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Otsu and Lake Biwa hotels: 5 picked from 95, near Kyoto
Approximate, at the rate on 2026-10-02. You pay in yen.
- Where to stay in Otsu: five places, 30 seconds to 5 minutes from a station
- Hira Lake House rents whole cottages for up to twelve adults
- Super Hotel Otsu is two stops (about nine minutes) from Kyoto station
The five
| Best for | Where to book | Score | Weeknight (per person) | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 seconds from JR Kusatsu, about 20 minutes to Kyoto — if you can’t decide | Hotel Boston Plaza Kusatsu Biwa Lake Check price |
72/100 | ¥8,000–12,000 | ¥9,000–22,000 |
| Whole-cottage rental for groups of up to 12 | Hira Lake House Check price |
70/100 | — | — |
| Five minutes from JR Otsu, two stops to Kyoto | Super Hotel Otsu Ekimae Check price |
65/100 | ¥5,000–12,000 | ¥7,000–16,000 |
| Five minutes from Hamaotsu; children sharing a bed stay free | Toyoko Inn Kyoto Biwako Otsu Check price |
65/100 | ¥5,000 | ¥6,000 |
| Highest-rated: by the lake, under the Hira mountains | Hotel Biwa Lake Otsuka Check price |
60/100 | ¥15,000–23,000 | ¥18,000–22,000 |
Prices are the cheapest per person found on Rakuten Travel for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 2026-11-07 – 2026-12-30, for 2 adults in one room (checked 2026-10-31). 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.
30 seconds from JR Kusatsu, about 20 minutes to Kyoto
Hotel Boston Plaza Kusatsu Biwa Lake
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.40/5 (3,377) · Agoda 8.7/10 (3,916) · 7,293 in total
- Check-in 15:00, last check-in 26:00, check-out 11:00 (Rakuten listing)
- Station car parks cannot be reserved in advance (Rakuten listing)
Why it made the five
- Thirty seconds on foot from the west exit of JR Kusatsu; about twenty minutes from Kyoto by JR.
- A Japanese-and-Western breakfast buffet, and a convenience store in the building.
- 3,377 reviews averaging 4.40 — the most of the ten that qualified.
- About ¥8,000–12,000 per person on a weekday, ¥9,000–22,000 on a Saturday; 216 rooms.
Getting there: Opposite the west exit of Kusatsu station (JR Biwako line), about 30 seconds on foot; about 20 minutes from Kyoto station by JR.
Language and payment: English support and tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book. No shared bath, so tattoos do not come up. Under cards, Rakuten’s listing mentions debit cards, so confirm how you will pay. The building is non-smoking apart from a smoking area in the 2nd-floor lobby. If you will check in after 10 pm, tell the hotel beforehand.
- Right for: Touring Kyoto and Shiga by train with the least walking with luggage.
- Not for: No bath house, and parking is ¥700 a night in the car parks at the station’s west exit.
Score breakdown — 72/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.59 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | ¥8,000–12,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 109% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 11:00; opposite JR Kusatsu’s west exit, about 30 seconds on foot; about 20 minutes from Kyoto by JR; a Japanese-and-Western breakfast buffet; a convenience store in the building; 216 rooms. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.4 across 3,377 reviews (Rakuten Travel 3,377) |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | Opposite JR Kusatsu’s west exit, 30 seconds on foot and about 20 minutes from Kyoto — the closest to a station of the ten that qualified. |
Whole-cottage rental for groups of up to 12
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.31/5 (108)
- On the quiet west shore of the lake
- All ten units are cottages, booked whole
Why it made the five
- A whole cottage to yourselves, for up to twelve adults.
- Bring your own food; a microwave, tableware and cookware can be rented.
- Five minutes on foot from JR Hira station (Kosei line); 40 parking spaces, free for guests.
- No rooms came up in our search window, so there is no price to show; 4.31 across 108 reviews.
Getting there: Five minutes on foot from Hira station (JR Kosei line); about ten minutes by car from the Shiga interchange of the Kosei road.
Language and payment: English support and tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book. Rakuten lists cards as accepted. A towel and toothbrush set costs ¥220 and a bath towel ¥110, so you may want to bring your own. Dinner is normally at 6 pm and breakfast from 8 am.
