APA Hotel Hitachinaka Katsuta-Ekimae

This hotel is conveniently located close to the Katsuta train station. It seems quite new and is very clean and well-maintained. All the staff are helpful and very friendly (note: I don't think they speak very much English). The lobby is pretty small, but usually there are not too many people around. All in all, we thought it was a terrific value for the money (which we especially appreciated because we had to get three rooms for our family). And they kindly reserved rooms next to each other for us. The complimentary breakfast buffet was great -- wide selection of fresh, tasty Japanese and Western options, even things like curry rice and miso soup. The only negative is that the rooms are very small, even by Japanese standards -- even two people in a room is a tight squeeze (with luggage) if it's for more than a night or two. But we would definitely stay again -- it's probably one of the best options in Hitachinaka.