I booked the hotel about a month and a half before the trip. At the time, I was told the breakfast was included, which I almost forgot about. The check in staff reminded me that and I thought we’d get a bowl of rice with some pickles and some miso soup. What I completely didn’t plan for, was this:
Kids meal:
Which was all the while more surprising because the hotel genuinely was confounding and surprising in pretty much every way. I don’t normally write about hotels but I thought this one is worth talking about.
We checked in after driving a couple of miles along the Nagara River in the dark after the ayu cormorant fishing tour ended. The hotel exterior clearly looked like it was designed by an architect who was trying to win some architectural competition, with gardens on upper floors, etc. Its not the newest any more, but care definitely went into the whole design. I’d rate the entry foyer three and a half stars.
But then we headed up to the floor where the rooms were, the carpet was all worn out and torn in the hallway, so torn that it was bare in some spots and could trap rolling luggage wheels with the stray pieces in others. (One star. Should have taken a picture). The AC in the room was very weak. (One star) The room was very clean, and like the hotel exterior, it looked like the architect put thoughts into the design of the room/ suite, like wood paneled bathrooms. Though its a bit dated and looked like no renovations have been done since the hotel came into being in the 80s. (Three stars in the 80s, maybe two and a half now).
And then in the morning I woke up early and decided to explore the hotel. Of the 8 floors in the hotel, 5 were dedicated to wedding reception and banquets. It was very well maintained and had none of the weariness in the room or in the hallway on my floor. It looked like people from Gifu City and maybe the prefecture would find this to be a premier wedding venue. (Three and a half stars)
Plenty of finely made Gifu paper umbrellas:
Fab view of the Nagara River and the ultra modern Ukai Bridge, with the Gifu Castle up on the hill in the distance.
And then we showed up for breakfast, and it was a four star dining room and breakfast spread.
Three types of fine local rice from Gifu. I appreciate this selection the most.
Various pickles:
Seasoning and garnishes:
Grind your own matcha tea powder. Its quite fun for the kids.
The meal was decent. We were very full and wondered what we should do about the 12pm lunch at a good place in Magome-juku in Kiso Valley.
I don’t think I have ever had such a wild swing of quality across various aspects of one hotel. The hotel claims that they are a three star hotel on Google Map. I guess once you average all the aspects out, it comes to about three stars. 
All of that hotel talk was my very long way of saying- they really put effort into their breakfast, just like they really didn’t put any effort updating their carpet, doors and room keys.
