The Castle Inn was a great place to stay for our group. The price was reasonable, it was clean, we found the beds to be comfortable although a little on the small size. There was a good buffet breakfast every morning which was a huge plus since we were travelling with our children and mother-in-law. The kids especially liked the free internet room (three computers in a glassed off cubby). The front desk people were helpful (their english wasn't good and our japanese was worse!) to the extent we could understand each other. Staff gave us loaner umbrellas when it was raining which was a nice touch. The hotel is within walking distance to the train station, bus station and a huge retail complex. We used the local bus system to see the sights of Kanazawa although there is also a smaller bus/trolley looking vehicle that only hits the touristy sites. The "mall" has many restaurants, as does the train station. There is also a small convenience store about four doorways down from the hotel entrance that we used to purchase snacks. We did not use the communal baths at the hotel so I can't comment on them. Are there nicer hotels in the area? Probably, but for our needs, Castle Inn was wonderful. We'd go back in a heartbeat.

Just stayed one night at Castle Inn to break a long trip and really wasnt expecting much, therefore i was pleasantly surprised to find a decent sized clean room, comfortable bed, great indoor and outdoor comunal baths and an excellent buffett breakfast - all for a bargain price (10,400Y)
Plus its in easy walking distance from the train station and the staff were friendly and helpful.

I stayed at this Japanese business hotel for one night. If arriving by train the location is excellent being just a few minutes away from the JR train station. It is however rather far from all the major sites (15-20 minutes) but the bus station is just outside the train station so it is still convenient.

The hotel itself is rather run-down but nonetheless clean. The lobby is, as the rest of the hotel, in dire need of a major over-haul. The staff was friendly enough but as is common in Japan they do not speak that much English. The internet computers were in about as good shape as the rest of the hotel so it took forever to open any program and surfing was virtually impossible - on the up-side it was free to use the computers.

The room was rather small and had seen better days. There was however a TV, fridge and coffee/tea maker in the room. The bed was pretty ok, the linen was clean but still seemed to have been along since the hotel was built.

The bathroom seemed to be the newest part of the room and was fine.

Breakfast was not included in the rate we paid (we got a pretty good deal, paying around 5500 JPY for 2 people) but it was however available at the hotel (either at extra cost or for other rates).

The Castle Inn is just a few minutes away from the train station, which was important to us as we had an overnight followed by a very early train. It was also quite inexpensive, which was nice compared to ryokans we'd been using. The people working there were also very pleasant. However, the beds were so uncomfortable that we didn't sleep well, and nothing else matters so much in a hotel as actually being able to sleep well.

And, yes, the Inn is showing its age with staining and such, but the cleanliness of the rooms was all that could be desired. We didn't find the rooms that small compared to others we had, especially in Tokyo.