Traveling to Japan? Find Shiga Prefecture hotels

The hotel is situated in a remote area at Otsu, Shiga Prefecture. Location wise, it is not so convenient. Although it provides shuttle bus service that goes between the hotel and Otsu station, the shuttle bus service ends at 9:00pm so you have to ride on taxi back to the hotel from Otsu station after that time. The environment is very nice, especially at morning, it is somewhat like north america, calm and peaceful. Do not expect there will be restaurants around the hotel at night since it is located in such remote area.

Get there by Local JR to Ogoto station was easy, they provide free complimentary shuttle so call them once you reach. We booked the private onsen as my Husband has a tattoo. No tattoos are allowed in the four public onsens. They have four public onsens, two of which the ryokan will specifically tell you how to tell which day one onsen is for male and one is for female so take note! The other two have separate genders bath. I love the 11th floor and 8th floor bath as they overlook Lake Biwa so it’s particularly beautiful in the morning & dusk. Kaiseki was delicious with Shiga Prefecture specialties. The souvenir shop has a lot of cute local gifts. Staff greets you every time they see you which is pretty nice. There’s also a shuttle back to the JR station so ask the staff for the timing so you don’t miss it. A beautiful experience in the ryokan.. if we can we will love to go back again!

This is the best hotel that i stay in japan. This hotel very close to the Minami Kusatsu JR station. After exit the train station the hotel is just in front of us less time for us to find our hotel even this hotel is 15 min journey from kyoto staion. We love this hotel as bathroom was very clean the bed was so comfy to sleep. But during our stay the wifi connection wasnt good i would suggest people who travel to japan for rent a mobile wifi in the airport for use. Other than this i still will choose this hotel to stay if i travel to kyoto again.

It was really one of the best stays I have! This hotel standard is way above and the whole place looks neatly and nicely decorated. The beds were comfortable and clean. Staff were very polite and helpful. It is 20mins JR train ride away from the Kyoto city, but that is not a big problem. Still accessible to me. Will definitely choose this hotel again if I come to Kyoto.

I stay here after skiing in Biwako Valley, it's very good experience, they will pickup you in station after you call them. They also have shutle bus to station at certain time. Their food are good, traditional japan food, traditional japan room with affordable price. Just take notes, there is no lady to service you like in other ryokan. They have 2 onsen for free and by paying a small amount of money (600yen) you can access other onsen in nearby sister hotel including the rooftop onsen!

Excellent hot spring hotel, better than I expected. Very polite staffs, who rejected for tips. Very nice Japanese dinner with around 12 dishes, the staff would introduce each dish for you. Nice private hot spring inside the room, and the room is very clean. Good location, with 30 minutes JR train to Kyoto station, and free shuttle car on demand for each visitor, u can make a phone call to the hotel by using the telephone outside the JR station. And the shuttle car will arrive in 10 minutes, unlike many other hotel, need to follow there shuttle bus timetable. One more things I like is, i dont see any foreigners in the hotel and outside the streets, all Japanese people~ If u wanna visit a hot spring hotel that local people may visit, i think this one is good for you.

This actually is a love hotel. A bit old but it's a big room, big bed & clean! they provide everything you need (like shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, dryers, facial Staffs .............). The toilet also has steam sauna. Even it's a love hotel, u won't hear any noise from outside or from others room. So you don't have to worries about this. We were stayed this hotel because we were ski for few days at biwako Village, the location quite devious, it is totally ok if you are driving, if not, this hotel u may not be consider.

Everything was fantastic about this place. The washroom was simply amazing, it had everything I needed. The only issue I had was that the capsule got a little warm and I had no means of making it cooler since air-conditioning was centralised. Receptionist kindly lowered the temperature for me but it was still quite warm. But overall, I couldn't ask for a better place to stay in Otsu (Shiga) and I highly recommend this!

It was a hassle having to take the train to and from Kyoto Station daily (20 mins each time) to get to most tourist attractions. This would not have been my first choice if there had been rooms available in central Kyoto. But that said, Smile Hotel was value for money, room was clean and the staff made every effort to speak English. A few eateries and 2 convenience stores are but steps away from the hotel, as is the train station, so they made up for the poor location. Do note that this hotel is in Shiga prefecture.

