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Morioka hotels by the station and downtown: 5 picked from 57
Approximate, at the rate on 2026-10-02. You pay in yen.
- Where to stay in Morioka: four hotels within 4 minutes of the station
- Hotel Mazarium is a bus ride away, with a Finnish sauna and a large bath
- Daiwa Roynet rooms start at 21 m²; Metropolitan is a minute from the north gate
The five
| Best for | Where to book | Score | Weeknight (per person) | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The best reviewed of the 22, with a Finnish sauna above the bus centre — if you can’t decide | HOTEL MAZARIUM Check price |
82/100 | ¥7,000–8,000 | ¥9,000–15,000 |
| Simmons beds in classic rooms, three minutes away — and the cheapest weeknight here | Hotel Metropolitan Morioka New Wing Check price |
77/100 | ¥6,000–10,000 | ¥9,000–13,000 |
| Every room 21 m² or larger, most with the bath and toilet separate | Daiwa Roynet Hotel Morioka Ekimae Check price |
73/100 | ¥7,000–10,000 | ¥10,000–18,000 |
| The best reviewed within five minutes of the station | Richmond Hotel Morioka Ekimae Check price |
72/100 | ¥8,000–10,000 | ¥9,000–13,000 |
| Right next to Morioka station, one minute from the north gate | Hotel Metropolitan Morioka (Main Building) Check price |
70/100 | ¥7,000–11,000 | ¥8,000–14,000 |
Prices are the cheapest per person found on Rakuten Travel for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 2026-10-31 – 2026-12-23, for 2 adults in one room (checked 2026-10-24). 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.
The best reviewed of the 22, with a Finnish sauna above the bus centre
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.72/5 (343) · Agoda 9.0/10 (167) · 510 in total
- In the Nakanohashi area of downtown, not a walk from the station
- The bus stop is one minute from the hotel
Why it made the five
- 4.72 across 343 reviews — the highest average of the 22 that qualified; cleanliness 4.77.
- A Finnish sauna and a large bath.
- On the third floor of the Morioka Bus Center, downtown; 34 rooms.
- From about ¥7,000 per person with breakfast on a weeknight, about ¥9,000 on a Saturday.
Getting there: By bus from stand 6 at the east-exit terminal of JR Morioka station to Morioka Bus Center, about twelve minutes, then one minute on foot. The hotel is on the bus centre’s third floor.
Language and payment: Rakuten’s listing says a few staff speak a little English. Cards are not taken at the hotel: bookings are paid online by card. The large bath and sauna are communal and nude in the Japanese way; tattoo rules are not published, so ask first. The whole building is non-smoking. The ground-floor doors lock at 23:30, though guests who have checked in can still come and go, and last check-in is 23:00. The listing says parking for one car is free, and names partner car parks nearby.
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Right for: Sauna lovers, and anyone who wants the best-reviewed small hotel in town.
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Not for: You take a bus from the station rather than walk.
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Worth knowing: From Morioka station it is about twelve minutes by bus from stand 6 at the east-exit terminal.
Score breakdown — 82/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★☆ | The categories Rakuten does show (room and others) average 4.71 |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | ¥7,000–8,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 102% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 11:00; a Finnish sauna and a large bath; on the third floor of the Morioka Bus Center; about twelve minutes by bus from stand 6 at the east exit of Morioka station; parking for one car free. |
| Trust | ★★★★☆ | 4.72 across 343 reviews (Rakuten Travel 343) |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | Its 4.72 average is the highest of the 22 that qualified, and this 34-room hotel has a Finnish sauna. |
Simmons beds in classic rooms, three minutes away — and the cheapest weeknight here
Hotel Metropolitan Morioka New Wing
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.53/5 (1,846) · Agoda 8.5/10 (949) · 2,795 in total
- European-classical interiors, with a tea lounge and a bar downstairs
- A humidifying air purifier in every room
- Breakfast rated 4.53
Why it made the five
- From about ¥6,000 per person with breakfast on a weeknight — the cheapest of the five — and about ¥9,000 on a Saturday.
- Three minutes on foot from the east exit of Morioka station.
