Ashino Park

As someone who generally stays at APA hotels and the occasional capsule hotel, I'd consider this room to be "super-nice." It was a like an APA room but slightly more spacious and where most everything in the room was 'slightly nicer.' **Upsides: *The sliding door that separated the bedroom from the entryway went a long ways toward dampening sounds from the hallway, to the extent where I didn't hear anything when I had the door closed. *The bathroom was level with the entryway floor; it had the toilet and shower I've used at newer capsule hotels, but this time I didn't have to share them with anyone. *I didn't use the laundry room, but apparently the washing machine was free and the dryer cost 100yen per 20 minutes. Assuming the drying isn't "the slowest dryer I've yet to use in Japan" then this should come out to being a fine price for laundry. *The TV didn't prevent my from plugging in my Switch and playing some games. **Neutral: *Front desk was on the 4th floor, which I didn't see the sign saying until I'd taken a lap around the building, wondering where to go. *The two vending machines sold 'stuff I might buy,' but alas no hot coffee (which seems to require me to go to conbini for my after-meal cans of hot coffee, in Aomori in the summer). *There's apparently a public bath here, but I didn't use it. **Negatives: My view from the window was 'mostly of a wall,' although there was some cityscape from a certain angle.

It’s located rather remote. It’s a hot spring hotel than your usual hotel. You may have to settle your meals in the hotel as travelling out is just too far away. However it’s a different experience to immerse in the country side though….

The hotel was fine, but felt 'aimed at a target audience that doesn't include me.' Maybe someone a couple decades older would enjoy this place, though. **Positives: *Spacious room....if you're used to business hotel-sized rooms, anyhow. *The view from the window included a little bit of ocean. *The bathroom floor was level with the hallway, which is a pleasant surprise after getting used to the "step up/down" that is the usual business hotel bathroom. *Bed was comfortable for sleeping on and 'comfortable enough' for sitting on. *Shower was spacious enough to not bump my elbows into the walls, which is always a nice change of pace. **Neutral: *The AC was overly aggressive -- it was other 'a bit too cold' or it was muggy. High-quality problem though, I suppose. *I didn't try the in-hotel restaurant, but there was a fairly long line at 6:30am, so it's popular, if nothing else. **Negatives: *Check-in involved a hard-copy of some sort of check-in record, and waiting for the clerk to my find my record took longer than it needed to. It's 2026 -- computerize, man.