Maruko

We stayed two nights here. The location was excellent - an easy walk to the castle and surrounding area, with many restaurants nearby. It was a short tram ride from the JR station to the hotel and a short tram ride from the hotel to the Suizenji Koen. We visited the city on March 27, the peak day for sakura this year (apparently the season was earlier this year than average.) We booked a Japanese-style room and were quite happy with it. It had all the expected amenities, including two cookies to accompany the tea which we could make from the hot water provided daily. We did not take our meals at the hotel. Although the hotel describes itself as being 120 years old, founded in 1888, the building we stayed in was much more recent than that and is described on their website as being renovated in 1996. The hotel is on a quiet side street which our room overlooked. The room itself was very quiet even though there was a group of Korean athletes staying there at the time: we heard their cheers from the banquet room when we were outside on our way to dinner, but we did not hear them inside the hotel. The family bath was a great boon. Their website describes the bath as being “ultrasonic.” We learned the schedule for private bath at check-in and we used it on both days. It was on the same floor as the public bath which was divided by sex. There is also an area on that floor marked “Private” which possibly was the living area of the owner. The family bath was a completely separate entity, with a lockable door, entrance area, toilet, and bathing area - all amenities were available. We were instructed to put a sign on the door which - we presume - said “In Use.” In the space with the bath, a sliding door opened to a balcony but there was an apartment block across the way and you wouldn’t want to go out onto the balcony unless you wore your yukata. After we checked-out and as we were leaving the building, the elderly woman who we saw overseeing the lobby desk and running the gift shoppe called after us and gave me a handkerchief printed with flowers from the area - a lovely souvenir of Kumamoto.