Wandering Fel

The best hotel that I stayed during my 8D tour to Japan with Avia Tour is definitely Hida Plaza Hotel Takayama. I was quite surprised actually cause I don’t really have any expectation of the hotel to be so nice. We reached the hotel around 5-ish and we are given either tatami or normal Western bedroom. Tatami bedroom does not come cheap in Japan so I was kinda excited to find out that we had been assigned the tatami room. However, the funny thing is since there are three of us, my mum, my bro and I, it seems that we have a combination of Western bed and futon bed. So they only did the futon for one person hahaha. I suppose we would have to draw a lot to decide who’s the lucky person then. 

There are complimentary snacks given on the top of the tea table in front of the TV. The snacks are traditional Japanese sweets made from red bean. They taste so good and they make a good pairing to green tea. Since we still had time to spare until dinner time around 6, my mum and I just lazed around in front of the TV while my bro took a nap since he didn’t feel well. You can go to onsen too but I prefer to go to onsen a bit later because I bet before dinner is considered peak hour for onsen. 

The dinner that they give to per person is a set dinner and oh boy, it includes the locally famous Hida beef. Japanese dinner set always look so pretty and it usually consists of sashimi, tofu, miso soup, meat and rice. Hida Plaza Hotel Takayama gives us both Hida beef and grilled salmon and I was pretty happy about this meal. 

After dinner, we took a quick walk to the souvenir shop located near the hotel lobby and we saw so many Sarubobo dolls. Sarubobo is the mascot of Takayama and Gifu area so you will see them a lot in this area. They even sell collaboration of Hello Kitty and Sarubobo. If you are a Hello Kitty fan, you should get it here because you won’t see it so often outside this area. 

While the meal is good and the bedroom is fancy, what I like the most about Hida Plaza Hotel is their onsen. They have indoor and outdoor onsen although the outdoor one is not big and you can’t really see sky full of stars. The common shower area have divider so if you are uncomfortable sitting side-by-side to stranger openly while washing your body and hair, you probably won’t feel so self-conscious here because there’s divider between you and your next-door. You don’t have to carry your toiletries to the onsen because Hida Plaza Hotel put a lot of Shiseido products such as shampoo, soap, cleanser, and moisturizer in the bathing and hairdrying area. Thankfully, my first onsen experience with my mom was quite fun here at Hida Plaza Hotel Takayama. Yeay~

My first impression of Hotel Monterey Grasmere Osaka is wow, this hotel really has a magnificent lobby. It even has its own chapel (for wedding) in the backyard. The hotel lobby looks pretty European with a lot of Europe-inspired sculptures and furnitures. 

The double bedroom that we booked is well...kinda dark. Hahaha. The bedroom is clean and the bed is pretty spacious for two of us. But the quality of the bed is kinda questionable because I don't think it is comfortable enough for me. Good thing that I was pretty much ready to go into deep sleep everytime I reach hotel after whole day outside exploring Osaka. 

Don't expect any big bathroom in Japan. However, you can expect bath tub in pretty much every hotel because like what I said before, ofuro (re: hot-soaked bath) is a must for the Japanese. I wonder how much does each household in Japan pay every month for water usage? LOL.

Funky toilet is of course, another must-have in the bathroom. 

Thankfully since the hotel is located near JR Namba Station, I can get my food before I come back to rest in my hotel room. Bought this grape Suntory but it is apparently not a can of grape beer but a can of chu-hi. Chu-hi is made from shochu and flavored carbonated water (in my case, grape). I suppose the shochu content is pretty low because one can only contains 3% alcohol.

Right inside the entrance, you are welcomed with Japanese culture of taking our your shoes and put on your slipper when you are entering someone else's house. It is quite fun to try to live in other country's culture when you are travelling.

We did not get our key until much later in the evening. After a day of wandering Gion, Philosopher's Path and Ginkakuji Temple, our room is finally ready. Yup, no fancy access card given to us. It's just one key to our lovely Botan room at Hanayashiki Ukifuneen.

We chose Botan room because it is advertised as the type of room with the best view of cherry blossom. But as you can see, the sakura trees are still pretty much dry because we came one week too soon. Nonetheless, there is no reason not to enjoy our lovely Botan room. The room is equipped with heater. 

A bathroom complete with the bathtub. I really enjoyed taking a hot bath here because they use fresh spring water from the mountain. The feeling of soaking yourself in a warm water after a day out in the cold is just priceless.

You don't have to worry about toiletries here. 

This is the bedroom and the bed is facing the direction of the cherry blossom trees along the river too. The beddings are very comfortable. I don't feel like waking up so early the next day, really. 

Our comfortable stay at Hanayashiki Ukifuneen does not come cheap, obviously. We spent around $400 for one night stay in Botan room. But I guess it's perfectly fine to pamper yourself once in a while.