Toya Kanko Hotel

We ended up with a room we really, really liked. When we booked a few months ago for a late September 2023 stay, we could only book a Japanese room on booking.com. When we arrived at the Toya Kanko Hotel, we were able to pay to upgrade to a Japanese-Western twin room on a high floor, the 6th floor. From memory it was about 6600 yen in total to upgrade for the 3 nights (on top of the previously quoted 59,400 yen). (As with onsen resorts there is also a small daily onsen tax.) The room rate included a smorgasbord breakfast which had both Japanese and some Western food. There was a huge diversity of Japanese food. Don't expect to find European pastries though. The Toya Kanko Hotel is on Lake Toya, with just the pedestrian promenade separating the Hotel from the Lake. We had superb views across the Lake to the islands within it. The room was, overall, quite large by Japanese standards, with an entry foyer, bathroom, tatami room with twin beds and a Japanese dining table and seating and, finally, a sitting area with two chairs and a table, for viewing the Lake through the large picture window. I know some reviewers have said the decor is "dated", but we found it charmingly retro. The tatami and sitting areas were very calming. The location was excellent, being on the Lake and close to the departure point for the Lake cruises and powered swan boats. We were travelling by train in Hokkaido for 3 weeks and the Donan Bus met our train arrival at Toya Station and took us up into Toyako Onsen where the Hotel is. We got off at the Bus Terminal, next to the Tourist Information Centre, but there is another bus stop immediately in front of the hotel entrance, which is more convenient if you have luggage. There is a convenience store (Seicomart) immediately opposite the Hotel Entrance and it has long hours. The in-room fridge was excellent and moderately large by Japanese hotel standards.

Check-in staff and restaurant staff were friendly and efficient. Older hotel. The view from the room on our upper floor was amazing. Had a traditional room with comfortable futons. Unlike many hotels nearby this hotel looked directly over the lake and was right on a nice lakeside pedestrian walkway that had various tour boats, swan boats, etc. avail for rent. The men had an indoor and a really nice outdoor garden onsen to use. The outdoor onsen had a section of very hot water and one a bit more comfortable to us amateurs. We were treated to a fireworks show over the lake at night. (As another reviewer pointed out this hotel enjoys the first half of the show and to see the second half you would have to leave your room and walk on the pedestrian sidewalk around the corner ). Meals are in a large basement very brightly lit banquet room that accommodates tour bus groups. We enjoyed a very good set meal for dinner with a nice sake and a not so nice sake (avoid the sake with the beautiful lake toya photo). The large ( almost exclusively Japanese ) breakfast buffet was fine and had lots of options. Certainly not as elegant as many of the breakfast buffet spreads we enjoyed throughout Japan but certainly enough options. A cute "hand onsen" out front of hotel. Very nice stay, great value, and would definitely recommend this hotel.

A lovely onsen hotel overlooking the lake. The lake view from our room was wonderful and you could also see the nightly fireworks. Good food and plenty of it. Helpful and friendly staff. There is a bus stop outside the hotel where you can catch a bus to the Usuzan ropeway. Private baths are available for hire at an additional cost. This is a large hotel used by tour groups, but we didn't find that a problem. Good value for money. There is a shuttle bus to Toya station and when we left the staff waved an Australian flag to farewell us!

The location of the hotel was great - right in front of the lake and next to the main bus stops. We were also right next to the outdoor foot spa and good food locations. The breakfast buffet was excellent (plenty of vegetarian options for my husband) and we loved the onsens, particularly the outdoors one. We very much appreciated the free shuttle to the train station - they proceeded with the bus booking even though we were there only ones booked at that time.

The room is really big with proper arrangement. It looks better than the pictures provided in website. The hotel's set menu dinner is great with side dishes, salad, hot pot soup, and main dish with totally different menus for our two days' dinner. The onsen is great for both indoor and outdoor onsen.