Hotel Sunshine Kinugawa

The Room was spacious, with a great view and a large balcony! The buffet was satisfying too. It was about a 10-minute walk from Kinugawa Onsen Station, and about 3 minutes by the Dial Bus. The footbath café attached to the Hotel was also nice. However, the footbath area is small, so it can get crowded depending on the time and you may not be able to get in.In front of the Hotel there were souvenir shops and cafés, as well as a pudding shop and a burger place, and there was also a shop next to the Hotel. It was convenient for shopping. There isn’t a convenience store nearby. Shops close early, so if you need anything, I recommend buying it early or bringing it with you.

This was our first stay: five of us for one night, bringing my in-laws and my mother. Dinner and breakfast buffet included, all five in one Room.After check-in, you choose a yukata in your size and take it up to your Room yourself. The amenities even included tabi socks!Our Room was on the 7th floor, with a large window overlooking the suspension bridge, and it was spacious enough. The stars at night were beautiful too.It was a Japanese-style Room with a large main area plus a small side room with what felt like a closet/dressing space. The Onsen had both an open-air bath and an indoor bath; there were plenty of washing stations, and the shower pressure was great! The water temperature was just right—not too hot or lukewarm.For the main dinner buffet, we added the 90-minute all-you-can-drink plan and also ordered craft beer separately. At this time they were running a Fukushima/Yamagata/Niigata fair with local ramen from each prefecture; apparently until last month there had been a Hokkaido fair with all-you-can-eat crab… such a shame! Still, the stewed beef tendon and curry were excellent—the beef was so tender it fell apart. The beef steak seemed tough for my 85-year-old father-in-law, but we enjoyed it with wasabi salt or salt and pepper. There were also yuba (tofu skin), sashimi, sushi, fried skewers, shrimp in chili sauce, yakisoba noodles, gyoza dumplings, shumai dumplings, lasagna, a kids’ meal corner, and plenty of desserts.At breakfast buffet time, the chawanmushi (with yuba—also shrimp/chicken/mitsuba) was so good I ended up eating four! There were enough options overall: simmered zenmai fern shoots; simmered warabi fern shoots (maybe); hijiki seaweed; okara salad; grilled salmon; steamed vegetables; bacon; sausages; scrambled eggs; hash browns; ramen like at dinner time as well. There was also a kids’ corner at breakfast!I was disappointed there wasn’t ice cream at breakfast like there had been at dinner—but the yogurt with mixed berries was delicious so I went back for seconds. Also delicious was something mixed with mentaiko cod roe and scallop “himo” (the stringy part); I wanted to buy it at the shop but they didn’t sell it—too bad. It really tasted great!If I could make one request: I prefer softer/creamier scrambled eggs.The front desk staff and buffet staff were all very kind and helpful! At checkout there was a male staff member wearing an “in training” tag—he must have found even Japanese challenging enough already—but he remained polite and very pleasant throughout. He handled front desk duties while also running over to cover the shop register as well—it looked like busy work in the morning.The Facility itself isn’t brand-new by any means, but overall this Accommodation would be my top choice next time we visit again! Since it’s in a neighboring prefecture as well—and about three hours by local roads—it’s just right for us.