Autumn 2025. We – Sam and Danny, Michel and Wille, and Timothy – are travelling to Japan for a quite classic tour of the Land of the Rising Sun. We are flying separately as we used miles. On the planning: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawa, Osaka, and Expo 2025, Hiroshima, Himeji, Miyajima, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Hakone, and back to Tokyo. Three weeks plus some extra days.

Prior to the group trip, I – Timothy – am solo in Tokyo. Using artificial intelligence, I concocted a busy four days featuring Ito on the Izu Peninsula and Sawara, also known as Little Edo. I also end this Journey Across Japan with a solo spell in Minato, near Taito and Tamachi Station.  

Choosing a hotel in Tokyo is hard. Which area do you want? Do you go for western style or Japanese style. As the hotel choices with Sam and Danny were often western, I chose Japanese style. I went for Onyado Nono Asakusa Hotel, behind the Sensō-ji Temple. 

Introduction

Onyado Nono Asakusa offers a blend of modern comfort and traditional Japanese touches. 

The hotel—part of the Dormy Inn / Onyado Nono family—offers roughly 150 rooms that favour a tasteful, pared-back aesthetic: think warm wood finishes, tatami accents in some room types and efficient layouts that make the most of compact Tokyo space.

 Its headline feature is a natural hot-spring public bath (onsen), with separate male and female facilities and the sort of soothing, slightly ritualised experience you don’t expect to find in the middle of a major city. There’s also a sauna, basic laundry services, free Wi-Fi, 24-hour reception and the small hospitality touches Dormy Inn fans often mention in reviews—late-night perks, a decent breakfast buffet for an extra charge, and vending machines for quick snacks.

Location is the hotel’s greatest strength: set in Asakusa’s bustling sightseeing area, Onyado Nono sits within easy reach of Nakamise shopping street, the old Rokku entertainment quarter and, if you fancy stretching your legs or hopping on a short train ride, Tokyo Skytree. 

Several stations are a brief walk away, so getting to central hubs like Tokyo Station is straightforward by public transport. Practicalities are what you’d expect from a city onsen hotel—standard group check-in/out windows apply, rooms are typically smaller than you’d find outside Tokyo, and the public bath policy follows the usual Japanese etiquette (tattoos are generally not permitted). 

The property is elevator-equipped and mostly smoke-free, but if you have mobility needs it’s worth checking accessibility for the bath areas in advance.

Shoes off

Onyado Nono has a strict shoes off policy. At the entrance lobby, there are lockers for your shoes. You’re also supposed to clean the wheels of tour suitcase. Because yes, they touched the street. 

The room

The room is small, yet practical. The bed is low, but there’s a bed. There’s a fridge and a decent desk. There is enough light and enough power outlets. 

I never used the shower there, I always used the onsen in the basement. As is not unusual in a Japanese hotel, you het a pyjama / loungewear outfit. 

The room wasn’t cleaned every day, but you get fresh towels. The no daily cleaning is something which is gaining ground all over the world. 

The onsen

The onsen in the basement features what you expect: low showers with stools, baths with different temperatures and a sauna. There’s even big (plant) pots of hot water and two lounge chairs, where you can dry yourself au naturel. 

Obviously I don’t have photos of the onsen. You can find these on booking sites. It’s a very nice onsen which I visited several times a day. 

In the morning you can get some Yakult and in the evening ice cream. 

Breakfast

Breakfast is elaborate with mostly Japanese breakfast options: fish, rice, vegetables, miso etc. There are also western options including square chocolate Danish. 

Breakfast at Onyado Nono introduced me to some Japanese breakfast customs. The card to indicate if your table is free or in use. An idea hotels all over the world should use. 

Then there’s the use of trays. These make sense to transport the many Japanese breakfast items. But for me, it’s unpractical. 

Either way, breakfast is pretty decent at Onyado Nono Asakusa.

Late-night snack

Between 9:30 PM and 11PM, you can get a complimentary bowl of ramen, which is very nice.

Bringing people in

It’s no secret I wanted to hook up with guys while in Japan. But I didn’t bring someone to my room there. Many hotels officially don’t allow ‘externals’ into the rooms, but Onyado Nono, with its shoes-off-at-the-entrance policy, makes it especially hard to smuggle someone in. So I travelled instead of hosting. 

So?

If you look for a Japanese style hotel in Tokyo, Onyado Nono Asakusa is a good option. It has a lot going for it. The onsen is really nice. 

If you want more anonymity, look for something else. 

2025 Journey Across Japan

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3. QUESTION | Should you be stressed about travelling to Japan, and fear of missing out?.
4. Brussels Airport to Milan Malpensa with Brussels Airlines, operated by Air Baltic, ft. the 2025 check-in and boarding software hack.
5. REVIEW | Sala Montale Exclusive Lounge and Sala Gae Aulentin Premium Lounge at Milan Malpensa Airport, extra Schengen.
6. REVIEW | All Nippon Airways (ANA), Business Class, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to Tokyo.
7. REVIEW | Toei Animation Museum in Nerima, Tokyo.
8. JAPAN | Tokyo Station, its Character Street and Pokémon Store.