- Simmons Beautyrest mattresses, two kinds of pillow and a coffee maker in every room.
- 4.53 across 1,846 reviews; 121 rooms.
Getting there: Three minutes on foot from the east exit of JR Morioka station: turn left, cross at the first lights, turn right and go straight; the hotel is just before the Asahi-bashi bridge. About ten minutes by car from the Morioka interchange.
Language and payment: English support is not published, so ask when you book. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club and debit cards are among those accepted. No bath house is listed, so tattoos do not come up. Parking next to the hotel is ¥800 a night (vehicles up to 2.0 m high), and bicycles are for hire.
- Right for: A quiet, comfortable room and a good night’s sleep, for the lowest weeknight price here.
- Not for: No bath house.
Score breakdown — 77/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.64 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★☆ | ¥6,000–10,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 82% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 11:00; Simmons Beautyrest mattresses and a choice of two pillows in every room; a coffee maker and a humidifying air purifier in every room; three minutes on foot from the east exit of Morioka station; a tea lounge and a bar. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.53 across 1,846 reviews (Rakuten Travel 1,846) |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | European-classical interiors, with a Simmons mattress and a coffee maker in every room. |
Every room 21 m² or larger, most with the bath and toilet separate
Daiwa Roynet Hotel Morioka Ekimae
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.51/5 (1,981) · Agoda 7.7/10 (683) · 2,664 in total
- Amenity bar by the front desk
- Business hotels usually have a moulded unit bath with the toilet inside
Why it made the five
- Every room 21 m² or larger; the bath and toilet separate in all but a few.
- About four minutes from Morioka station, by the underground passage to exit A1.
- Wheelchair-accessible and barrier-free rooms.
- 4.51 across 1,981 reviews; 241 rooms.
Getting there: About four minutes on foot from JR Morioka station: from the east exit take the underground passage to exit A1, then about 100 m towards the Kaiun-bashi bridge.
Language and payment: Rakuten’s listing says a few staff speak a little English. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club and UnionPay are among the cards accepted, and payment is taken at check-in. No bath house is listed, so tattoos do not come up. Parking is a mechanical car park for 60 cars at ¥1,100 a night, first come first served.
- Right for: Wanting space and a separate bath and toilet, or travelling with a wheelchair.
- Not for: No bath house, and the dearest of the five on a Saturday, at about ¥10,000–18,000 per person.
Score breakdown — 73/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | The categories Rakuten does show (room and others) average 4.52 |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | ¥7,000–10,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 100% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 11:00; every room 21 m² or larger, with the bath and toilet separate in all but a few; about four minutes from JR Morioka station, by the underground passage from the east exit to exit A1; wheelchair-accessible and barrier-free rooms; an amenity bar. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.51 across 1,981 reviews (Rakuten Travel 1,981) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | Every room is 21 m² or larger and, in all but a few, the bath and toilet are separate, so there is room to spread out. |
The best reviewed within five minutes of the station
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.55/5 (1,535) · Agoda 8.3/10 (802) · 2,337 in total
- Humidifying air purifiers in the rooms
- Cleanliness and breakfast both score above 4.5
Why it made the five
- About three minutes on foot from the east exit of Morioka station.
- 4.55 across 1,535 reviews — the best average within five minutes of the station.
- Cleanliness 4.58 and breakfast 4.55.
- A convenience store on the ground floor; 189 rooms.
Getting there: About three minutes on foot from the east exit of JR Morioka station.
Language and payment: Rakuten’s listing says a few staff speak a little English. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club and others are accepted. No bath house is listed, so tattoos do not come up. There is no hotel car park; the hotel points you to a nearby paid car park, ¥900 from 15:00 to 10:00 the next morning.
- Right for: Staying close to the station at a hotel with steady, high reviews.
- Not for: No bath house, and the highest weeknight starting price of the five, at about ¥8,000–10,000 per person.
