Hotel Hot Springs di Shiga Prefecture, Japan

Very good experience at the Mercure Lake Biwa. A high-standard hotel with great views and quality services. Even though there were many group guests, everything was well organized. Thanks to my Accor card, I could enjoy some nice benefits, which was much appreciated. The staff was friendly, attentive, and always willing to help. They are also bike friendly !

This hotel is located right by Lake Biwa, and every room boasts a large balcony where you can take in the stunning lake views. It's truly refreshing and uplifting! The hotel offers a convenient shuttle bus service right from the JR station, with pretty good frequency. Although you could walk to the hotel, providing a shuttle for this distance really shows their thoughtfulness. The onsen (hot spring) is definitely a major plus. The water quality, temperature, and ventilation were all perfect for us. Plus, enjoying the outdoor bath with views of Lake Biwa and a gentle breeze, while soaking away the day's fatigue, was just sublime! Highly recommended; I'll definitely choose this hotel again next time I'm in Otsu!

Facilities: The hotel boasts excellent facilities, including indoor courts for basketball, badminton, and volleyball. Cleanliness: Spotless. Environment: Stunning views of Lake Biwa directly from the room. Service: The front desk and restaurant staff provided excellent service.

Love the overall experience, sunrise view is a bonus, staff are super friendly. However, we booked through trip.com, the price shows online does not include the kid, even we selected the kid at the begining, so we had to pay additional at check out. This is agent's issue, not the resort.

The Western-style room was spacious, with a large, comfortable bed. The onsen (hot springs) were excellent, with several to choose from, and the area wasn't crowded. The water was excellent, leaving my skin feeling smooth and refreshed. The hotel requires a meal plan; adding dinner upon arrival costs 10,000 yen per person. There are few restaurants nearby, but there's a yakiniku restaurant with excellent beef.

Great hotel. If you can, book a room with a view of the lake, you won't regret it. There are no 24-hour shops nearby, only the hotel bar and restaurant, so either bring your own or specify dinner and breakfast in your reservation.

The location of the hotel is particularly special. In the village, there is dinner and breakfast by the lake of Wuhu. The dinner is a famous local suxi pot. The breakfast is a traditional diet. The hotel is very clean. The facilities are outdated. The public bathroom and outdoor hot spring can look up at the starry sky. The whole floor is our family. There are few people for the location, the bathroom is a bit inconvenient outside the house, the service is very Japanese and very polite.

It was a great stay at this ryokan! The hotel is able to arrange a car to fetch you from the JR station. You can call them using a dedicated phone at the station which is used to contact the different ryokans. The car arrived in 10mins or so. The ride to the ryokan was also less than 10mins. The hotel also fetched us to the station on the last day of our stay. The ryokan itself is homely and cozy. We were greeted by an english speaking staff who introduced us to the amenities of the ryokan. There was also a nice welcome tea and matcha chocolate. Our bags were brought to our room as well during this time. The room is spacious and cozy. The hotel prepared 2 welcome biscuits in the room which was a nice personal touch. The room has a nice living room and a great view of Lake Biwa. Recommend to catch the sunrise over the lake! There are 2 normal beds as well as futon beds (need to set up yourself). Both are comfortable. The hotel also prepared pretty yukata for both female and male guests which you can wear during the stay. There are 4 different designs for ladies, and one design for the guys. You can request for different size if the one in the room doesn’t fit you. There is also a full length mirror and a mini dressing area at the side of the living room. It was fun dressing up in the yukata! The toilet, basin, shower and hot tub areas are all separate. The toilet is a little small, but the basin and mirror area is very spacious. The shower area is quite small as well and the shower head is rather low so you need to hold the shower head if you wish to wash up while standing. There is a small stool given for you to sit down though. The hot tub area is semi-outdoor and you can see Lake Biwa. But it is quite small (only good for one person). It was too cold so we didn’t use the hot tub. Instead, we booked the private onsen for 50mins. The private onsen has a private toilet and dressing area which is equipped with hairdryer, body lotion etc. There is a water dispenser as well if you need to hydrate yourself. The onsen area has a washing area, and the hot tub area is spacious for 2 person. There are privacy screens around the onsen area but there is a small gap to let in cold air for ventilation. Wish there is a good view from the private onsen but it was still enjoyable! Dinner and breakfast was Kaiseki style, and the meals were one of the highlights for my husband and I. We really enjoyed the courses which are clean tasting yet wholesome, fresh and flavourful. It was such a sumptuous treat! The ryokan also has a souvenir shop if you wish to buy anything back. Overall, my husband and I really enjoyed the stay here and we agreed this was one of the main highlights of our 12 days trip in Japan. Highly recommend!

The room was new and spacious. Although two or three flying insects were found in the bathroom, it was difficult to understand and avoid. It was much better than Ji Yishengpu Turtle Well. Upgraded dinner was not bad, the buffet coffee machine soft drink, coffee was difficult to drink. Check out at 10 o'clock, the hot spring is open until 9:00 after breakfast, it is too late to soak. After checking out, it rained heavily. We sat in the lobby and waited for the rain to stop. The air conditioner was a bit cold. I wanted to borrow a bathrobe for the guests in the lobby. I was rejected and the service was disappointing.

A resort hotel for a relaxing getaway. The view of the lake from the onsen is pleasant, as is the view from the balcony. I was pleased with the abundance of various skincare products in the onsen. Breakfast was enjoyable with a wide selection. The futon in the room was a bit thin, so sleeping was hard. The electrical outlets were inconveniently located. There is a regular shuttle to the station, which is convenient.