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Right for: A family or a group of friends who want a whole building to themselves.
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Not for: Towels and toothbrushes cost extra, check-in closes at 6 pm, and a cottage is a lot of space for two.
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Worth knowing: If you will arrive after 6 pm, you must phone the hotel.
Score breakdown — 70/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Rakuten shows no category scores, so this is our own baseline rating |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | No rooms came up in our search window, so the price could not be checked — our own baseline rating |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | A whole cottage to yourselves, up to twelve adults per cottage; bring your own food; a microwave, tableware and cookware for rent; five minutes on foot from JR Hira station on the Kosei line; 40 parking spaces, free for guests. |
| Trust | ★★☆☆☆ | 4.31 across 108 reviews (Rakuten Travel 108) |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | Every unit is a whole cottage, with room for twelve adults, and you can bring your own food. |
Five minutes from JR Otsu, two stops to Kyoto
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.07/5 (1,315) · Agoda 8.0/10 (163) · 1,478 in total
- The shortest train time to Kyoto stated by any of the five
- Check-in 15:00, last check-in 23:30 (Rakuten listing)
Why it made the five
- Five minutes on foot from JR Otsu; two stops, about nine minutes, to Kyoto.
- Lake Biwa within walking distance; rental bicycles and a coin laundry.
- About ¥5,000–12,000 per person on a weekday, ¥7,000–16,000 on a Saturday.
- 1,315 reviews averaging 4.07; 80 rooms.
Getting there: Five minutes on foot from JR Otsu station, which is two stops (about nine minutes) from Kyoto; about ten minutes by car from the Otsu interchange of the Meishin expressway.
Language and payment: English support and tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book. No shared bath, so tattoos do not come up. Rakuten lists cards as accepted, but some discounted plans cannot be paid by card. Check-out is 10:00, and the hotel says it cannot check you in after midnight — arrive later and the booking is treated as cancelled.
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Right for: Sightseeing in Kyoto by day and sleeping cheaply by the lake.
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Not for: No bath house, and the in-room bath scores only 3.81 on Rakuten.
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Worth knowing: Parking must be booked by phone in advance: ¥800 on site, ¥500 at a partner car park.
Score breakdown — 65/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★☆☆☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.03 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | ¥5,000–12,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 65% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Five minutes on foot from JR Otsu; two stops and about nine minutes from JR Otsu to Kyoto; Lake Biwa within walking distance; a coin laundry and rental bicycles; 80 rooms. |
| Trust | ★☆☆☆☆ | 4.07 across 1,315 reviews (Rakuten Travel 1,315) |
| Only here | ★★☆☆☆ | Five minutes from JR Otsu and two stops, about nine minutes, from Kyoto — an easy base for sightseeing there. |
Five minutes from Hamaotsu; children sharing a bed stay free
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.06/5 (638) · Agoda 7.9/10 (788) · 1,426 in total
- Biwako Hall is five minutes away on the Keihan line
- Check-in 15:00, last check-in 29:00 (Rakuten listing)
- Car park for 30 cars, ¥700 from 15:00 to 10:00, first come first served (Rakuten listing)
Why it made the five
- Five minutes on foot from Keihan Hamaotsu, ten from JR Otsu.
- Free breakfast; children of primary-school age or younger stay free sharing a bed.
- About ¥5,000 per person on a weekday, ¥6,000 on a Saturday — the cheapest of the five on a Saturday.
- A coin laundry; 142 rooms; 4.06 across 638 reviews.
Getting there: Five minutes on foot from Keihan Hamaotsu station (Biwako-Hamaotsu); ten minutes from JR Otsu station.
Language and payment: English support and tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book. No shared bath, so tattoos do not come up. Under cards, Rakuten’s listing names only Rakuten Card, so confirm how you will pay. One booking covers at most four rooms. Check-out is 10:00.
- Right for: Families with small children keeping the cost of a Kyoto-and-lake trip down.
- Not for: No bath house, and cancelling on the day costs the full rate.
