Kid-Friendly Hotels in Akita City: Station Stays & Onsen Ryokan

Search for a family stay in Akita City and you will find rows of business hotels lined up in front of Akita Station, with little clue as to whether any of them have a room that sleeps four. Akita City is the final stop on the Komachi bullet train line, and the downtown that hosts the Kanto Festival — the summer festival of towering lantern poles balanced on performers' foreheads — also works as a springboard to the Oga Peninsula and Kakunodate. Everything from the station's west exit to the Kawabata dining district is within walking distance of itself, so most families book a room in the city center first and then move around by car or bus the next day.

Most of the 7 properties listed here are downtown hotels within walking distance of Akita Station or a short drive away. Cribs are available to borrow at 2 of them. ANA Crowne Plaza Akita, connected to the west exit by a covered arcade, lends out cribs and humidifiers, has rooms that sleep four with an extra bed added, and can offer connecting rooms — booked by phone — so you can move between rooms without stepping into the hallway. Richmond Hotel Akita Ekimae lets one elementary-school-age child or younger share each bed at no charge, and keeps diaper bins, cribs, bed guards, and children's pajamas as loan items in limited numbers, with a picture-book corner in the lobby. Neither has a large communal bath, so bathing happens in your room's own bathroom.

If your family would rather soak properly, a hotel with a hot spring is the better fit. Akita Onsen Satomi, a short drive from Akita Station, is one of the few ryokan in the city with its own hot spring source. It has a large indoor bath, an open-air bath, and a sauna, with cribs in the changing room and in the breakfast room. Diaper bins are lent free of charge, and there are toddler chairs and children's yukata robes in a range of sizes. Dinner is served in private dining rooms, with a children's menu aimed at preschoolers through the early elementary grades. Children under one stay free if they need no meals and no futon. At Route Inn Grantia Akita SPA RESORT, overnight guests get free admission to the adjoining natural hot spring, and the manga corner on the first floor also holds picture books and illustrated encyclopedias.

For families who want to lay futons side by side in a tatami room, the spacious Japanese-style rooms at Hotel Pearl City Akita Kawabata sleep up to six. Do note that the tatami rooms and family rooms are smoking rooms, so ask when you book if you need a nonsmoking room. Hotel Route-Inn Akita Tsuchizaki, over toward the port, has a large communal bath filled with mineral-stone-treated artificial hot spring water, and Akita Park Hotel can serve dinner in your room. Co-sleeping policies and children's rates vary by plan, so it is worth checking the official site before you book.