Hotel Route Inn Dai Ni Suwa Inter

“A friend's choice, my pleasure”

By force of habit, my usual economy hotel chain in Japan is Toyoko Inn. Lucky for me, a friend made this Route Inn reservation for a New Year's group of 4 adults and 2 children visiting Nagano Prefecture. Like Toyoko Inn, these rooms are small by North American standards, but clean and efficientl… more

By force of habit, my usual economy hotel chain in Japan is Toyoko Inn. Lucky for me, a friend made this Route Inn reservation for a New Year's group of 4 adults and 2 children visiting Nagano Prefecture. Like Toyoko Inn, these rooms are small by North American standards, but clean and efficiently laid out. Unlike Toyoko Inns where I have stayed, this Route Inn had Japanese-style public baths on the ground floor. These are segregated by sex, with an extra level of card-key security in place for the women's bath. Route Inn Suwa Inter 2 and Suwa Inter 1 share the same block and have spacious, fenced-in car parking. Signs around the parking lot warn people to remove valuables from their cars; I take this to be normal legalese in modern times. On check-in, we received a ¥500 discount coupon good for restaurants and bars in the vicinity. The coupon did not say explicitly where it would be honored, but a couple of us went to a seafood-oriented 居酒屋 (izakaya) called 海鮮問屋東京つきぢや諏訪インター店 for a nice meal with hot sake and cold beer. They gladly honored the Route Inn discount coupon. Route Inn's buffet breakfast is more elaborate than the typical Toyoko Inn. I had a mini-omelet, a sausage, a slice of ham, a small piece of roasted fish, some tamagoyaki, various land and sea vegetables, natto on rice, some salad items, a multigrain role with jam, miso soup, and orange juice. I didn't see coffee in the dining room, but there is a machine in the lobby that grinds and brews a cup at a time on demand.

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“Overnight stay on tour”

As hotels go in Japan, based on what I’ve experienced so far, this hotel is similar in size and what is offered. My only negative is the fact we had to have a room which had been a smoking room and therefore was very hard to be in due to the odour. Apparently they have non-smoking rooms but as we… more

As hotels go in Japan, based on what I’ve experienced so far, this hotel is similar in size and what is offered. My only negative is the fact we had to have a room which had been a smoking room and therefore was very hard to be in due to the odour. Apparently they have non-smoking rooms but as we were with a tour they were not available to us. This made the stay a little unpleasant, however if you drink plenty of wine and stay out late you’ll be fine. The facilities were great, good breakfast and all other usual options. Rooms were very clean, beds were very hard that we had, but again apart from that and the smoking odour, it would have been fine. Would recommend but if you are not a smoker, make sure you ask for a non-smoking room.

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