Winter Trip to Nikko Part 8: Nikko Kanaya Hotel, one of the most famous classic hotels in Japan

[Introduction]

I traveled to Nikko (日光) for three days and two nights in the middle of February for the first time in five years. Visiting Nikko in winter would be a good choice, since there are less tourists compared to other seasons (summer and autumn) and visitors are able to enjoy snow scenery. In this article, I will write about Nikko Kanaya Hotel where I stayed on the second day.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1: Nikko Station
* Day 1: SL Taiju
* Day 1: Kegon Falls and Lake Chuzenji
* Day 1-2: Nikko Station (Light-up) and Nikko Station Hotel Classic
* Day 2: Shinkyo Bridge and Nikkosan Rinno-Ji Temple
* Day 2: Nikko Toshogu Shrine
* Day 2: Futarasan-Jinja Shrine, Taiyuin Nikkosan Rinno-Ji Temple and Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park
* Day 2-3: Nikko Kanaya Hotel [This article]
* Day 3: Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art and Matsuyashiki

[Travel Date]
2018.02.18-20

[Main Part]

Steakhouse Mihashi

Before I write about Nikko Kanaya Hotel, I will mention dinner on the second day. My accommodation plan included only breakfast, so I needed to find a restaurant outside the hotel for dinner. I visited “Steakhouse Mihashi”, which was located near Nikko Kanaya Hotel.

In the restaurant.

I oredred “Beef Steak Japanese Style”.

“Steakhouse Mihashi” is operated by the same company with “Meiji-No-Yakata”, which I visited on the second day for lunch (see the related article).

Nikko Kanaya Hotel

Now I will write about Nikko Kanaya Hotel.

Nikko Kanaya Hotel opened in 1873 and has been registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties as one of the oldest western-style hotels in Japan. Many famous people such as Albert Einstein and Helen Adams Keller have stayed here before.

Here is my room.

I booked a “Standard Type A” room, but it seemed the room was upgraded to the modern type room.

The hotel was light up in the evening.

Now it was time for breakfast on the following day.

The venue of breakfast was “Main Dining Room”.

I was led to a table near the window.

Here is my breakfast.

I will walk around the hotel after breakfast.

To begin with, the door of the hotel entrance.

Front desk, which was located neat the entrance.

I like this retro atmosphere.

Hotel lobby.

There was a billiard table.

View from the window of the hotel lobby.

When I returned to the front desk, I came across a relative. As I mentioned in the first article of the Nikko trip series, there are several relatives who live in Nikko and to tell the truth, one of them has been working for Nikko Kanaya Hotel. I didn’t contact my relative in advance, but it seems my relative found my name in the hotel guest list. So now, my relative showed me around the hotel.

This is “BAR DACITE”.

My relative kindly showed me the bar, though it usually opened in the evening.

There were a variety of expensive liquors such as whiskey.

There were also LP records in the bar.

“Main Dining Room”, in which I had a breakfast.

The dining room was surrounded by photogenic objects.

There was also a small dining room. It used to be the main dining room when the hotel started its operation. Now it is mainly used for banquet.

My relative showed me another type of room.

There was a skating rink in the hotel.

While it was used for skating rink during winter, it will turn to hot swimming pool in summer.

This is an exhibition room.

There were a variety of exhibits related to Nikko Kanaya Hotel which has 140 years history.

I went out of the hotel.

This was “Annex building”.

Other snaps.

As final shots, I took photos in front of the main building.

Then, I checked out Nikko Kanaya Hotel.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about Nikko Kanaya Hotel where I stayed on the second day of my NikkoX trip.

When I go to travel, I usually decide accommodation based on its location and cost-effectiveness, so I don’t place emphasis on hotels so much. This time, however, I stayed at Nikko Kanaya Hotel for one night as I would like to enjoy atmosphere as a classic hotel, and I found such decision would be a good experience once in a while 🙂

In the next article, as the final article of Nikko trip series, I will write about Nikko Shinko Church, Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art and Matsuyashiki as part of Day 3.

[Map]

1 Nikko Kanaya Hotel
2 Steakhouse Mihashi

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