Family-Friendly Hotels near Tobu World Square: Kinugawa and Nikko

When you start looking for a family stay near Tobu World Square, it is hard to know what to judge a hotel by. On a trip with little ones, what usually decides how good the trip feels is not how famous the sights are, but whether the travel legs are short, whether a rainy day wrecks your plans, and whether the bath and the meals can be handled without stress. This area is known for a park where miniature replicas of the world's famous buildings are laid out to walk around, and because there are few slopes or changes in elevation, a stroller moves easily without slowing the adults down. One loop of the park brings one change of scenery after another, so even small children tend not to get bored.

The bases for a stay here are Kinugawa Onsen, Nikko, and Kawaji Onsen. Tochigi Prefecture holds areas such as Kinugawa Onsen and Nikko, both a short ride from Tobu World Square by train or car, so you can build a day that goes straight from a world tour by day to a hot spring at night. We introduce 20 hotels around here. You do not have to cram the day full: sightseeing for either the morning or the afternoon and the rest of the day relaxing at the hotel still makes the trip well worth it, because the distances are that forgiving.

The first thing to look at is the room. Japanese-style and Japanese-Western rooms are available at 18 hotels, and during the crawling and first-steps months they mean less worry about falls and more space to spread out your luggage without blocking the walkways. Some hotels, such as Kinugawa Onsen Hotel, have rooms with tatami beds or low beds, which is a good middle ground for families who find futons on the floor reassuring but prefer a bed when getting up. Kinugawa Onsen Hotel Shirakawa Yunokura and Nikko Hoshi no Yado provide things like a diaper bin and gentle, low-irritant baby soap and shampoo, which really helps at the ages when you want to pack light.

The baths offer plenty of choice, as you would expect in a hot spring region: private baths at 16 hotels, simple springs, the type considered gentle enough for babies, at 15 hotels, and rooms with a private or open-air bath at 10 hotels. If your child has not yet made their debut in a large communal bath, a hotel with a private bath, such as Asaya or Kinugawa Keisui, is the practical choice. Kinugawa Keisui states that there is a baby cot in the changing room, which removes the usual stumbling block of finding somewhere to dress your child when you are bathing solo with them.

For meals, toddler menus are offered at 7 hotels, baby food at 6 hotels, allergy accommodations at 6 hotels, and private or semi-private dining rooms at 6 hotels.