Overview

Lake Biwa Hotel is a lakeside resort hotel in Otsu, Shiga, facing Japan’s largest lake. Every room looks toward Lake Biwa, so you can enjoy open water, sky, and mountain views from your own space. You stay close to Kyoto by train, yet the setting feels calm and open, with lake-view rooms, natural hot spring bathing, restaurants, a rooftop terrace, and seasonal pool time in one place.

A free shuttle connects the hotel with JR Otsu Station during scheduled hours, and parking is available on site. This makes the hotel easy to use whether you arrive by train, drive around Shiga, or add Lake Biwa to a Kyoto trip.

Accommodation

All rooms face Lake Biwa, giving you lake views throughout your stay. Room floors include Superior Floor Natura on the 5th and 6th floors, Deluxe Floor Lumina on the 7th to 10th floors, Premier Luxury Floor Aqua on the 11th and 12th floors, and Premier Luxury Floor Vista on the 4th floor. Suites include the Royal Suite and Junior Suite, while standard room choices include twin and double layouts.

Premier Luxury Floor Vista rooms are limited to four rooms and feature an “airy bath” with views beyond the bedroom. Premier Luxury Floor Aqua rooms use a water-inspired design and give you access to the Club Lounge. The Royal Suite is the highest room category, with a separate living room and bedroom, plus a wide window looking over Lake Biwa. The Junior Suite sits on the top floor and gives you a spacious lake-view stay with a blue, water-themed design.

Deluxe Floor Lumina rooms use a bright yellow theme inspired by light and radiance. Superior Floor Natura rooms keep the focus on the natural lake view, with layouts that separate bedroom and living areas in a relaxed way. Some twin rooms include washing areas in the bath, while standard room equipment may include Simmons beds, air conditioning, safe, TV, refrigerator, hair dryer, electronic toilet, electric kettle, humidifier and air purifier, pajamas or yukata depending on floor, slippers, coffee or tea, and NEMOHAMO bath amenities.

Lake Biwa Hotel follows a plastic-reduction approach, so single-use plastic items such as toothbrushes, razors, hairbrushes, combs, shower caps, and hair ties are not placed in rooms as standard. Eco-friendly amenity items are available when needed.

Dining

Lake Biwa Hotel gives you several dining choices, each with a different mood. Japanese Cuisine Ohmi serves seasonal Japanese dishes with careful technique and soup stock made from selected ingredients. Teppanyaki Ohmi highlights Omi Beef, one of Japan’s major wagyu names, along with seasonal seafood and Shiga ingredients. Tempura Ohmi serves freshly fried tempura at a kappo-style counter and requires advance reservation.

Italian Dining Bel Lago sits in a bright space with large windows and a high open ceiling, serving Italian cuisine by an Italian chef. Café Bel Lago offers seasonal cakes, tarts, tea, café menus, and light meals. In summer, BBQ Hoshi opens with Lake Biwa, Mt. Hiei, and the Hira Mountains below, pairing grilled meat with lake breezes, beer, and local sake.

If you stay on the Premier Luxury Floor, in a Vista room, or in a Suite, you can use the Club Lounge. The lounge offers breakfast, morning snacks, tea time, hors d’oeuvres, and nightcap service, along with hot and cold drinks, wine, beer, and champagne. Preschool children are not admitted to the Club Lounge.

Onsen and Wellness

Ruri-no-Yu is the hotel’s natural hot spring bath on the 4th floor. You can soak in the indoor bath or open-air bath while looking toward Lake Biwa. The water is associated with relief from neuralgia, joint pain, sensitivity to cold, and fatigue. The bath is open for overnight stays in the morning and again from afternoon until midnight.

The men’s and women’s bath areas each include a large public bath, open-air bath, and sauna. The men’s side has a dry sauna, while the women’s side has a mist sauna. The dressing area includes a free drink server, sofa, lockers, hair dryers, tissues, cotton swabs, hand soap, baby beds, and skincare or grooming items depending on the bath area.

The hotel also gives you a seasonal outdoor pool on the 2nd floor. The pool is shaped like Lake Biwa, with shallow and deeper areas, and it looks out toward the lake. The rooftop terrace on the 13th floor gives you another open-air place to enjoy views of Lake Biwa, Mt. Hiei, and the Hira Mountains.

Guests with Tattoos

If you have tattoos, you cannot use the onsen facilities. The bath rules do not permit tattoos in the public hot spring area.

Facilities

Lake Biwa Hotel gives you a resort-style stay with lake-view rooms, restaurants, Club Lounge, natural hot spring baths, saunas, seasonal outdoor pool, rooftop terrace, shop, meeting spaces, parking, and EV charging by reservation. The rooftop terrace is open to hotel stays and gives you wide views across the lake and mountains, while the shop carries Shiga products, local foods, Tanada rice served in the restaurants, and original hotel sake.

The pool adds a family-friendly summer option, with shallow and deeper areas beside the lake view. The onsen area includes indoor and open-air bathing, saunas, lockers, baby beds, skincare items, and a rest space after bathing. Parking has 155 spaces, including accessible spaces, and EV charging is available for up to two vehicles per day with reservation.

Activities

You can enjoy Lake Biwa from the hotel, then explore Otsu and Shiga with ease. Nearby sightseeing ideas include the Michigan Cruise, Enryakuji Temple on Mt. Hiei, Omi Shrine, Chikubu Island, Shirahige Shrine, Mangetsu-ji Temple’s Ukimido, Biwako Valley and Biwako Terrace, and Hikone Castle.

The lake itself offers one of Shiga’s strongest travel experiences. You can ride a pleasure cruise from Otsu Port, cycle parts of the lakeside route, visit historic temples and shrines, or plan seasonal trips around flowers, autumn colors, lake views, and mountain scenery.

Additional Features

Lake Biwa Hotel gives you all-room lake views, natural Ruri-no-Yu hot spring bathing, indoor and open-air baths, dry and mist saunas, lake-view dining, Japanese cuisine, Italian dining, teppanyaki, tempura, café, seasonal rooftop BBQ, Club Lounge access for selected rooms, seasonal outdoor pool, rooftop terrace, shop, parking, EV charging by reservation, and free shuttle service from JR Otsu Station. It suits you when you want a Lake Biwa stay with resort facilities, hot spring time, and smooth access from Kyoto and Otsu.