Score breakdown — 72/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | The categories Rakuten does show (room and others) average 4.52 |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | ¥8,000–10,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 105% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 11:00; about three minutes on foot from the east exit of JR Morioka station; a convenience store on the ground floor; humidifying air purifiers throughout. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.55 across 1,535 reviews (Rakuten Travel 1,535) |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | Its 4.55 average is the highest of the hotels within five minutes’ walk of Morioka station, and cleanliness and breakfast both score above 4.5. |
Right next to Morioka station, one minute from the north gate
Hotel Metropolitan Morioka (Main Building)
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.39/5 (3,600) · Agoda 8.6/10 (1,166) · 4,766 in total
- Nothing here is quicker from the Shinkansen to your room, or to an early train
- Buffet breakfast in the restaurant
Why it made the five
- One minute on foot from the north gate of Morioka station.
- 3,600 reviews, the most of the 22 that qualified, averaging 4.39.
- From about ¥7,000 per person with breakfast on a weeknight, and about ¥8,000 on a Saturday — the cheapest of the five on a Saturday.
- Buffet breakfast; bicycles for hire; 191 rooms.
Getting there: One minute on foot from the north gate of JR Morioka station.
Language and payment: English support is not published, so ask when you book. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club and debit cards are among those accepted. No bath house is listed, so tattoos do not come up. Parking is at the Times Fesan car park, ¥800 a night (about 530 spaces, vehicles up to 2.1 m high).
- Right for: Arriving by Shinkansen and wanting your bags down at once, or catching an early train.
- Not for: No bath house, and the lowest review average of the five.
Score breakdown — 70/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★☆☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.36 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★☆ | ¥7,000–11,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 91% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 11:00; one minute on foot from the north gate of JR Morioka station; right next to the station; bicycles for hire; breakfast buffet in the restaurant. |
| Trust | ★★☆☆☆ | 4.39 across 3,600 reviews (Rakuten Travel 3,600) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | Right next to Morioka station, a minute from the north gate, and its 3,600 reviews are the most of the 22 that qualified. |
Know before you book
- Morioka is on the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo, a little over two hours on the fastest Hayabusa trains. The Akita Shinkansen’s Komachi trains run coupled to them as far as Morioka and split off here, so it is also the natural stop between Tokyo and Akita.
- The station has two main sides. The east exit faces the city: cross the Kitakami River by the Kaiun-bashi bridge and you are heading downtown. Four of these five are within about four minutes of the station on foot.
- Downtown — the Odori shopping street, the castle-ruins park and the Nakanohashi area around the Morioka Bus Center — is across the river from the station, a walk of roughly fifteen minutes or a short bus ride. Stay there if you mean to eat out every night; stay by the station if you have early trains.
- Morioka is known for three noodle dishes: wanko soba, served in endless one-mouthful bowls; Morioka reimen, a chewy cold noodle; and jajamen, wheat noodles with a miso meat sauce. Hittsumi, a hand-torn dumpling soup, is the Iwate home-cooking dish to look for at breakfast.
- For Hachimantai, Koiwai Farm or the Sanriku coast, buses and trains start from Morioka station, so a hotel near it saves time on day trips. Check the timetables the night before, especially in winter.
- Prices here are per person with breakfast, for two sharing. Since 1 October 2026 Morioka adds an accommodation tax of ¥200 per person per night, paid at the hotel, per two of the hotels’ listings.
How we chose: theme, conditions, scoring
How we chose
- Candidates: every property in Morioka listed on Rakuten Travel — 57
- Passed the review filter (counts and averages on Rakuten Travel, the one site that lists every property in the area): 35
- Met every condition below: 22
- 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 Morioka district, Iwate prefecture
- At least 100 reviews on Rakuten Travel, averaging 4.0 or better
- The cheapest rate falls between ¥3,000 and ¥30,000 per person per night (the floor is lower than usual because room-only rates in Morioka start low; the prices in this article are measured with breakfast)
- The listing gives a walking time from a station or bus stop
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, room size, and check-out time.
- Trust20 pts
- Review counts and averages published by Rakuten Travel.
- Only here5 pts
- What this hotel has that the other 21 do not.
