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Hikone and Omi-Hachiman hotels: 5 picked from 96
Approximate, at the rate on 2026-10-02. You pay in yen.
- Where to stay in Hikone and Omi-Hachiman: five hotels within a walk of a station
- Sunroute and Resort & Spa are at the castle-side west exit; Comfort Hotel is east
- Tobaya is a ryokan founded in 1880; Hotel Hachiman is the only one in Omi-Hachiman
The five
| Best for | Where to book | Score | Weeknight (per person) | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founded in 1880, and the best reviewed of the seven we compared — if you can’t decide | Tobaya Ryokan Check price |
77/100 | ¥7,000 | — |
| Right outside Hikone’s east exit, and the cheapest of the five | Comfort Hotel Hikone Check price |
66/100 | ¥4,000–7,000 | ¥7,000–11,000 |
| Five minutes from Omi-Hachiman station, with tatami rooms | Hotel Hachiman Check price |
66/100 | ¥6,000–13,000 | ¥6,000–11,000 |
| Closest to Hikone Castle, it says, with a large bath | Hikone Castle Resort & Spa Check price |
64/100 | ¥10,000–33,000 | ¥29,000–48,000 |
| One minute from Hikone’s west exit, ten from the castle on foot | Hotel Sunroute Hikone Check price |
61/100 | ¥6,000–9,000 | ¥9,000–11,000 |
Prices are the cheapest per person found on Rakuten Travel for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 2026-11-04 – 2026-12-26, for 2 adults in one room (checked 2026-10-25). They move daily — the link shows live prices.
The booking links go to Agoda, which shows today’s price and lets you pay in your own currency. Its price can differ from the Rakuten Travel figures above.
Founded in 1880, and the best reviewed of the seven we compared
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.60/5 (150) · Agoda 8.6/10 (120) · 270 in total
- Describes itself as a Japanese-style business inn with homely service
- Shared refrigerator; hairdryer at the washroom (Rakuten listing)
Why it made the five
- Founded in 1880; 13 rooms, facing Hanashobu-dori.
- Breakfast and dinner in your room or the dining room; dinner scores 4.81.
- 4.60 across 150 reviews — the highest average of the seven we compared.
- A large communal bath, and a free self-service laundry corner.
Getting there: Seven minutes on foot from Hikone-Serikawa station (Ohmi Railway); fifteen minutes from JR Hikone station. Free parking for ten cars, no booking needed. A pick-up may be possible by arrangement — ask the inn.
Language and payment: Language support is not published, so ask when you book. Credit cards are not accepted, so bring cash. The large bath is communal and nude in the Japanese way; tattoo rules are not published, so ask first. Check-in is from 16:00 (last check-in 22:00) and check-out is 10:00.
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Right for: Staying at a homely inn and eating dinner there too.
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Not for: Paying by card, or wanting to be right by the station.
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Worth knowing: Credit cards cannot be used.
Score breakdown — 77/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.60 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | ¥7,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 100% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Pick-up by arrangement; breakfast and dinner in your room or the dining room; private dining; seven minutes on foot from Hikone-Serikawa station and fifteen from Hikone station; a Japanese-style inn founded in 1880 on Hanashobu-dori; a large bath; a free self-service laundry; ten free parking spaces, no booking needed; 13 rooms. |
| Trust | ★★★★☆ | 4.6 across 150 reviews (Rakuten Travel 150) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | An inn founded in 1880 whose 4.60 average is the highest of the seven we compared, with dinner scoring 4.81. |
Right outside Hikone’s east exit, and the cheapest of the five
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.19/5 (3,855) · Agoda 8.6/10 (1,536) · 5,391 in total
- Welcome drink service
- Lending items: phone chargers, ice pillows, thermometers, nail clippers, sewing kits (Rakuten listing)
- Baby cots for hire (paid); coin laundry (paid)
Why it made the five
- Directly in front of the east exit of JR Hikone station.
- Five minutes on the Special Rapid from Maibara, the Shinkansen stop.
- Free breakfast; children of primary-school age sharing a bed stay free.
- From about ¥4,000 per person with breakfast on a weeknight — the cheapest of the five. 3,855 reviews, the most in the district.
Getting there: Directly in front of the east exit of JR Hikone station; five minutes on the Special Rapid from Maibara (Shinkansen). About four minutes by car from the Hikone interchange of the Meishin expressway; free parking.
