About Route Inn Kushiro Ekimae

Route Inn is a chain of hotels across Japan. They are usually located next to or close to transport hubs, such as the train station in Kushiro (“Eki-mae” means “in front of the station” in Japanese), hence “Route Inn Kushiro Ekimae”.

Route Inns are 3-star hotels with onsen (Japanese hot springs), a restaurant that serves breakfast and dinner, and other amenities typically found at 3-star hotels.

Route Inn has a reputation for being a good value-for-money hotel. For about the same price as comparable hotels, you can access some services that are not guaranteed at others, such as the onsen, welcome drinks/snacks, etc.

Location

Kushiro is a city in eastern Hokkaido known as one of the bigger port cities in the region. It is the most populated city in the eastern part. This is partially because of its location: the rest of the area has sea ice during the winter, but it does not get as far down as Kushiro.

Kushiro is also a good transport hub for the region. Trains connect it directly with Sapporo (the Ozora express) and Abashiri (the local Senmo line), and buses connect other outlying areas like the Lake Akan and Lake Mashu areas.

Gallery

About the room

The rooms at Route Inn hotels are a bit nicer than other standard Japanese 3-star hotels. The desk has more floor space, and the bed feels larger. The fridge is slightly larger, there are more amenities (both in amount and variety), and the quality is also higher.

However, there is a drawback: the bed is rock-hard. The mattress has little to no give, so lying on concrete or the floor would be more form-fitting.

The good

The quality of the room is definitely a plus point, as well as access to the onsen. It is one of the big draws for this chain, and it is easy to see why.

The breakfast was also good. In this instance it was included in my room and is a buffet style consisting of mostly Japanese and Asian foods. There are a few bread rolls and croissants available though.

Staff were also curteous, the hotel was very clean and the location was perfect.

The bad

For me, it was definitely the bed. I prefer a softer bed and I had some very troubled nights at this Route Inn. It was the only negative point though that I can think of.

Response to my review

Here is what the owners had to say:

(There has been no response yet)

What I did while there

Here is what I did:

Verdict

For my back’s sake, I do not think I am going to stay at a Route Inn again.

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