About Smile Hotel Utsunomiya Higashiguchi

Smile Hotel Utsunomiya Higashiguchi is part of the Smile Hotel group, a chain of business hotels found in most cities. They pride themselves on offering service with a smile (hence the name), great hospitality, and excellent Internet access through WiFi and LAN connections (provided in all rooms).

Smile Hotel has several different room types and plans, including more eco-friendly services where your room is not cleaned daily. Instead, you can put any used towels and rubbish outside the front of your door, and they will be taken/exchanged. This is the plan that I went for. It is cheaper, and as I do not change my towel every day when at home, it seemed like a waste to change it every day when staying in a hotel—especially as I only stayed for three days.

Smile Hotel also offers breakfast for an additional fee per person per day. I do not eat breakfast, so I did not sample the food.

Location

Smile Hotel Utsunomiya Higashiguchi is located a couple of streets away from the eastern exit of JR Utsunomiya Station, the central station, which has local, regional, and long-distance connections via the Shinkansen.

As it is close to the station, Smile Hotel Utsunomiya Higashiguchi has many restaurants, shops, convenience stores, and department stores nearby, meaning that you can find just about anything you are looking for—all at a convenience distance (or lack thereof).

Gallery

About the Room

The rooms at Smile Hotel Utsunomiya Higashiguchi are basic compared to other business hotels. There is a bed, TV and TV stand (with drawers for clothes), a desk with a lamp and phone), a small space to hang clothes and a chair for the desk. A LAN cable comes standard with each room – although I also found the WiFi to be very good.

The bathroom amenities offered were standard for Japanese business hotels: a toothbrush and small toothpaste, hair dryer, shampoo, conditioner, body soap, face and hand soap (for use at the sink), and kettle with tea and coffee. Other amenities were available near the front desk.

The good

Here is my review on Booking.com:

This was my first time staying at any of the Smile Hotel branches. The room and the hotel were very clean, the staff were extremely helpful and friendly, and it was in a good location. I spent most of my time in Nikko – getting there using the JR train from nearby Utsunomiya Station was easy. The room was basic in terms of amenities and furniture (which I was expecting when I booked), but it was comfortable. I would stay here again.

The bad

Here is my review on Booking.com:

The soundproofing was not the best. There was a child in the same hallway as me (I think in the room across the hall), and it was often loud. There was also another room of party-goers who were loud in the early hours of Saturday morning. If you can sleep with earplugs on days when people are more likely to go out or return late, I recommend doing so.

Response to my review

Here is what the owners had to say:

(There has been no response as of yet)

What I did while there

Kegon Waterfall: Lake Chuzenji’s only outlet

by Jamie Brooks 22 Sep 2024

Verdict

While it was a basic room, I was comfortable. If I were in Utsunomiya again, I would consider staying at Smile Hotel Utsunomiya Higashiguchi. I would also think about staying at other Smile Hotels in the future.

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