Fuji Kawaguchiko Resort Hotel — Attraction in Fujikawaguchiko

"Stepping into the 1990s—and not in a good way." This hotel feels like it hasn't been renovated in 30 years, apart from basic maintenance. The fluorescent white lighting was overwhelming, and the wifi was painfully slow—like something out of a dial-up era.

The buffet? It tasted like they sourced everything from a convenience store. The sheets were cheap and uncomfortable—coarse, dry, and pretty much emblematic of the entire experience.

If you have tattoos, forget about the onsen—which, while standard in Japan, still feels incredibly outdated for foreigners. Not every tattoo is a gang affiliation, but alright, we can look past that there is a tattoo friendly onsen hotel down the road called Fuji royal hotel, the staff were friendly here.

The room itself was a traditional tatami room, which in this case translates to extremely barebones—fine if that's what you're looking for, but it didn't add to the experience for me as there was pretty much only 1 small lamp to illuminate the entire space or you must leave on the fluorescent light.

Now to the real issue: I lost $500 due to the hotel's lack of response and an apparent hacking incident on their account. Booking.com failed to get any cooperation from the hotel, claiming they couldn't find anyone who spoke English. I waited over a week for a response, and when it finally came, all I got was, "Sorry for the anxiety." The hotel refused to confirm their account had been hacked, which was necessary for me to provide evidence to my bank. Their lack of urgency meant I missed the deadline with the bank, and booking.com was no help either.

If you're a foreigner, I'd strongly recommend avoiding this hotel. The stay could have been fine if the hotel had been responsive, but our excitement quickly turned to disappointment, compounded by poor service and a complete lack of accountability.

Be aware that it is possible to call the hotel for them to pick you up by a shuttle bus but that the hotel will likely not answer the phone or respond to messages so you will likely have to drag your luggage over terrible terrain over about 1km which was not very convenient considering it took us 6 hours to get here. If you set low enough expectations for this place you won't be disappointed. For the price it's even worse.

We stayed at many good hotels during this Japan trip and this place was not one of them. Save your money, time and sanity and avoid this place.

If this review saves 1 person from a terrible experience I'd be happy with...

The place looks fine generally however I have to say this is the worst hotel/resort experience I have had for the past 15 years of active travelling.||Hotel staff are inflexible during check-in and they have a 10am check-out and 3pm policy, which to me is ridiculous. When asked, the staff just simply said because the rooms need to be cleaned. Yes, we all know rooms need to be cleaned but they need 5 hours to be cleaned?||We requested for an early check-in as we arrived at 12pm. As mentioned, we faced a "robotic- styled" hospitality approach from the staff saying strictly 3pm check-in.|I explained how tired and dirty we were after a long journey of hiking and we would appreciate if they could arrange for our room to be ready earlier say in 30mins or 1 hour, and we are willing to wait. |After a lot of persuasion and a phone call to the Manager, they finally agreed to arrange our room earlier.||After waiting till 1pm, a staff came to me to inform for this check-in. I thanked and was happy. However, suddenly there was a request from the staff to pay 3,000 yen and mentioned to me clearly that it would be returned upon check-out. I passed the 3,000 yen to them unwillingly.||At about 10pm, when requesting for an extra towel, the front desk staff appeared unwilling and just threw her bunch of keys onto the reception desk and pulled out a tower and passed me unhappily.||During check-out, to our shock, the hotel staff said that 3,000 yen was for early check-in.|I told them that was for a deposit as mentioned to me clearly with my friend standing beside me as a witness, and it was mentioned to me that it would be returned to me upon check-out.|They simply went back on their words.|Manager came out and I complained but to no avail and I told them to keep the money as I would be sharing this bad experience to fellow travellers and to not recommend anyone this accommodation because it simply lacks sincere hospitality.||A guest goes to a hotel or resort looks for a comfortable or happy stay.|He/she requests for early check-in, as a favour or good-will gesture from the establishment. The guest is not requesting to pay for early check-in.||There are other better hotels or resorts to have a nice...

The rooms are relatively big size and sufficiently spacious with a foyer area for shoes, luggage and the bathroom. Tatami room for the TV, a small seating area and your beds. Can comfortably fit 4-5 futons. Rooms and toilets are clean.

Onsen isn't very big. Female 2 indoor tubs, 1 outdoor tub and 2 outdoor ceramic tubs. Has 15? Lockers. When I went around 10pm the lockers were full. This is during sakura peak season, weekday.

Dinner and breakfast was buffet. Don't expect expensive choices such as ikura and sashimi, but the options were good, sufficient and had some local and western options. Taste wise they were good. Suitable for kids as well.

Service from staff was good and friendly. Some staff speaks Mandarin as well.

There is shuttle service to and from kawaguchiko station at half hr intervals but they operate only when requested. When you arrive at kawaguchiko station, head to the tourist info counter and request them to call the hotel to send car. Wait at platform 10 for the bus.

Location is about 15 min walk from either station, so it's not exactly near but walkable. Within 6 mins walk there's a large local supermarket with many local and affordable options. They even have a pet store. Great to pick up some food souvenirs or purchase some snacks for your travels. The toyota rental shop is also a short distance away.

Unfortunately, when we went it was rainy days with dense fog warning. So we didn't get to see Mt fuji from our rooms. But certainly the angle would've been perfect. The neighbouring house also has an orchard of about 6 sakura trees which unfortunately not in bloom when we were there.

Overall a great stay,...