Score breakdown — 65/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★☆☆☆☆ | The categories Rakuten does show (room and others) average 4.01 |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | ¥5,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 63% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Five minutes on foot from Keihan Hamaotsu, ten from JR Otsu; free breakfast, and children of primary-school age or younger stay free sharing a bed; five minutes to Biwako Hall on the Keihan line; a coin laundry; 142 rooms. |
| Trust | ★☆☆☆☆ | 4.06 across 638 reviews (Rakuten Travel 638) |
| Only here | ★★☆☆☆ | Breakfast is free, and children of primary-school age or younger stay free sharing a bed. |
Highest-rated: by the lake, under the Hira mountains
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.54/5 (242) · Agoda 9.3/10 (4) · 246 in total
- On the west shore, with the Hira mountains behind
- Lake Biwa is close enough to swim in
- Check-in from 15:00 (Rakuten listing)
Why it made the five
- Lake Biwa ten seconds from the door; five minutes on foot from JR Omi-Maiko station.
- A large bath, sauna and family bath (artificial hot-spring water); renovated and reopened in July 2024.
- 4.54 across 242 reviews — the highest average of the ten that qualified.
- About ¥15,000–23,000 per person on a weekday, ¥18,000–22,000 on a Saturday; 28 rooms.
Getting there: Five minutes on foot from Omi-Maiko station (JR Kosei line). By car, via the Kyoto-Higashi interchange and five minutes from the Omi-Maiko ramp of the Shiga bypass; 35 free parking spaces.
Language and payment: English support and tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book. Rakuten lists cards as accepted. Bags can be left before check-in and after check-out. Dining in a private room must be requested by the day before, at extra cost. A 24-hour coin laundry costs ¥300 a wash.
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Right for: Getting away from Kyoto’s crowds to a quiet hotel between the lake and the mountains.
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Not for: Only 28 rooms, the last check-in is 8 pm, and it is the dearest of the five on a weekday.
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Worth knowing: The large bath is shared and nude in the Japanese way. If you have a tattoo, ask the hotel before you count on using it.
Score breakdown — 60/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★☆☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.48 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★☆☆☆☆ | ¥15,000–23,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 201% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 11:00; private-room dining; five minutes on foot from JR Omi-Maiko; Lake Biwa ten seconds from the door, with lake swimming; renovated and reopened July 2024; a large bath, sauna and family bath (artificial hot spring); private dining to be booked by the day before, at extra cost; 35 free parking spaces. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.54 across 242 reviews (Rakuten Travel 242) |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | Lake Biwa ten seconds away with the Hira mountains behind, and its 4.54 average is the highest of the ten that qualified. |
Know before you book
- JR Otsu is two stops from Kyoto on the JR line, about nine minutes per one of the listings, and JR Kusatsu about twenty. Sleeping by the lake and riding into Kyoto for the day is a simple way to base a Kyoto trip somewhere quieter.
- Hamaotsu, on the Keihan line, is Otsu’s lakefront: Otsu port, where the sightseeing boats leave, is about five minutes on foot. JR Otsu station is uphill from it, ten to fifteen minutes’ walk.
- The JR Kosei line runs up the west shore beneath the Hira mountains. Two of the five are out there, by Hira and Omi-Maiko stations — quieter, with the lake in front of you, but further from Kyoto.
- Kusatsu is on the east side of the lake, on the main JR line. Two of the hotels we compared are within three minutes of its west exit.
- Ogoto Onsen is the lake’s hot-spring town, but none of its ryokan listings give a walking time from a station, so they fell outside our conditions. Of the five, only Hotel Biwa Lake Otsuka has a large bath.
- Prices here are per person with breakfast, for two sharing. Only Hotel Biwa Lake Otsuka starts above ¥12,000 on a weekday; Saturdays run higher at Boston Plaza and Super Hotel.
How we chose: theme, conditions, scoring
How we chose
- Candidates: every property in Otsu and Lake Biwa listed on Rakuten Travel — 95
- Passed the review filter (counts and averages on Rakuten Travel, the one site that lists every property in the area): 30
- Met every condition below: 10
- 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 Otsu, Ogoto, Kusatsu and Ritto district, Shiga
- At least 100 reviews on Rakuten Travel, averaging 4.0 or better
- The cheapest rate falls between ¥5,000 and ¥40,000 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 nine do not.
