Kikunan Onsen Ubl Hotel

“Malaysia flag raised - a pleasant surprise!”

I will forever remember this particular hotel for the thoughtful gesture. Another highlight of the UBL its onsen or Japanese spa bath. Located on 1st (G floor outside Japan) a section of it is almost too hot to handle! Bathe farther from the hot spring source for more manageable temperatures. Indoo… more

I will forever remember this particular hotel for the thoughtful gesture. Another highlight of the UBL its onsen or Japanese spa bath. Located on 1st (G floor outside Japan) a section of it is almost too hot to handle! Bathe farther from the hot spring source for more manageable temperatures. Indoor onsen only, it is located next to the hotel restaurant where I thoroughly enjoyed both tea & breakfast spreads. Also on the same level is a curio / snack / boutique shop where I bought 3 Kumamon pin badges. Next to the shop is a wall of vending machines - a common sight in Japanese hotels. Mother & I we had a comfy city view room. There is an open air balcony through the fire escape.

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“Comfortable, good onsen”

My family stayed in the UBL Hotel for two nights in late November and early December. The hotel situates in north of the Kumamoto city centre and requires about 20 minutes of driving to the Kumamoto castle. When I drove to this hotel, I did not see any clear road sign leading to its entrance. Nev… more

My family stayed in the UBL Hotel for two nights in late November and early December. The hotel situates in north of the Kumamoto city centre and requires about 20 minutes of driving to the Kumamoto castle. When I drove to this hotel, I did not see any clear road sign leading to its entrance. Nevertheless the building itself was a prominent structure in this region and I could see it even far away. The staff were courteous and some of them commanded English effectively. My room was a “special” one with half of the area furnished as Japanese style and another as Western. It looked better than its snapshots shown in the website. The room was huge and spotless clean and attaching with an onsen basin at the washroom. The onsen water temperature could be tuned and the basin was large enough to stretch my legs. The onsen water seemed good to my skin. The room was on the highest floor and provided a good view over the region. I could even see sun-rising there. The room was absolutely quiet and I did not hear any traffic sounds, or noise from other residents in these two nights. The beds were comfortable. My kids loved the tatami futons, yukata dressing, and the ample spaces for their activities. The hotel staff offered us some coupons for the public onsens. But we had not used them, as there was a private one in our room. As I know, there are only a few hotels in Kumamoto facilitated with onsens. My plan included dinner and breakfast. We had dinner in the elegant Japanese restaurant on G/F. A big partitioned dinner area was reserved for us in both evenings. The dinner course comprised of a number of delicious and beautifully presented Japanese dishes. We had buffet breakfasts in the annex building. The buffet offered adequate choices of western and Japanese food. I highly recommend this hotel to family travelers. I am fully satisfied by this hotel for their quality of room, food, and onsen at a very reasonable price. Perhaps the only setback of this hotel is its remoteness to major shopping sites of Kumamoto, but it was not a problem to us.

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“Good Onsen”

The Onsen is nice and not crowded. For foreigners, it is an excellent experience, going down with the traditional dress and have big onsen facilities. Food is OK but basic with the set meal of a tour group.

“More like business hotel than ryokan”

The hotel does have onsen and spa in an adjacent building, but the layout makes it more like a Western-style hotel rather than a traditional ryokan. The rooms have a small tatami area with a larger area for Western style beds. The bathroom was a bit cramped and dated, and the raised floor with lin… more

The hotel does have onsen and spa in an adjacent building, but the layout makes it more like a Western-style hotel rather than a traditional ryokan. The rooms have a small tatami area with a larger area for Western style beds. The bathroom was a bit cramped and dated, and the raised floor with linoleum surface made it feel like a cabin on board a cruise ship. No Wi-fi access, but there was a LAN port which we could access with an adaptor we brought along. Breakfast was a buffet with both Western and Japanese food in a separate wing of the hotel. The serving area was a bit crowded but there was enough seating space all around.

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“Value for money.”

Stayed in a room with private onsen and sauna. Kaiseki meals were good and standards above many high end onsen hotel. Servers were enthusiastic and warm. Frequented by locals. Allowed us to check in fifteen minutes earlier. One drawback was check out at 10 am hence we extended another two hours for… more

Stayed in a room with private onsen and sauna. Kaiseki meals were good and standards above many high end onsen hotel. Servers were enthusiastic and warm. Frequented by locals. Allowed us to check in fifteen minutes earlier. One drawback was check out at 10 am hence we extended another two hours for about 7000yen. Another drawback was the condensation in bathroom next morning and the whole area was dripping wet hence need to store toiletries elsewhere. Also there's no curtains to cover the full panel of frosted glass hence can't sleep in darkness.

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