Hotel Sunshine Kinugawa

The Room was spacious, with a great view and a large balcony. The buffet was satisfying as well. It was about a 10-minute walk from Kinugawa Onsen Station, and about 3 minutes by 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 enter.In front of the Hotel there were souvenir shops, cafés, a pudding shop, and a burger place, and there was also a shop next to the Hotel. It was convenient for shopping too. There is no convenience store nearby. Shops close early, so we recommend buying what you need 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. They even had tabi socks among the amenities!Our Room was on the 7th floor, with a large window overlooking the suspension bridge, and it was spacious enough. The stars were beautiful at night!It was a Japanese-style Room with a large main area plus a small side room with what seemed like a closet. 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 option and also ordered craft beer separately. At this time they were running a Fukushima/Yamagata/Niigata fair with local ramen from each prefecture; apparently last month there was a Hokkaido fair with all-you-can-eat crab… too bad! Still, the simmered beef tendon and curry (with melt-in-your-mouth beef) were excellent. 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, chili shrimp, yakisoba noodles, gyoza dumplings, shumai dumplings, lasagna, a kids’ corner lunch section, and plenty of desserts.At breakfast buffet time، the chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) with yuba (plus shrimp、 chicken، and mitsuba) was so good I ate four! There were enough options: simmered zenmai fern، simmered warabi fern? hijiki seaweed stew، okara salad، grilled salmon، steamed vegetables، bacon، sausages， scrambled eggs， hash browns， ramen like at dinner， etc. There was also a kids’ corner at breakfast! I was disappointed there wasn’t ice cream at breakfast like there was at dinner—but the yogurt with mixed berries was delicious so I went back for more! Also、the seasoned mentaiko mixed with scallop strings? tasted amazing—I wanted to buy it at the shop、but they didn’t sell it、which was disappointing. It really was that good!If I had one request: I prefer softer、creamier scrambled eggs.The front desk staff and buffet staff were all very kind and helpful! At checkout、a male staff member wearing an “in training” badge—who must find things difficult even in Japanese—was polite and very pleasant. He handled front desk duties while also running over to work the shop register as well; mornings looked busy for him.The Facility isn’t brand-new、but overall this is an Accommodation I’d put at the top of my list next time we visit again! Since it’s in a neighboring prefecture、it’s about three hours by local roads—which is just right for us.