Iwakuni Kokusai Kanko Hotel

Lovely service and great food! Highly recommend.

If you are here to see the Kintai Bridge, make sure you do stay a night at this amazing Ryokan hotel whose hospitality is 5 stars with the lovely, friendly and welcoming staff in this hotel. Special thanks to Mr Toyota-San who made our stay so special and helped us with our lucky draws at the spring event as we were the only foreigners in a local event and didn't understand Japanese. The view of the bridge from the breakfast table is unforgettable and you get fresh tofu in the pot in front of you. Writing this review almost 9 months later still make me salivate. Wish I can go back again!

Very nice staff and they either spoke fluent English or quickly used a translator so they could effectively assist you. My room, 614, on the 6th floor was perfectly sufficient for my needs. There was some residual cigarette smell but it was subtle enough that it didn’t bother my non-smoker nose/lungs. The beds are strangely hard. Not really any give in them. But somehow it didn’t really bother me. The pillows are very thick/tall. Bedding is the traditional fitted sheet on a comforter. Rooms come with yukata and room slippers for guests to use around the hotel. The staff makes sure you have a size that fits you. There is working AC in the room. The room had a balcony with a wonderful view of the Kintai bridge. The communal bath on the 7th floor was very nice. For foreigners there were signs in the changing room picturing how to use the bath and tips to fully enjoy it without over heating. It had the usual little Japanese shower stations with stools, buckets, shower head, faucet, mirror, and soaps. There was also a wood type sauna which was very nice. There is a large indoor bath with 2 bath tiled pool style reclined chairs in the water which were very nice. There also is a small deep tub next to the large bath. There are also 2 open air baths right outside the showers and indoor baths. I didn’t see much of a view of the town but there are nice plants and greenery next to the baths and it is very peaceful listening to the sounds of nature and seeing the night sky. I went around 9pm and it wasn’t crowded at all. I was somewhat concerned about mosquitos since the hotel staff told me Iwakuni does have many mosquitos, but I didn’t see or encounter any while at the outdoor bath. If you need bug spray, you can use some at the front desk for free. I highly recommend shipping your luggage between destinations, which has been a life saver for me. Many hotels, including this one, will ship it for you directly from the hotel, but if your hotel doesn’t, just take your luggage to almost any convenience store like 7-Eleven and they will ship it. At this hotel, just take your luggage down to the front desk and they take you to the souvenir shop where you fill out the shipping info and pay (they only take cash for this). The bath closes at midnight. Complementary breakfast ends at 9am. There are 2 Japanese restaurants on the 2nd floor and one Szechuan restaurant on the 3rd floor.

Very elegant and traditional style room. Bath and shower has excellent water pressure. The futons were very fluffy and made sleep after a long day of walking very satisfying.

Free parking. Japanese breakfast included. Onsen on the 7th floor. Full service Japanese style hotel. Located across the street from the Kintaikyo Bridge and next to the bus stop. Lots of souvenir shops.