Kobori Ryokan

Stayed here two nights during a very hot August visit. This is an inexpensive way to experience a traditional ryokan. Location is good, about 3 blocks from the visitor center complex and entrance to Hirosaki Castle Park. It’s on the edge of a nightlife district with lots of bars and some restaurants. It’s not walking distance from the JR Hirosaki train station -- you can take the orange line ¥100 yen bus (there’s a bus stop right across the street from Kobori) but if you have luggage it’s better to take a taxi (about ¥700, 5 or 10 minutes). Print the map/directions from the Kobori website to give to the taxi driver. Ours seemed to recognize the Kobori name (in Japanese) and had no problem getting us there. It’s easy and quick to hail a taxi out front of the inn. On checking in, you prepay your stay in cash (no credit cards). We booked a two-person room with a tatami mat floor. The rooms are upstairs on the second floor and there’s no elevator. The ladies who run the place will insist on carrying your luggage upstairs, no matter how heavy. The luggage goes into a foyer on the outside of the room which has a wooden floor (don’t put your luggage on the tatami mats). Sliding shoji doors separate the foyer from the bedroom. Next to the foyer is a private bathroom that is the typical Japanese small, modular-looking plastic unit with bath/shower, sink and toilet (manual, not the fancy electronic kind). The room has a large heater and an AC unit at the top of the wall. These are operated by a remote control and work a lot better than a hotel’s central AC. There’s a very low table with a tea set on it and a water boiler, and cushions to sit on. Also a small TV that we didn’t use. The inn provides a kit with a traditional yukata and towels. The futons are comfortable although, of course, you’re sleeping on a semi-hard floor (tatami mats). It was very quiet and the AC worked well so we had a good sleep. There’s one electric outlet at the head of the futons and also outlets by the table. These are standard 2-prong Japanese/American. Free Wifi worked well. There’s a small plastic crate with cryptic instructions in it – I think you are supposed to put dirty towels, cups etc. in it and leave it outside your door if you want the staff to clean/replace them. During the day, it appeared that no one entered our room, so it was not cleaned. They give you a key and indicate that you should lock your room door when you leave for the day and take your key with you. There’s no room safe but we felt comfortable leaving iPads etc. in the room. The rooms and bathroom looked like they had been recently constructed so everything was in good condition and very clean. Downstairs is a breakfast room. We arrived in the evening and asked for breakfast but they said it was too late to order it. Not sure if you could order breakfast in advance of arriving, but don’t count on it. They told us to go the Dormy Inn hotel for breakfast, which is right next door. For our second morning, we asked for one vegetarian breakfast. The request seemed to cause major consternation so we gave up and never got breakfast there. The ground floor also has a public bath room which seemed to be mostly unused. They indicated you could lock the room from the inside if no one else was using it and you wanted a private bath. They also have bedrooms with no private bath so there are common men’s and ladies’ rooms. This explains the somewhat confusing room description on the online booking sites which say your room has a private bath and also there is a public bathroom. The first evening we walked many blocks between the inn and downtown but couldn’t find a restaurant that we liked which was open. It was a Monday night and a lot of places seemed closed. We ended up at a Korean restaurant right across the street from the Kobori. It was clean and modern. The food was good and in moderate quantities which suited us as we weren’t that hungry. The next night we ate at the Fukuya Ginjirou isakaya restaurant which was really good, world class. To get there, walk to the Dormy Inn hotel and turn left – it’s 2.5 blocks on the right side of the street before you get to the little river. It’s well known so you need advance reservations. Cash only. In general, we enjoyed our stay as an alternative experience to staying in a hotel. The ladies who run the place are pleasant and try to be helpful, but their English is very limited. Good value.