Hotel Dengan Pools di Shiga Prefecture, Japan

This hotel is very neat and clean. The room is spacious with a beautiful view of Lake Biwa, and a walk along the lake is very relaxing. It's definitely worth staying here. I especially love the fragrant POLA toiletries they provide, and the bath salts are also lovely for a very comfortable bath in the evening. 👍 There's a free shuttle service from the north exit of Otsu Station, just across the street, that takes about 10 minutes to reach the hotel. There's a convenience store within a 5-minute walk, and a large mall about a 15-minute walk away. Near Otsu Station, there's a food market with great food at reasonable prices. I'd love to come back again if I have the chance.

All rooms at the hotel are lake-facing, offering fantastic views of Lake Biwa right from your door. The hotel is located right on the lake, perfect for a leisurely stroll along the shore. The hotel provides a free shuttle bus service from Otsu Station, which is very convenient for tourists. However, it's also just a 10-minute walk (or slightly more) to Otsu Station, so transportation is generally very accessible. There's also a terrace on the third floor of the hotel where you can enjoy panoramic views of Lake Biwa. The rooms are quite spacious and very clean.

The huge Marriott is complete with great hospitality. The hotel has a cycling route and a sport centre 3 mins walk away with only ¥500 rental per house for normal bikes and gears which is great for the hotel guests and great location for young riders to start the riding. Journey here

Facilities: The room size is quite spacious, with a separate bedroom and dining area. There are also two restrooms, and outside is a private hot spring tub. Overall, the facilities are well-maintained. Cleanliness: Acceptable. Environment: Very good. You can see Lake Biwa right from the room. And you absolutely must try the large communal hot spring bath. Especially in winter or on a rainy day, when it's raining or snowing outside and you're soaking in the super warm hot spring – it's incredibly comfortable, truly indescribable. Service: After exiting the JR station, if you call the hotel, a car will come to pick you up. However, that phone is really well-hidden; it took us a while to find it. The drive to the hotel takes about 10 minutes. The staff's service attitude is very good. They also escort you to your room and thoroughly explain each feature and how to use it. Check-out is at 10 AM, but most hot spring ryokans in Japan have this check-out time. Dining: We booked the two-meal plan, breakfast and dinner. The variety was quite rich, and the taste was decent, within expectations. Overall, the dining service was pretty good. Room service is also available; the latest you can order late-night snacks is 9:30 PM. Room service food is absolutely delicious! And it's not expensive at all, the prices are the same as outside. Overall, our stay at this hot spring ryokan was very comfortable. For those who can, I recommend staying two nights. On the second day, you can explore Biwako Valley, which is quite close to the hotel. It definitely won't disappoint (provided the weather is good; if the weather's bad, don't go).

Check in was not smooth simply because the male receptionist did not bother to explain to us that the room we've booked is actually classified as cottage & was separate from main building & need to drive there, even though he saw us with our many luggages offloaded from our car & pushed to reception area. By the time I figured out with the help of another female receptionist the actual location of our room, my husband has already followed the male receptionist's map instruction to look for numbered car park slot to park our car & then walked all the way back to the reception area to meet me. There is no buggy or any form of transport or concierge to assist us. In the end, we borrowed a trolley & wheeled all our luggages on road to our room. The toilet bowl smells bad & despite washing the floor & spraying anti odour, the smell persisted. There is no free wifi. However, overall, we are satisfied with our stay as the big room size (5 single beds) with many aircon units & the dedicated car park slot just right outside our room made it convenient for us to load our luggage when we check out. Overall, if you need a big room & dedicated parking slot, this is still good hotel to stay, since most hotel room in Japan is really small. The other reason we chose this hotel is the location near the sea where we were hoping to catch the sunset but we didn't managed to due to rain & super cloudy sky : (