Mitsui Garden Hotel Hiroshima

Rooms and decor

The Moderate Double we'd book runs 16 sqm up on floor 20 — small in the Japanese business-hotel way, but laid out well, with a 140 cm double bed, a work desk, a fridge and a coffee maker. The bathroom is a compact unit bath with a Toto Washlet and reads as very clean. The whole place opened in 2015 and goes modern and minimalist — pale wood throughout, with a faux sakura tree in the lobby. Staff speak English comfortably, which smooths out check-in.

Food and amenities

The heart of the hotel is the Sky Lounge on floor 25, open 15:00-23:00, where snacks, coffee, tea and drinks are free for every guest — and from 17:00 to 19:00 there's a free sake tasting pouring local sake from Saijo, the sake town in Hiroshima prefecture. The view runs a full 360 degrees out over the Setouchi Sea with Miyajima in the distance. The second draw is the public onsen inside the building, a real rarity downtown: separate men's and women's baths, hot spring water around 40 degrees, a sauna and a cold pool, free for guests and open 15:00-02:00 plus 05:00-10:00. Soaking after a long day on foot around Peace Park is exactly the point. Breakfast is a buffet at Granfa Cafe & Lounge on floor 1 for ¥2,200 (about $15), with a Hiroshima-specialty corner — anago-meshi (conger eel rice), lemon pasta and okonomiyaki sticks alongside vegetables, fruit and fresh bread, and the quality is high for a 3-star.

Location and getting there

This is a clean white 25-floor tower in Naka ward. From JR Hiroshima Station, take Hiroden tram #8 for about 12 minutes (¥220, roughly $1.50), get off at Tokaichi-machi and walk another 100 metres. On foot it's 4 minutes to Hondori Shopping, 8 minutes to Peace Memorial Park, and Okonomimura is walkable too — a genuinely central base. The trade-off is that the station itself sits 2 km away, so plan on the tram rather than dragging bags across town.

Things to know before booking

Standard rooms are 16 sqm and feel small — fine for one or two people who are out all day, but worth sizing up to the 23 sqm Deluxe (about $10 more) if you want room to spread out. There's only one restaurant in the building, so dinner usually means stepping out, though central Naka makes that painless. And the onsen is bathed nude in the traditional Japanese style, with separate men's and women's sides — worth knowing before you go up.

Our take

For a tight budget, this is the strongest value in Hiroshima — a free Sky Lounge, a free onsen, a Hiroshima-specialty breakfast and an 8-minute walk to Peace Park, all wrapped in a 9.2/10 score that tops the 3-star group. Rates from about $80 undercut plenty of 4-star options nearby. It suits solo travelers and couples best, especially anyone who wants to try a city onsen and a free sake tasting without paying up.