What are some affordable ryokan in Nikko?
Posted on May 7th, 2010 by admin
Our trip to Japan in November is being adjusted a bit to include one night in Nikko at the beginning of the trip, and we’re on the hunt for an affordable ryokan… Somewhere around 4-5,000JPY preferably. Something along the cost-lines of the Turtle Inn and Annex but with better reviews…
Have you stayed there and have a place to recommend?
Unfortunately since most visitors to Nikko are day trippers from Tokyo, accommodations in Nikko tend to run from the elegant and expensive to the cheap and shabby. In the price range you’re looking at, you’re not going to find anything luxurious.
Having stayed at the Turtle Inn Annex in Oct. 2007, I found it to be an extremely comfortable, well run little ryokan hotel that has some nice nice touches. It’s a bit off the beaten path, down a rural street and nestled against the banks of the Daiyagawa river, which makes it a very quiet and restful location and it’s only a pleasant walk away from the Shinkyo bridge (going past that brings you towards the town center) and the Toshogu Shrine and the Rinnoji Temple. The family that runs the both the annex and the Turtle Inn down the road were extremely friendly and helpful and were happy to give you tips on all the things to see. Their English was excellent and while I had to go to the Turtle Inn for dinner and to use the communal computer, the Annex was a really lovely place to stay. And the bath downstairs (which you can use privately) was first rate.
Having stayed at a few places in Japan that got bad reviews on some of the tourist websites and found them to be wonderful, I tend to take traveler reviews with a big grain of salt. I’ve seen people write bad reviews when they learned that the inns they were staying at had curfews (which is nearly universal with ryokans), or complaining about steep staircases when staying at inns over 100 years old. Since you are only staying for one night, I wouldn’t sweat trying to find the perfect place – you want quiet, clean, safe and comfortable. I can assure you from personal experience that the Turtle Inn Annex provides all of that.
May 7th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Unfortunately since most visitors to Nikko are day trippers from Tokyo, accommodations in Nikko tend to run from the elegant and expensive to the cheap and shabby. In the price range you’re looking at, you’re not going to find anything luxurious.
Having stayed at the Turtle Inn Annex in Oct. 2007, I found it to be an extremely comfortable, well run little ryokan hotel that has some nice nice touches. It’s a bit off the beaten path, down a rural street and nestled against the banks of the Daiyagawa river, which makes it a very quiet and restful location and it’s only a pleasant walk away from the Shinkyo bridge (going past that brings you towards the town center) and the Toshogu Shrine and the Rinnoji Temple. The family that runs the both the annex and the Turtle Inn down the road were extremely friendly and helpful and were happy to give you tips on all the things to see. Their English was excellent and while I had to go to the Turtle Inn for dinner and to use the communal computer, the Annex was a really lovely place to stay. And the bath downstairs (which you can use privately) was first rate.
Having stayed at a few places in Japan that got bad reviews on some of the tourist websites and found them to be wonderful, I tend to take traveler reviews with a big grain of salt. I’ve seen people write bad reviews when they learned that the inns they were staying at had curfews (which is nearly universal with ryokans), or complaining about steep staircases when staying at inns over 100 years old. Since you are only staying for one night, I wouldn’t sweat trying to find the perfect place – you want quiet, clean, safe and comfortable. I can assure you from personal experience that the Turtle Inn Annex provides all of that.
References :
May 7th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
What about this?
http://www.nikko-narusawa.com/english-frame.html
References :
May 7th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
You must understand Japanese Ryokan is not same as westerner’s hotel. Ryokan’s fare includes their own local gorgeous dining if the location is on sightseeing spot like Nikko. Business ryokan is exception where they just offer the place to sleep only.
They will have to take profit from value-added dinner. Yen 4000 to 5000 means no food service and it’s unrealistic to survive in such famous sightseeing spot like Nikko for any Ryokan.
The standard room charge per person in Nikko area would be around Yen10,000 nowadays. Otherwise you have to sacrifice something else like accomodation, hot-bath, space, atmosphere, attitude, food etc either way.
References :