What we dropped
| Property | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel Royal Morioka | Runner-up (69/100) | Scored 69, one point behind Hotel Metropolitan Morioka in fifth place. Its reviews are better, but value decided it: its rate came out at 96% of the median against 91%, and it is ten to fifteen minutes from the station rather than one. |
| GRIDS PREMIUM HOTEL MORIOKA | Runner-up (68/100) | Scored 68 against 70 to 82 for the five. The scores Rakuten publishes for it average 4.41, below four of the five, and HOTEL MAZARIUM already covers the sauna and large bath with a 4.72 average. |
| Dormy Inn Morioka, Sansa-no-yu | Runner-up (64/100) | Scored 64 against 70 to 82 for the five. The hot spring is the real thing, but weeknights from about ¥11,000 per person came out at 147% of the median, the weakest value of the eight we shortlisted, and the station is twelve minutes away on foot. |
| Morioka Tsunagi Onsen Shikitei | Outside the theme | 4.61 across 535 reviews, a Japanese-style hot-spring inn with an outdoor bath — but it is at Tsunagi Onsen, about 25 minutes by car or 40 by local bus from Morioka station with no shuttle, and the listing gives no walking time. |
| Art Hotel Morioka | Outside the theme | Seven minutes on foot from the station at the edge of downtown, with 3,958 reviews averaging 4.33 — but its cheapest rate is below our ¥3,000 floor, so it fell outside the mid-range brief. |
| Super Hotel Yahaba Eki Higashiguchi, Hyakumangoku-no-yu | Outside the theme | A natural hot spring three minutes from Yahaba station, 4.45 across 1,113 reviews. It met our conditions, but Yahaba is three stops south of Morioka, too far out for a Morioka station or downtown base. |
| 22 hotels | Below the floor | Fewer than 100 reviews, or an average below 4.0. |
Questions visitors ask
I arrive at Morioka on the Shinkansen. Which of these is closest?
Hotel Metropolitan Morioka (Main Building), one minute from the north gate. Hotel Metropolitan Morioka New Wing and Richmond Hotel Morioka Ekimae are about three minutes from the east exit, and Daiwa Roynet Hotel Morioka Ekimae about four, through the underground passage to exit A1. HOTEL MAZARIUM is downtown, about twelve minutes by bus from stand 6 at the east-exit terminal.
Should I stay by the station or downtown?
By the station if you have early trains or day trips to Hachimantai or the coast: four of the five are within four minutes of it. Downtown — the Odori and Nakanohashi area across the Kitakami River — if you would rather walk to dinner. HOTEL MAZARIUM is at the Morioka Bus Center there, and our runner-up Hotel Royal Morioka is in the middle of the entertainment district, ten to fifteen minutes on foot from the station.
Is there a hot spring or a sauna?
HOTEL MAZARIUM has a Finnish sauna and a large bath. Of our runners-up, GRIDS PREMIUM HOTEL MORIOKA has a large bath, a sauna and a cold plunge three minutes from the north exit, and Dormy Inn Morioka has a natural hot spring with an outdoor bath, about twelve minutes on foot from the south exit. All of these are communal and nude, so ask about tattoos first.
Will the staff speak English, and can I pay by card?
Only some listings say anything about English. HOTEL MAZARIUM, Daiwa Roynet Hotel Morioka Ekimae and Richmond Hotel Morioka Ekimae list a few staff with a little English; the two Metropolitan hotels do not publish it. Most of the five take the major international cards at the hotel. The exception is HOTEL MAZARIUM, which takes no cards on site: you pay online by card when you book.
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 31 October and 23 December 2026. Weeknights start from about ¥6,000 to ¥8,000 each, and Saturdays from about ¥8,000 to ¥10,000. Morioka’s accommodation tax of ¥200 per person per night is added at the hotel.
Which one would you book?
HOTEL MAZARIUM: the highest total of the five at 82, the best reviews of the 22 that qualified at 4.72, and a Finnish sauna, from about ¥7,000 per person on a weeknight. If you would rather walk from the station than take a bus, Hotel Metropolitan Morioka New Wing is three minutes from the east exit and the cheapest of the five on a weeknight, from about ¥6,000.
Changes
- 2026-10-29 First published. Scored from 57 candidates.