Okunoin Hotel Tokugawa is a traditional Japanese ryokan located in Nikko, Japan, that offers guest rooms with tatami floors, futon beds, and private open-air baths. Kaiseki meals are also provided as part of your stay. The ryokan is the perfect peaceful escape from the hustle and bustle of the busy cities in Japan.
Booking/Arrival at Okunoin hotel tokugawa
Booking a stay at Okunoin Hotel Tokugawa was a breeze. Their website offers multiple language options and is easy to navigate to research the room that best meets your needs. In our case, we opted to stay in the Aqua Annex, which includes rooms with private open-air baths. We booked directly through the website and were able to pick the exact room type and the day we wanted to stay.
Before our arrival, we were notified that should we want to use it; the hotel offered a shuttle service that could pick us up and drop us off at the train station and Toshogu Shrine. We, however, chose to ride the local busses and walk to the ryokan from the nearest bus stop. The staff seemed surprised by this choice, but we found the walk to be lovely!
Upon initial arrival, the staff stored our bags while we explored Nikko.
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When we returned, we were taken to a lounge area to fill out some paperwork, and we were offered a welcome drink and treat as well as an oshibori (hot towel) a common experience at traditional ryokan!
Okunoin Hotel Tokugawa Property
The hotel property is secluded up a small local road that is also home to a wood mill. A lush forest with Japanese maple trees and a stream surrounds the area.
Within the property, the ryokan surrounds a beautiful Japanese garden that can be seen from the many interior-facing windows! On the left side of the building are the standard rooms and the public baths; to the right are the Aqua Annex and some dining rooms. Additional dining rooms are up the stairs on the Aqua Annex side of the ryokan.
Speaking of the dining space, each group of guests dines in a private dining room that is closed to the other guests. It’s a private, intimate experience.
Rooms
The room we booked was the Deluxe Aqua Annex Suite. This suite is essentially an apartment; it is made up of multiple rooms. It includes two sitting areas, one traditional and one modern. The bedroom features two twin beds and can be entered via the main hallways or through two sliding shoji screen doors.
The main feature of the room is an exclusive outdoor space that includes a sitting area, a private open-air bath, and a water feature. It was a really lovely space, and we spent most of our time in our room outside.
The property includes a few other room types. There is a Premium Aqua Annex Suit which is a larger version of the room we stayed in. There are also some standard rooms, both Japanese and Western style; some of the rooms outside of the Aqua Annex also have private open-air baths, but they lack the additional outdoor water feature and larger sitting space.
All rooms have access to the public baths within the ryokan, which feature both indoor and outdoor bathing spaces.
Dining
Upon check-in, we were provided with yukata to lounge around the resort in as well as wear to dinner. You are not required to wear the yukata at all, but it is a fun addition to the ryokan experience.
As mentioned, most dining occurs in private rooms for each guest party. We had a small room upstairs with a window view into the courtyard.
Dinner is offered between 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM, and you can select your preferred time when you check in. You will be led the first night to your private room and provided with a drink menu that includes alcohol and special drinks.
Dinner consisted of 9 courses and included locally grown foods for the current season, in our case, autumn! Many of the nine courses had multiple small items, as is traditional with a kaiseki-style meal. Your dinner table will be covered in dozens of small plates and bowls.
We returned to the same private dining room for breakfast and were again greeted with dozens of small dishes. Unlike dinner, all of the dishes are presented at once for breakfast. We chose the Japanese-style breakfast, but there is an option for a Western-style breakfast.
Kaiseki-style dining isn’t for everyone, and it can be a long, drawn-out dinner. However, I find it enjoyable and an excellent opportunity to try many unique dishes you may not have tasted before!
Overall Experience
Overall, we really enjoyed our stay at Okunoin Hotel Tokugawa. The staff were incredibly kind and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. They often tried to speak as much English as possible to accommodate our poor Japanese skills.
The room was massive, cozy, and stocked with amenities. We really loved the small Japanese snacks that were provided and the fact that there were multiple humidifiers and air purifiers around the room.
The meals were delicious, and while we may not have loved every item that was part of our dinner and breakfast, the experience was great. We always appreciate the chance to try new things.
I also appreciate the option to use the shuttle; while we did not use it on our arrival to the resort, we used the shuttle to return to the train station after check-out, which was incredibly convenient!
If I visit Nikko again, I would definitely consider a second stay at Okunoin Hotel Tokugawa. The location is convenient and not far from the local bus route, and it is centrally located between many of the main attractions in Nikko.
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