first onsen inn experience and the service standard and cleanliness standard of the hotel shone through.

Miinukset: It was difficult that many of the staff around the hotel could not speak English. However, they really really tried their best to help us and answer our queries. Really appreciate that! (Front desk staff were more equipped in speaking English though)

Plussat: evrything good and meet my expectation

Plussat: I liked the mood of the hotel, like a traditional ryokan with futon, tatame,,kimonos and traditional japanese breakfast in the room.Nice attention from the staff , farewell greetings untill the bus turned of the corner the street!

Miinukset: Like I said it is a japanese traditional style, do not expect an international standart room, it is not a complaint, just a remark...

Plussat: Everything was good, the location, it was comfortable, next to plenty of shops and so on.

Miinukset: The only slight issue was whenever we open the door, it made the loud 'bang' sound, gave us a fright quite often.

Plussat: The bed was comfortable. The room was clean and the view was interesting. I would stay there again.

Miinukset: The Pillows were not comfortable at all.

Plussat: Reasonable price

Miinukset: Car park around is quite full.

Plussat: Near Kyoto yet not in it

Miinukset: Space for unpacked gear

Plussat: Location, staff, facilities, breakfast fantastic. Brand new, modern and spotless. Close to station, convenience stores, supermarket. Spacious room and super comfortable large bed.

Miinukset: Walls paper thin, heard guy next door snoring. Heating much too hot in winter, I had to borrow a fan from reception.

Plussat: Location: it's only half a minute walk to train station and bus station. Everything worked fine. Breakfast was simple but tasty.

Miinukset: A bit dated. Otherwise nothing wrong with this business hotel.

Plussat: 1. service is very good 2. even public spring is including indoor and outdoor, very nice 3. dinner and breakfast are very very amazing 4. a very large room with different partitions, well designed, we could enjoy high privacy, and nice view 5. it is near tourist information centre, we could rent bicycles in just minutes walk 6. people are nice here and we feel wholehearted service here

Plussat: The staff were all super friendly and provided great service! The breakfast was excellent! The bed was comfortable!

Plussat: The room was very clean and comfortable. Delicious breakfast.

Miinukset: It is really cold to use the outdoor bath within the room during winter. You would have to shower at outdoor bath before dipping into tub.

Plussat: Very authentic experience of traditional ryokan. Loved the bath in room and at the rooftop. Pretty interior, big room, yukata, tea. Interesting and cute town, very friendly personal, picked us up from station and brought us back, japanese breakfast

Miinukset: Limited english, except one receptionist, but it didnt hinder the communication:) the town a bit empty, not a lot of food choices or much to see but for one or two days enough:) Considering the building there is specific smell, but it didnt bother much. Price for the private bath is a bit much in my opinion but i still loved the experience. But In overall we had amazing stay!

Plussat: Dinner was great. Lots of variety and tasty dishes And room was great too, very authentic Japanese ryokan which is why we spent a bit extra on this one

Miinukset: Being rushed at our welcome drink, only sat down and had a sip before lady wanted to take us to room And wanted to have drink before dinner at 5.30 but got told we needed to go to dinner which we had booked for 6 Paying an onsen tax on check out that had not been explained to us Didn’t make it as a relaxing experience as hoped for. Felt always doing something wrong.

Plussat: The quality of service in this smaller ryokan impressed me. We were slightly late and they sent someone in the street to look for us. We had a person assigned to us during our stay, and she made sure everything was perfect. We appreciated meeting the very cute and cuddly resident Shiba Inus. The room was lovely too. The food was great.

Miinukset: We were hoping for a scenic view of the lake. Our room did have a view of the lake, but not particularly scenic. We were hoping to find a nice lakefront area within walking distance from the hotel, but to no avail. The onsen facilities were great, however I wished there was a cold bath and a steam room in addition to the indoors + outdoors hotbaths.

Plussat: Awesome hotsprings, friendly staff

Miinukset: The beds were rock hard!

Plussat: Great dinner in the evening and a generous breakfast. Good free bus service. Fun games room!

Plussat: Great Ryokan that keeps up the image you have when you think japanese style inn. The baths in the other facility were great especially the outdoor ones.

Plussat: The property is very clean and the dinner and breakfast were sumptuous! The onsen in the property is very small and is indoor and the room slightly small as well. However, you can and should definitely use the onsen in the sister property next door, Yumotokan for 600 yen per person per day. The onsen next door is lovely and overlook Biwa Lake. There is a shuttle to the property from the nearby subway station which you can call the property for when you arrive at the station. They will also send you to the subway station when you check out. Overall a very enjoyable stay.

Miinukset: Small indoor onsen

Plussat: We love the breakfast and dinner.

Plussat: The staff were very helpful as we only speak English and Spanish. They told us all about the amenities including the first-hour free for the private onsen. Loved it here!

Miinukset: Everything was amazing. Well done!

Plussat: Food

Miinukset: Bath

Plussat: Friendly staffs

Miinukset: No

Plussat: We booked a room with an open air hot spring bath, which was one of the many highlights. Our room faced the lake and had a beautiful view. The kaiseki dinner was amazing on both nights, with the first one being a typical kaiseki and the second with an emphasis on crab. Breakfast was very good too. Lastly, the hospitality was something that blew me away. Everyone was so friendly to us, so eager to explain and guide us through the inn, the food, and the various traditions that are involved. It was not intimidating at all, and the hospitality definitely had a lasting impression on me.

Miinukset: Some construction was going on during the middle of the day (11am~1pm). It's not a huge deal since most people are out during that time, and it's understandable for the maintenance of the property.