Language and payment: Rakuten’s listing says a few staff speak a little English. Major cards are accepted (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners), and so are Alipay and WeChat Pay. No communal bath, so tattoos do not come up. Check-out is 10:00; last check-in is 24:00.
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Right for: Stepping off the train and straight into your room, or travelling with children.
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Not for: Wanting a large communal bath — there is none.
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Worth knowing: If you will arrive more than 30 minutes later than planned, call the hotel: a late arrival without notice may be treated as a cancellation.
Score breakdown — 66/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★☆☆☆☆ | The categories Rakuten does show (room and others) average 4.04 |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | ¥4,000–7,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 61% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Directly in front of the east exit of JR Hikone station; five minutes on the Special Rapid from Maibara (Shinkansen); free breakfast, known for its daily smoothie; children of primary-school age sharing a bed stay free; free parking; a few staff speak a little English; last check-in 24:00; 154 rooms. |
| Trust | ★☆☆☆☆ | 4.19 across 3,855 reviews (Rakuten Travel 3,855) |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | Directly in front of Hikone station’s east exit, and its 3,855 reviews are the most of the 96 candidates. |
Five minutes from Omi-Hachiman station, with tatami rooms
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.01/5 (1,084) · Agoda 7.6/10 (254) · 1,338 in total
- Morning coffee service; check-in and check-out outside regular hours possible (Rakuten listing)
- Every room’s TV supports mirroring
- Electric under-blankets in winter
Why it made the five
- About five minutes on foot from the north exit of Omi-Hachiman station.
- Every room has a separate bath and toilet — the only hotel in the city that does, its listing says.
- Choose a Japanese (tatami) or a Western room.
- From about ¥6,000 per person with breakfast — the cheapest of the five on a Saturday.
Getting there: About five minutes on foot from the north exit of Omi-Hachiman station (JR and Ohmi Railway). About 20 minutes by car from the Ryuo or Yokaichi interchanges. Fifty free parking spaces, first come first served, with an EV charger.
Language and payment: Language support is not published, so ask when you book. Visa, Mastercard and JCB are accepted. No communal bath, so tattoos do not come up. Check-in is from 16:00 (last check-in 23:00) and check-out is 10:00.
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Right for: Wanting a tatami room, or a room with the bath and toilet apart.
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Not for: Wanting a large communal bath.
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Worth knowing: The lift will be out of service from 27 February until about 17:00 on 28 February 2027 for works. Children of primary-school age and older pay the adult rate.
Score breakdown — 66/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★☆☆☆☆ | The categories Rakuten does show (room and others) average 4.02 |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | ¥6,000–13,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 79% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | About five minutes on foot from the north exit of Omi-Hachiman station; every room has a separate bath and toilet (the only hotel in the city that does, it says); a choice of Japanese or Western rooms; 50 free parking spaces, first come first served, with an EV charger; 58 rooms. |
| Trust | ★☆☆☆☆ | 4.01 across 1,084 reviews (Rakuten Travel 1,084) |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | Rakuten’s listing calls it the only hotel in the city where every room has a separate bath and toilet, and you can choose a tatami room. |
Closest to Hikone Castle, it says, with a large bath
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.56/5 (1,468) · Agoda 9.3/10 (351) · 1,819 in total
- Restaurant, bar and beauty salon on site (Rakuten listing)
- Massage service listed
- Check-in from 15:00
Why it made the five
- The closest hotel to Hikone Castle, per its listing.
- Eight minutes on foot from Hikone station’s west exit; a free station shuttle from 14:00 to 20:00.
- A large bath (artificial hot spring) and a ganbanyoku stone sauna.
- 4.56 across 1,468 reviews; location scores 4.69.
Getting there: Eight minutes on foot from the west exit of JR Hikone station; free shuttle from the station at any time between 14:00 and 20:00. About seven minutes by car from the Hikone interchange.
Language and payment: Rakuten’s listing says a few staff can handle everyday matters in English. Major cards are accepted (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners). The large bath is communal and nude in the Japanese way; tattoo rules are not published, so ask first. Bicycles can be borrowed. Check-out is 11:00.
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Right for: Walking Hikone Castle early or late in the day, then soaking in the large bath.
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Not for: Driving in and expecting free parking.
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Worth knowing: Parking has been paid since 1 June 2026: Times car parks on the south and east sides of the hotel.