What we dropped
| Property | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Kusatsu Estopia Hotel | Runner-up (68/100) | Its 68 is higher than three of the five, but it does the same job as Hotel Boston Plaza Kusatsu at the same station exit — and Boston Plaza is closer (30 seconds against three minutes), has more reviews and scored 72. Weekdays here run about ¥7,000–11,000 per person, so it is a sound alternative if Boston Plaza is full. |
| Biwako Hotel | Runner-up (60/100) | It scored 60, level with Hotel Biwa Lake Otsuka, which took the lakeside place. Both lose on value — this one runs about ¥13,000–48,000 per person on a weekday, 170% of the median — and Biwa Lake Otsuka has the higher review average, 4.54 against 4.50. If you want a natural hot spring on the lake within a short walk of Hamaotsu, it is still the only one of the ten. |
| Art Ritz Hotel | Runner-up (56/100) | It scored 56, the lowest of the eight we scored. It shares the one-star quality and trust scores of Super Hotel and Toyoko Inn (4.14 across 812 reviews), but at about ¥7,000–9,000 per person on a weekday it sits at the median, where those two start from about ¥5,000. Ritto is also 27 minutes from Kyoto, against about nine from JR Otsu. |
| Biwako Otsu Prince Hotel | Could not check | 4.44 across 5,164 reviews — the most reviewed hotel in the district — but its listing gives no walking time from a station, so it did not meet the condition as written. |
| Ogoto Onsen Biwako Ryokusuitei | Could not check | A hot-spring ryokan in Ogoto Onsen with 4.66 across 2,549 reviews, but like the other Ogoto inns its listing gives no walking time from a station. |
| APA Hotel Biwako Seta Ekimae | Outside the theme | 4.09 across 1,633 reviews and by Seta station, but its cheapest rate is under our ¥5,000 floor. |
| 65 hotels | Below the floor | Fewer than 100 reviews, or an average below 4.0. |
Questions visitors ask
How far is this from Kyoto?
Close. JR Otsu is two stops from Kyoto station, about nine minutes per the Super Hotel listing; JR Kusatsu, for Hotel Boston Plaza, is about twenty minutes. From Hamaotsu the Keihan line runs through onto Kyoto’s Tozai subway line, which is handy for the east side of the city. The two west-shore hotels, at Hira and Omi-Maiko on the JR Kosei line, are further out — choose them for the lake, not for daily trips into Kyoto.
We are a family or a group. Which one?
For a group, Hira Lake House: you book a whole cottage for up to twelve adults and can bring your own food. For a family on a budget, Toyoko Inn Kyoto Biwako Otsu: breakfast is free and children of primary-school age or younger stay free if they share a bed, from about ¥5,000 per person on a weekday.
Is there a hot spring by the lake?
Of the five, Hotel Biwa Lake Otsuka has a large bath, a sauna and a family bath using artificial hot-spring water, with the lake ten seconds away. Biwako Hotel, a runner-up near Hamaotsu, has natural hot-spring water and an open-air bath, with every room facing the lake. The ryokan of Ogoto Onsen were left out because their listings give no walking time from a station. These baths are communal and nude — wash first, no swimwear, and if you have a tattoo ask the hotel before you go.
Which is cheapest?
Toyoko Inn Kyoto Biwako Otsu: about ¥5,000 per person on a weekday and ¥6,000 on a Saturday, with breakfast free. Super Hotel Otsu Ekimae also starts at about ¥5,000 on a weekday, five minutes from JR Otsu.
When were these prices checked?
We searched Rakuten Travel availability for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 4 November and 26 December 2026, taking the cheapest plan with breakfast and showing it per person for two sharing (checked 25 October 2026, tax included). Prices move daily — the link on each hotel shows what it costs today.
Which one would you book?
Hotel Boston Plaza Kusatsu Biwa Lake: thirty seconds from JR Kusatsu, about twenty minutes from Kyoto, 3,377 reviews averaging 4.40, and the top total here at 72 — about ¥8,000–12,000 per person on a weekday. If you came for the lake rather than for Kyoto, Hotel Biwa Lake Otsuka has the highest review average of the ten, 4.54.
Changes
- 2026-10-31 First published. Scored from 95 candidates.