They often say that the best season for travel in Japan is spring. However, any trip wouldn’t be complete without one of the most essential things – good accommodation.

Take a one hour journey to Mito from Ueno on the Japan Rail express line. Start off by taking a bus from the station to visit Kairakuen – a place known as being one of the best plum blossom viewing spots. Boasting 100 varieties of 3000 plum trees in its 13-hectare garden, the place was created as a garden of the Mito, one of the top three Tokugawa families.  After a day of activity, head to the inn located in Juoh town by the Joban train line. Juoh town in Hitachi City is a scenic town facing the Pacific Ocean with Juoh station acting as the gateway to town. Uno Misaki is the place where the most popular state-run lodging since 1989 presides. While it may be difficult to book a room with the inn’s occupancy rate of 97 per cent, and typical bookings made 3 months in advance, there’s no greater satisfaction when one is finally able to get a room. The room is a 10 tatami-mat room and has a small wooden floor. Room rates starts from 9915 yen (S$146), for a night with breakfast and dinner. With the building facing the sea, all 58 guest rooms get to enjoy a spectacular ocean view. If you’re looking for a western type room of the same size for a relaxing stay, room rates start from 9390 yen (S$138) per night with breakfast and dinner included.

Another point of appeal at this inn is that guests get to experience sea cormorant fishing at the “Sea Cormorant Catching Area”. With a fishing area that is only open to the public 6 months in a year, there are tool displays and also explanations about fishing cormorants during the off-peak season.

Dinner is in the restaurant with a great number of dishes being served. This ranges from a sashimi platter with 5 fresh kinds of fish, to salmon and scallop with ginger sauce, grilled overnight-dried flounder and even local specialty – deep fried green eyes, a kind of fish that is caught locally. All are cooked in front of the restaurant guests, and each dish is served with a good dose of hospitality.
The secret of the inn’s popularity is really its hospitality, which is even extended away from the restaurant with the hotel staff polishing the guest’s shoes and laying out the futon beddings while you’re away.
Before checking out the next day, enjoy a big breakfast which is served buffet style, with 20 varieties of Japanese and Western dishes prepared every morning.

The next dream inn which is popular through the seasons is Hoshinoya in Karuizawa, which is located in Nagano. The resort is built on the river bank and used to be a rustic hot spring inn called Hoshino hot spring, until it was reconstructed into 77 modern cottages 3 years ago. If you’re intent on leading the high life, you probably would enjoy yourself in room 110, called the water wave. However, that is only if you’re lucky or patient enough as the room is usually fully booked for 3 months in advance. Designed in a spacious one-floor style, a unique feature of the room is the floor’s heating system which utilizes geothermal energy.  There are 3 types of rooms available in Hoshinoya. Namely the ‘Mountain Alley’, which offers a spacious area and a mountain view from the window; while the ‘Garden Alley’ offers a view of a miniature landscape garden – a popular pick among the hotel guests as well.

While it may seem tempting to stay in your enchanting rooms all the time, you would be pleased to know that should you choose to venture out to the restaurant or the hot spring, a car will come and pick you up if you call.  There is much to see within the complex of the resort, such as the Dragon Fly open-air hot spring located within the premises of the inn. It has been offering hot spring water from the source since the old days and will be thoroughly relaxing experience. Or you may want to visit the village restaurants for a quick meal and while there are many dishes listed, it’s the variety of ice cream that the shop is famous for.  However, if you’re a nature lover, you’d probably appreciate the space by the window where one is able to watch birds at up close or hand-feeding the wild birds. Amidst the natural environment of Karuizawa, about 40 kinds of birds come to the area. At the community space, where resort guests relax and spend their time outside of their guest rooms, an array of old-fashioned sweets such as confetti, dough cake, coffee and herb tea are available free of charge along with a collection of 1000 books for guests to read .

Dinner is served at the restaurant Kasukebe with the Kaiseki meal a highlight, with sashimi of fatty Shinshu salmon, braised red snapper with egg tofu, deep fried bamboo shoots, sweet fish and kogomi (wild vegetable). You may then choose 1 of 3 grilled items including duck stuffed with green onions.
The restaurant also serves for breakfast, – Japanese or Western style.

The next destination is an extremely popular inn in Bousou that is booked out 365 days a year. It is about 2 hours by an express train on the JR Uchibo line from Tokyo.

Extract of Wind was established 33 years ago and is a small seaside inn with only 14 rooms. Enjoy a refreshing cup of peach tea as you enjoy a full view of the calm Tateyama Bay. Female guests can choose their yukata (bathrobe) from 8 different patterns and original stamped postcards for easy posting.

If getting a room at the hotel is feat with its occupancy rate of 99.9 percent last year, it’s even greater to get the guest room Narai on the top floor as it’s the most popular room with some people booking it a year in advance to get a chance to stay in it. Narai is a sunny 12 tatami-mat size Japanese room. It gives a view of the Sunosaki light house and Tateyama Bay. On certain days guests may even see the tip of the Bousou peninsula, Oshima Island and Mount Fuji in the distance. The room also comes with an open-air bath with an extremely exclusive view and a private garden to boot.

Enjoy dinner within the comfort of your room which features local specialty, horse mackerel. Also on the original menu, fried squid with liver , gold eye sea bream steamed with young bamboo shoots and sea urchin, fresh file fish braised in sweet soy sauce and fresh lobster sashimi. Also try the Fishermen’s soup, a traditional dish made with bony parts of fresh fish and crabs that local fishermen used to eat the beach.

End off the night on a high note with beauty treatment and massages of different kinds, all available at reasonable prices.