Score breakdown — 64/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.51 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★☆☆☆☆ | ¥10,000–33,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 136% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 11:00; a free shuttle from Hikone station at any time between 14:00 and 20:00; eight minutes on foot from the west exit of JR Hikone station; a resort hotel that calls itself the closest to Hikone Castle; a large bath (artificial hot spring) and a ganbanyoku stone sauna; a few staff handle everyday English; bicycles to borrow; last check-in 24:00; 52 rooms. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.56 across 1,468 reviews (Rakuten Travel 1,468) |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | Its listing calls it the closest hotel to Hikone Castle, a National Treasure; it has a large bath and a ganbanyoku stone sauna, and location scores 4.69. |
One minute from Hikone’s west exit, ten from the castle on foot
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.09/5 (1,024) · Agoda 8.3/10 (1,257) · 2,281 in total
- Restaurant and bar on site (Rakuten listing)
- A 40-inch TV in every room
- Check-in from 15:00
Why it made the five
- One minute on foot from Hikone station’s west exit.
- Hikone Castle is ten minutes on foot.
- 48 minutes from Kyoto on the Special Rapid; one stop from Maibara.
- Bicycles for hire; free Wi-Fi in every room.
Getting there: One minute on foot from the west exit of JR Hikone station; one stop from Maibara (Shinkansen); 48 minutes from Kyoto on the Special Rapid. Parking at a partner Times car park, ¥500 a day, first come first served.
Language and payment: Language support is not published, so ask when you book. Major cards are accepted (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners), as are debit cards. No communal bath, so tattoos do not come up. Check-out is 10:00; last check-in is 24:00.
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Right for: Staying by the station and walking to Hikone Castle.
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Not for: Wanting a large communal bath.
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Worth knowing: If you will arrive more than 30 minutes later than planned, call the hotel: a late arrival without notice may be treated as a cancellation.
Score breakdown — 61/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★☆☆☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.15 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★☆ | ¥6,000–9,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 90% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | One minute on foot from Hikone station’s west exit; Hikone Castle ten minutes on foot; one JR stop from Maibara (Shinkansen) and 48 minutes from Kyoto on the Special Rapid; bicycles for hire; free Wi-Fi in every room; last check-in 24:00; 73 rooms. |
| Trust | ★☆☆☆☆ | 4.09 across 1,024 reviews (Rakuten Travel 1,024) |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | One minute from Hikone station’s west exit, and, its listing says, ten minutes’ walk from Hikone Castle. |
Know before you book
- Hikone Castle is one of only five castles in Japan whose keep is a National Treasure, and the keep is original rather than a modern rebuild. Hotel Sunroute Hikone’s listing puts it about ten minutes on foot from the station’s west exit.
- Maibara, one stop from Hikone, is where Hikari and Kodama trains on the Tokaido Shinkansen stop. From Maibara, Hikone is about five minutes on the JR Special Rapid; from Kyoto it is about 48 minutes.
- Omi-Hachiman is on the same JR line, between Kyoto and Hikone. Its station is not in the old town: the Hachiman-bori canal and the merchant houses are about eight minutes north by bus.
- In Hikone, the castle and the old castle town are on the west side of the station. One of these five is at the east exit, which is handy for the train but means crossing through the station to sightsee.
- The Ohmi Railway, a small private line, also runs from Hikone station. Its Hikone-Serikawa stop is seven minutes on foot from the old inn on this list.
- Prices here are per person with breakfast, for two sharing. The two towns are a short train ride apart, so whichever you stay in, you can see the other the same day.
How we chose: theme, conditions, scoring
How we chose
- Candidates: every property in Hikone listed on Rakuten Travel — 96
- Passed the review filter (counts and averages on Rakuten Travel, the one site that lists every property in the area): 28
- Met every condition below: 15
- Kept: five, each the best at something different
Where the facts come from
- Facts: Rakuten Travel property information (in some articles, each hotel’s own site too)
- Prices: Rakuten Travel live availability, Wednesdays and Saturdays over eight weeks
- Reviews: the count and average on Rakuten Travel, as given in each hotel’s Trust row. Agoda’s reviews are shown under each hotel name for reference only and do not count towards the score
Conditions (all of them, not most of them)
- In Rakuten Travel’s Hikone, Omi-Hachiman, Moriyama and Higashi-Omi district of Shiga, and within Hikone or Omi-Hachiman themselves
- At least 100 reviews on Rakuten Travel, averaging 4.0 or better
- The cheapest rate falls between ¥4,000 and ¥30,000 per person per night
- The listing states a walking time from a station
Scoring
Five criteria, one to five stars each, weighted to one hundred points. Every star says where the number came from.