We stayed here one night for a quick trip to shiga-ken and really enjoyed ourselves. However this hotel is probably closer to Kyoto than to many of the places in shiga and around lake biwa. The rooms are normal sized for Japan, and it came with the standard yukata type pjs and toiletries. There are a lot of decent restaurants near the hotel. We went to this old slightly expensive yakiniku restaurant that was great and the owners were very friendly. Overall we really enjoyed the hotel. The staff were friendly and some spoke a little English. The breakfast wasn't bad, but it was very typically Japanese. The room was comfortably furnished and updated.

During the peak season when the hotels in Kyoto are extremely expensive, this hotel that is 25 mins by Shinkansen away from Kyoto (no problem if using the Japan Rail Pass) remains reasonably price. Furthermore, it is just right next to the JR Maibara station, and is a very new facility (so almost everything is in perfect condition). Will stay here again when I go to Japan Kyoto for Koyo.

The Staff was the most friendly and helpful. We came to the Hotel Yes and got a smoking room even though we had specifically asked for a non-smoking one. We could not possibly stay at a smoking room because we would get really ill. Luckily the staff was really helpful and together we could get another hotel for the first night from a nearby village and the staff even gave us a 1 hour ride late that evening. The next day we came back and got a non-smoking room for the rest of our stay :-)

We enjoyed the hotel room and facilities very much. The attention to detail is impressive. The sense of space is excellent. I will recommend the hotel to all of my friends who would be visiting Moriyama area. The Sagawa museum was a real surprise, a fantastic architecture and a sophisticated show. The hotel should advertise itself in cooperation with the museum. Best of luck and thank you. Akira Odani and Dori Daugherty

This hotel looks new, so everything is clean and tidy. No TV channels available though, only pay-per-view channels (pay via vending machines in hotel). I was shocked initially when the hotel staff told me that I only booked for a single bed room for a single occupant only when I book for a single bed double occupant room! I guess it Agoda made a glitch as I remember well there were "2-occupant" icon when I booked the room in Agoda website. Lucky the staff offer me another room for 2 occupants, for a reasonable fee. I stayed for 2 nights in this hotel. Apart from the check-in trouble i had earlier, I pretty much enjoyed my stay with my wife.

15 minutes walk or 500 yen cab ride to front of Hikone Castle moat. Hikone is a quiet town and the castle sit high on the hill overlooking Lake Biwa and the surrounding city. The area where this hotel is a newly developed and has outlet store, couple other high-rise hotels and few restaurant to the east. We enjoyed Sushiro (rotating sushi). Winter is the season famous for seafoods that are only caught between November and end of March. Lake Biwa is a get away from hustle and bustle of the cities.

Although we were here for less than 12 hours, we really enjoyed our stay and are already planning our next visit! The staff were super friendly and accommodating from the beginning (speaking fluent English as well). The facilities were phenomenal, including an awesome outdoor bbq area, lively common room fully stocked with tea and food prep facilities, books everywhere to read, outdoor activities to join, etc! And the food - wow! Definitely invest the 1000 Yen for dinner. Breakfast was healthy in both content and proportion, too. Wish we could have had more time here! We will definitely be back.

I intended a one night stopover on a cycling trip, but heavy rain meant I spent a second night. The first was a bit expensive (national holiday), the second was very cheap, so overall good value. Other reviews make it sound bad, but although it's not the most modern, that's not really a problem for me. It is well kept and very clean. The best bit is the size of the rooms. Mine had 3 beds and a couch plus table, desk and chair. Also a nice large opening window. There is a large downstairs sitting area with tea and coffee and local newspapers. A 7 eleven is about 200 metres up the road. The staff were very friendly and let me keep my bike in my room. This is always a bonus to touring cyclists who often ride expensive bikes. Strangely there is no English sign that I could see from the road. It was a pleasant change from the normal small box like rooms you get in budget business hotels.