Ekaterina B
Google
Sansuien is a hotel in Kochi city on the banks of Kagami river, in close proximity to Kochi castle. I wouldn’t call it luxury, but it leans towards the upper scale. With its 131 rooms it’s definitely one of the larger establishments, but didn’t feel overly crowded, even on a Saturday night.||||I stayed here on the 5th night of my Shikoku pilgrimage road trip. The hotel is right in the city center, but tucked in a quiet corner. Finding the way to the entrance in the maze of narrow streets took me a while, but everything was smooth after that: the staff took my car keys and parked my car for me, as it is customary in upscale places (they charge separate fee for parking, though: 500 yen per night).||||The building is a multi-story concrete structure with both western and tatami rooms. I was staying in a room with a bed, but it had a nice sitting area with Japanese elements of décor – I liked this combination.||||Dinner wasn’t included with my stay, so I took a stroll to one of the arcades and had a delicious meal there. It only takes about 10 minutes to walk to Kochi castle and maybe 15 minutes to the arcades, the shopping paradise where you can buy anything you want. After I came back to the hotel I headed to the common bath – a hot spring with natural water (this was one of the deciding factors for me when choosing a place to stay near Kochi castle). I enjoyed the bath very much, both indoors and rotenburo.||||Breakfast was also very good – a buffet with many food choices. Souvenir shop in the lobby carried a good selection too, I found a few mementos to take home. And, before checking out I had some time to go outside again, walk through the hotel’s garden and take a peek inside an interesting historic building that stands on the grounds: Yamauchi Family Shitayashiki Nagaya.||||Nagaya, literally translated as “long house”, is a type of traditional Japanese housing used historically by lower classes, like workers or artisans. This particular Nagaya, classified as Important Cultural Property, is considered to be one of the structures remaining from local ruler’s second residence that stood here, on the hotel grounds, in late Edo period. It has been reconstructed and preserved and holds various exhibits inside.||||I enjoyed my stay at Sansuien and would recommend it for those who like hot springs and local history.
