Hotel AreaOne Banjinmisaki

I ended up coming back again in less than a month. When I finally had some free time and wondered where to go, my feet naturally led me to Hotel AreaOne Banjinmisaki. This time the Hotel was almost fully booked. There seemed to be a sports tournament nearby, and many families were staying the night before—an eye-opening way to use the Hotel.Our family came to enjoy the sea at Banjinmisaki and to see the winged swim ring we’d spotted on Instagram. With a free rental float in hand, we played in the water at the nearly empty beach right in front of us. The kids were thrilled, and our whole family had a wonderful time. Even though it wasn’t officially beach season yet, the water was already warm enough for us to fully enjoy playing with our children along the shoreline.There’s a shower room on the first floor of the Hotel, so it’s easy to rinse off sand. If you bring your yukata with you, you can rinse off and head straight to the bath—such great convenience.I say this every time, but I truly believe the view from the Room window is the best in the world. Relaxing in your Room while watching the sunset, then setting off fireworks under a sky full of stars—I don’t think there are many Hotels like this anywhere in Japan, or even worldwide. And I feel that our Kashiwazaki trip is made possible by all of this thanks to everyone on staff who supports these wonderful moments.This time we were lucky enough to get tai meshi for breakfast, and we enjoyed an amazing meal together with an incredible view—such a satisfying morning.While browsing the Hotel’s souvenir corner, we bought some lovely sweets and a spoon like those shown in photos. Many Hotels sell souvenirs made in Osaka or Saitama—or even overseas—but this Hotel offers local specialties properly made in Niigata, which left a great impression on me. The sweets were made in Kashiwazaki and were delicious. As for the spoon—it was crafted by an artisan from Tsubame-Sanjo—and it’s so outstanding that after using it at home I honestly felt it might be “the best spoon in the world,” just like this Hotel.A Hotel that can curate souvenirs like these really might be number one! I always care more about where something is manufactured than who sells it, so I think this Hotel has impeccable taste with its strong selection of local specialties. On this trip—despite having visited dozens of times—I realized for the first time that even just browsing this souvenir corner makes staying here worthwhile.In any case, this is truly an excellent Hotel with wonderful staff who have great taste as well.We’ll definitely be back!

The view from the Room is spectacular. We also enjoyed the boat-platter dinner, which was delicious. The baths include an ocean-view panoramic bath and a stone-slab garden bath without a view, with men’s and women’s bathing times switching between morning and evening. The Facility is old, but there are nice services such as complimentary drinks and healing devices installed in the Room. We were able to relax and take it easy. If I had to ask for more, I would have liked an open-air bath, and having two Room keys would make it easier to use the baths without worrying about timing.