Hotel Dankoen

“Standard Japanese style hotel”

I stayed there with my family at the end of 2017. This hotel is located at the center of Ito onsen ("onsen" means "hot spring"). Ito is a city adjacent to famous Atami onsen. Compared with Atami, Ito keeps quite and traditional Japanese onsen city style. If you are looking for a quiet onsen city, … more

I stayed there with my family at the end of 2017. This hotel is located at the center of Ito onsen ("onsen" means "hot spring"). Ito is a city adjacent to famous Atami onsen. Compared with Atami, Ito keeps quite and traditional Japanese onsen city style. If you are looking for a quiet onsen city, Ito is the place for you. (If you prefer lively tourist destination, Ito is not adequate). Among many Onsen hotel, I would say Dankoen represents a average traditional Japanese style hotel. It is not small, but not huge. It provides only Japanese style room, so you can try Japanese style bedding. But if you prefer western style bed, you need to avoid this hotel. The hotel has 2 styles of bath, inside and outside. This is the most common Japanese style. Hospitality is on average. It is slightly different from old good days. For example, dinner is served in a huge dinning room. And all meals were already set on the table. (Traditional Japanese style was to bring and serve dinner in your room). But I can say this hotel makes good effort to provide good hospitality thinking of critical labor shortage and severe price competition at hospitality industry. Quality and amount of food is good. At morning, the hotel serves buffet with various foods, and you can enjoy both western style and Japanese style foods. This hotel is located at convenient place, you can walk to both city area and sea side area. Also Tokaikan is within walking distance. Takaikan is an old and traditional Japanese style onsen hotel constructed only with wood. Currently, it is not used as a hotel, it is a museum where you can walk inside. Cost is only 200 JPN. (Tokaikan is not open all days, you need to check the calendar). If you will visit Ito for the first time, Dankoen is not a bad choice. Because it represents average level at all aspects.

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“Great fun to do something different.”

This was part of our trip and so it was a group overnight booking with a traditional Japanese meal. Obviously a very different hotel and we were pre warned on the coach that they would like to wear the casual kimonos and that we were having a typical Japanese dinner that night, and having to sleep … more

This was part of our trip and so it was a group overnight booking with a traditional Japanese meal. Obviously a very different hotel and we were pre warned on the coach that they would like to wear the casual kimonos and that we were having a typical Japanese dinner that night, and having to sleep on futons on the floor. Everyone got into the spirt and wore the kimono for the meal and the rest of the evening. The meal consisted of lots of individual portions of all sorts from sushi to tempura prawns, seaweed, mizu soup etc. Enjoyed the event but the food was not for us and we ate very little other than the rice (I ate the dumplings). In addition to the typical Japanese rooms which were large and very clean, the hotel also had typical Japanese baths for men and women, they were free to use but on typical Japanese style you had to bathe naked, as you can imaging this put lots off and I think only one or two dared to try. The hotel was very good and the best so on our tour far despite the Japanese style.

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“Pleasant experience”

I was part of a tour group and we stayed here on our last night. It was a very pleasant experience and gave us a chance to relax after walking the streets of Tokyo and Osaka. When we arrived at the station, there was a hotel shuttle bus waiting for us. Most opted to ride, others opted to send th… more

I was part of a tour group and we stayed here on our last night. It was a very pleasant experience and gave us a chance to relax after walking the streets of Tokyo and Osaka. When we arrived at the station, there was a hotel shuttle bus waiting for us. Most opted to ride, others opted to send their luggage ahead and walk to the hotel. It was a quick and pleasant walk through narrow shop lined streets. The hotel is in a good location. It's a few minute walk from the station, shops, restaurants, and even the ocean! The hotel interior is nice. Some of the decor is a little dated (be sure to check out the carpet on the 6th floor) I wasn't able to explore inside much, but there's a little shop great for picking up cute souvenirs and the staff there was very pleasant and spoke a little English. There are big rooms near the elevators/men's baths that can be reserved for group parties. The Japanese style room I stayed in was lovely with tatami mats and a nice sitting area with sliding shoji screens. The view of an empty pool wasn't fantastic but I was definitely not there for the view. In the evening the staff sets out futons and I found the futon very comfy but the pillow was a little too firm. The hotel provides yukata (robes) and our group wore them for the duration of our stay. The public baths were a new experience. It was a little intimidating having to be nude around others, but as soon as I was in the water, all of my anxieties melted away. I wished the women's outdoor bath was a little more "outdoors" but I understand there being a desire for more privacy. The indoor bath was a little too hot for me so I stuck to the outdoor one. A lot of people in our group had tattoos so either they're allowed, or ignored due to the number of people that were in our group. There was a buffet style breakfast on the 6th floor with an assortment of different eastern and western food choices to suit all tastes from fish and tea to croissants and cafe au lait. There's a nice view of the city line and mountains from the 6th floor. My stay here was pleasant and I would visit again. I recommend it to unwind at the end of a long trip. Check in and make a beeline for the baths!

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“Too traditional”

We stayed here for one night as part of our tour. I'm not sure I would stay here again! At first glance it seemed ok but the carpets in the common areas were very dirty! There was no soap for washing your hands in the WC! The tatami mat rooms were pleasant enough and the futons were comfortable eno… more

We stayed here for one night as part of our tour. I'm not sure I would stay here again! At first glance it seemed ok but the carpets in the common areas were very dirty! There was no soap for washing your hands in the WC! The tatami mat rooms were pleasant enough and the futons were comfortable enough ( the staff came in and laid out the mattresses when we were at dinner) but those pillows, I'm sure we're filled with twigs! The breakfast was surprisingly good and this lifted the hotel ranking in my opinion ! Close walk to Pacific Ocean beach for a swim before breakfast .Didn't try the spa this time! Too traditional for my liking!

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