Dormy Inn Hotels in Aomori

This is my favorite hotel chain to book in Japan; you can't really go wrong with it. The rooms are clean, well-equipped, and actually a bit more spacious than I expected. It's a 10-15 minute walk to the JR station. If you're using Aomori as your base to explore nearby cities daily, you might find yourself a little tired after a long day, as you'll still have a bit of a walk back to the hotel. However, the surroundings are very quiet, so if you don't mind the walk, I highly recommend this place. The breakfast is delicious, especially the scallop sashimi (I'm not sure if it's an Aomori specialty), which was so good I keep thinking about it... super fresh and sweet! The free ramen at night is also yummy and comforting after a hot bowl, even if it's a tad salty (but hey, it's free, so who's complaining!). On the onsen floor, they offer free lactic acid drinks or popsicles at different times, which are a nice treat. One minor drawback: the washing machines and dryers are coin-operated. If you don't have enough coins, you'll end up buying drinks from the vending machine just to get change. However, this isn't really a fault of this particular hotel; most coin-operated laundry machines in Japanese hotels probably work this way.