Hotel Mark-1 Tsukuba

This hotel has it all. An attractive foyer with marble floors, a seating area with comfy couches for waiting on and a polite staff (common in Japan). Within 1/2 block of the Kenyu-Gakuen Tsukuba Express train station, and a block from the Ijas Shopping Mall, it is ideally situated to everything in easy walking distance. The staff has some English speaking personnel. It has an Onsen (public bath) on the second floor if you don't mind bathing nude with others of your gender. The rooms are small but meticulously clean and comfortable with the usual double bed, desk, fridge and bath. This, as in other good Japanese hotels, has an amazing hot shower, ready at the temperature you set, and toilets with warm seats and many cleaning options. The hotel breakfast is buffet and available for around the equivalent of $12/person. They serve cold sunny side up eggs (we heated them in bowls of boiling water from the tea urn). Cold eggs seem to be a Japanese preference. They also have stew, fish, meatballs, bread, cereal, salad, Danishes, yogurt and fruit cocktail. It is a business hotel so there aren't a bunch of fancy frills like a resort, but the price was better than nearby hotels by at least 10 percent. Thus, it is almost always booked up. We had to book about 9 months ahead for our trip. Our following trip where we were going within 5 months, it was booked up, but then, it was a Japanese national holiday when we travelled there again, so that could have been a factor. TIP: If you are going to Japan on Golden Week, Silver Week or New Years, book a year in advance.