Hotel Casual Euro with Private Hot Spring in Nikko

Last week, I stayed at this Ryokan with a friend and had a wonderful night. The Onsen was excellent, and our Room had Onsen water and a wooden bathtub, which made it very relaxing to use. I also really appreciated that when I accidentally left something behind, they called me right away and I was able to retrieve it safely. One thing to note: the bus that runs in front of the Ryokan stops operating at 3:00 PM.

The red-and-white roof—really, the whole exterior—feels exactly like a “stylish European” image from the Showa era. Even though the new annex restaurant feels modern, looking at the Hotel as a whole, the concept doesn’t feel cohesive. I thought that if you refreshed the branding colors—peppermint green, for example—you might attract more younger guests.Inside, there are also some older faded printed pictures that haven’t been updated. I felt they could be turned into a strength instead—by leaning into a city-pop style interior and presenting it as “nostalgic Showa,” for example.It made me start thinking about marketing on my own—that’s how much I felt it was a shame that such wonderful staff and such great baths aren’t being fully leveraged.As for dining, there were no plant-based options besides the salad bar (sadly). I came ready to spend money, but there weren’t any choices. This is something you could say about the entire Nikko area, though. The vegetables were high quality, and I’m planning to share that on TikTok and similar platforms. The baths were amazing.Thank you very much.