Plussat: Great service! Wonderful dinner and breakfast. Onsen was very relaxing.

Plussat: The food was absolutely incredible. The staff were kind and accommodating. Quality of the hotel resides mostly there and in the quality of the onsen.

Miinukset: For the prices the room was good but not mind blowing. We can feel the rooms are not all new.

Plussat: Great place, a bit pricey but the grade of service, standard of meals, level of cleanliness was exceptional and so worth it! Can't fault them for anything really, they were so warm and welcoming, would definitely recommend Biwako! Also loved the view of Biwako lake from our room and the open air spa we had. Their yukata selections for ladies was also beautiful!

Miinukset: Nothing, loved everything!

Plussat: The dinner and breakfast are excellent, exceeded our expectation. The welcoming staff is very friendly and informative, she can speak several languages, no communication problem at all. I would also like to praise the excellent free shuttle bus service provided to and from train station. The hot bath is exceptional good, the bath areas are very clean and tidy, the instructions of how to use the bath are very clear and easy to understand which make the inexperienced bathers like us can enjoy the bath at ease.

Plussat: Location is very near to train station

Miinukset: Coffee not provided in room or lobby. Staff refused to issue 2nd room card

Plussat: The proximity to the train station was very nice.

Miinukset: Walls were very thin, yelling kids next door the first night made it a challenge to sleep. If they wouldn't have left the next day we would have requested another room.

Plussat: location

Miinukset: I was surprised because of the dirty pillow (many small black feather). Also, refrigerator has no water. Staff cannot speak English although Otsu is a city for travel.

Plussat: The location

Miinukset: The water pot needs a stove to heat up water.

Plussat: To me, it was just what I needed, so I could say it was perfect: excellent location if you're traveling by train (literally above the railway tracks, but no specific noise to disturbe my stay), large room (double), very clean, very friendly and thoughtful employees, tasty food for breakfast, lunch and dinner also available, I really felt I was on vacation on the overall. Also has easy access to convenience stores. I do recommend it.

Miinukset: No such thing, or maybe just the tiny fact that I could not use the bed lamp next to my bed, but it might be because I did not take the time to read through the instructions on the console and just used one of the more obvious other options which also had control from the console (it was literally a console).

Miinukset: Facility is old, esp. the kettle and washing room. The room size is rather big comparing Osaka and Kyoto. The location I originally assumed is good, cause it just locates JR Otsu station. The fact is quite different. The hotel is on the south side of JR, all the stores, coffee shops and traffic are on oppsite side. Unless we take JR and purchase JR ticket, we couldnot cross JR as there is no free link way, we managed to show the hotel key to JR staff after JR trip, we could grab cups of coffee and re-enter station, and use the tickets to exit JR to hotel, who design this! Or we had to walk another enroute outside the building and JR rails. It was rather cubersome particularly during snow fall nights.

Plussat: The staff were very friendly and the dinner and breakfast were excellent. Inexpensive and very tasty. The hotel is 0 (zero) minutes from the south exit of the station, so there could not be a more convenient place. It is not new, but I felt very comfortable.

Miinukset: The bed side lamp didn’t have a bulb in it, so I could read in bed. There was a message in Japanese about the pulsating of the LED light, but there was no light bulb there.

Plussat: The staff at the desk was very friendly and helpful.

Plussat: Location is good - fairly near the train station. Clean, friendly owner.

Miinukset: Would rather stay in Osaka for the price - beds are just ok, and unlike most Japanese dorms that are built with curtains for privacy, this one isn't.

Plussat: The owner is very kind and smiling. We had a big room with kitchen and fridge for our group. There was a parking nearby, 600 yens all night.

Plussat: The location--walkable to both JR Otsu and Keihan Hamaotsu Stations, Lake Biwa, & convenience stores--was excellent. We even saw a bit of the Sanno-Sai festival down the block one evening! Multiple showers, sinks, toilets, bunk beds, & trash receptacles were very practical/helpful. Microwave, toaster oven, washing machine, and heater/cooler all worked fine.

Miinukset: The decor had more of a Chinese flair than wabi-sabi, and the WiFi was spotty at times, especially on newer devices.

Plussat: No

Miinukset: Nothing

Plussat: Not much

Miinukset: Run down place. Facility poor -kitchen not very clean and supplies were haphazard. Bed so hard I had to sleep ion a very small couch to get any sleep at all. I had to call the okusan in order to check-in. What if I hadnt had a phone??? II had to call her to come back latef since there were no English instructors for how to use the heat and it was freezing cold. The place was so musty that I felt unwell and gave up after 1 night. Id like a refund of the 2nd night!

Plussat: The hostel is quite small but is very clean and has everything you need including kettle, microwave , washing machine and tea/coffee facilities. Great access to both JR and Keihan train stations which made sight-seeing really easy. The owner was super helpful and happy to answer any questions and also responded to messages through booking.com in a timely manner. She also has a little cafe/pork bun shop in the nearby shopping mall which is super cute and worth asking her about so you can go and check it out!

Plussat: Owner was very nice and helpful. Great location, very close to tram station.

Plussat: Nice little guesthouse. The owner is very helpful and will do everything she can to provide for all your requests. (She took the time to take me to a doctor for my bad knee)

Plussat: 1. Paying lots of attention to guests’ safety. 2. Concerning every detail of guests’ demands. 3. Providing remarkable breakfasts with reasonable price.

Miinukset: None.

Plussat: thank you for shuiji couple. their breakfast is the best. they are so nice and patient. if i have chance i will travel to ostu and i will live there one more time. i can feel the Japanese culture. we are Cider and Aileen. see you next time.

Miinukset: nothing