- Quality20 pts
- The average of the scores Rakuten Travel publishes for the room, the bath and the food.
- Value for money25 pts
- The cheapest breakfast-inclusive rate against the median of the hotels we compared.
- Easy to stay30 pts
- Minutes from the station, a bath house, and check-out time.
- Trust20 pts
- Review counts and averages published by Rakuten Travel.
- Only here5 pts
- What this hotel has that the other 14 do not.
What we dropped
| Property | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel New Omi | Runner-up (60/100) | 60/100, one point behind Hotel Sunroute Hikone. Two minutes from the station with 4.33 across 1,492 reviews, but no rooms came up in our search window, so value could only take a default three stars, and its category scores average 4.25 — one star for quality. |
| Green Hotel YES Omihachiman | Runner-up (56/100) | 56/100, five points behind Hotel Sunroute Hikone. The baths and the station pick-up are its strengths, but weeknights at 119% of the median earn two stars for value, 4.20 across 1,331 reviews earns two for trust, and its category scores average 4.13 — one star for quality. |
| Ao no Kotei BIWAFRONT HIKONE | Outside the theme | 4.86 across 319 reviews, the highest average of the 28 that passed the review floor, but its cheapest rate is just over our ¥30,000 ceiling, and it is about ten minutes by taxi from Hikone station. |
| Biwako-han Mikaku no Yado Futabaso | Outside the theme | 4.63 across 132 reviews, by Lake Biwa with dinner in your room, but its listing gives about seven minutes by taxi from Hikone station, not a walk. |
| Omi-Hachiman Machiya Club | Outside the theme | 4.60 across 155 reviews for a five-room stay two minutes from the Hachiman-bori bus stop, but it is about eight minutes by bus from Omi-Hachiman station, so it misses the walk-from-the-station condition. |
| 68 hotels | Below the floor | Fewer than 100 reviews, or an average below 4.0. |
Questions visitors ask
Hikone or Omi-Hachiman — which should I stay in?
Hikone if the castle is the main reason for the trip: four of the five are there, and Hikone Castle Resort & Spa and Hotel Sunroute Hikone are both on the castle side of the station. Omi-Hachiman if you want the canal and the old merchant streets — Hotel Hachiman is five minutes from the station’s north exit, though the old town itself is about eight minutes further by bus. The two are on the same JR line, so you can stay in one and see the other the same day.
How do I get there from Kyoto or the Shinkansen?
From Kyoto, take the JR Special Rapid: Hotel Sunroute Hikone’s listing gives 48 minutes to Hikone. On the Tokaido Shinkansen, get off at Maibara, where Hikari and Kodama trains stop; Hikone is one stop on, about five minutes by Special Rapid. Omi-Hachiman is on the same JR line, between Kyoto and Hikone.
Do any of them have a large bath?
Two of the five. Hikone Castle Resort & Spa has a large bath with artificial hot-spring water and a ganbanyoku stone sauna; Tobaya Ryokan has a large bath. Among the runners-up, Green Hotel YES Omihachiman adds an open-air pot bath. These are Japanese-style baths: wash at the taps first, then soak, no swimwear. None of them publishes a tattoo rule, so ask first.
Will the staff speak English, and can I pay by card?
Only three listings say anything about English: Hikone Castle Resort & Spa and Hotel New Omi say a few staff can handle everyday matters, and Comfort Hotel Hikone that a few speak a little. The others do not publish it. Every hotel here takes the major cards except Tobaya Ryokan, which takes none — bring cash. Comfort Hotel Hikone also takes Alipay and WeChat Pay.
How much do these cost?
The table shows the cheapest price per person with breakfast, for two sharing, from Rakuten Travel’s availability search for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 4 November and 26 December 2026, checked on 25 October. Weeknights start from about ¥4,000 to ¥10,000 each. Saturdays start from about ¥6,000, but Hikone Castle Resort & Spa starts at about ¥29,000, and Tobaya Ryokan had no Saturday rooms in our window. Prices move daily, so check the link before you book.
Which one would you book?
Tobaya Ryokan: the highest total of the five at 77, the best reviews of the seven we compared at 4.60, and dinner at the inn, from about ¥7,000 per person on a weeknight — but it takes no cards. If you want to walk out of the station and into your room, Comfort Hotel Hikone is at the east exit and the cheapest of the five, from about ¥4,000 per person on a weeknight.
Changes
- 2026-10-29 First published. Scored from 96 candidates.