My daughter and I had a wonderful stay at the Panama Hotel. During our 10-hour drive to Seattle we listened to the audio book version of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, so we arrived knowing something of the history of Japan Town. The owner and host were friendly and knowledgeable - they seem to truly love what they are doing and shared the history with us. The location was great - a short walk to yummy food in the International District and the pier, downtown area, train station, etc. Rooms and bathroom were clean and thoughtfully decorated. I loved the original leather floors and woodwork. Thanks to other reviews I arrived prepared with ear plugs for the single-pane windows, but really the noise wasn't bad at all. Before leaving we had tea at the teahouse/museum, which was also lovely. I highly recommend staying here! So much more interesting than a modern hotel.