Matsushima Ichinobo

The room (I had the basic level option) was gigantic for Japan, with a huge picture window and a view to die for. To say I was blown away upon arrival would be an understatement. The hotel is spacious and uncrowded. I suspect it caters almost exclusively to the Japanese market so some instructions were on rather informal notes, or simply only in Japanese. The rate is breakfast and dinner included but also includes unlimited alcohol from 7pm and coffee/tea/refreshments all day with an icecream bar in the late morning and afternoon. The silence and sleep quality was superb as was the bathroom with shower. The 'set meals' are a little strange for Western habits in that a full menu is offered but is selective as you need to present at a chefs station to have your dish prepared. The nominally western menu was still quite unusual and the Japanese typically such. As the menu does not change night to night, you may find yourself wanting a change by the 4th night. There is no meal service at lunchtime, so you need to prepare, either by taking a trip out, or by finding something light at the nearby 7/11 as any other restaurants are a good 20 minutes walk away.

Overall: Very nice hotel with friendly staff. Relatively big hotel but you don’t feel it’s crowded. The room is for Japanese standards spacious. The TV is quite small but you are not here to watch TV. Food: We booked a package including food and drinks. They have an open kitchen where you order your food and it’s prepared in front of you. They try very hard and the food looks nice but at the end of the day it’s just quickly produce dishes. The quality is OK but don’t expect a gourmet explosion. Everything is self service. It comes with an all you can drink set. If I should give it a price I would judge Tokyo pricing: the food 4.000 and all you can drink 2.000. I mentioned it because like this one can better evaluate the room price Small “spots”: This is the very first hotel in Japan where I didn’t have any shampoo in the room/bath The shower and the bath in the room is small. The toilet itself is also very small.