Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Premium Shiomiso

Wife and I spent two nights here, during our summer trip up the west coast of Japan, and we LOVED it! Took an Uetsu-line train from Niigata City to Murakami and, from there, a public bus, right almost to the front door of the hotel. While at the hotel, we learned that they operate a shuttle between Murakami Station and the hotel, which we took back to Murakami on our last day, after we checked out. Although I'm pretty sure we were the only foreigners in the hotel, the staff were all incredibly polite and nice to us. We mostly interacted with hotel staff in Japanese, but I'm sure there are some staff members who can speak English, as well. The buffet breakfasts and dinners were amazing! The baths and our room were all well maintained and extremely clean. The sunsets from the restaurant were really beautiful, too. A good bit (most?) of the hotel's business appears to come from group bus tours. Our first night at the hotel was a Monday, and the baths and the restaurant at dinner, and the next morning at breakfast, were pretty busy. Whatever group was there Monday night appeared to have checked out and moved on by Tuesday morning. So, our second night at the hotel, the baths and restaurant were comparatively pretty quiet. There's a beautiful beach right in front of the hotel that was almost completely deserted, during our stay in early July. Aside from a few fishermen and some young(er) couples walking along the beach in the early morning, we were the only people who we saw actually swimming in the warm, calm water. Apparently, the "season" for swimming in the Sea of Japan in Niigata doesn't beginning until mid July, and we were there just before that. The hotel maintains nice showers and changing facilities on the beach, which we used to carefully rinse off sand from our bodies, so we didn't bring any with us back into the hotel.

Good size room with an excellent view of the sea. Good general cleanliness. Very good buffet spread. Dining hall has a view of the sea and if you are early to catch a window seat, you could enjoy the sunset while dining.

Nice location by the sea outside of Niigata, the dinner buffet is huge, and the apple pie and pizza the best!

All rooms overlook the beachfront and the Sea of Japan. Hotsprings baths available all day. Copious buffet meals and free drinks, including beer and wine, every evening in the lounge.

Easy access by car, free/ample parking, many Ofuro options, not crowded, good breakfast, pleasant stay.