Heiseikan Kaiyotei — Attraction in Hakodate

I really want to compliment this hotel for their utmost service amidst the lower ranking reviews due to its price, distance from the station and size of the rooms. ||||No doubt, the price is a killer especially for such a small room but in return, it was a scenic stay as the hotel was near the sea and the city view from the female onsen was fabulous. The walking distance from the Yunokawa Onsen station was 8 minutes worth and it was treacherous in the thick snow. We were really tired and unhappy from the "trekking" before check-in but it was soon forgotten thanks to the great service by the check-in counter staff.||||The check-in staff were Japanese-speaking, and we thought, "Ok.. this is so gonna leave a bad experience especially after the 8-min walk" as we could not converse in Japanese. After realising that we were English-speaking, we thought the staff was going to continue the "duck vs chicken" talk with us until he halted the conversation and whipped out an iPad. ||||I remembered saying "Oh.. Google Translate is the wonder!" but instead, the staff showed me an app with 10+ language choices and asked me to confirm if English was the language I preferred. I said yes and he clicked into it. To my surprise, it activated a teleconference with an English-Japanese translator and we were literally conversing VERY WELL with the help of the translator. No miscommunication in between and I even managed to get my taxis booked for my super early check-out scheduled 2 days later. ||||Even though the price and location might not be ideal, this hotel is truly tourist friendly! I feel great staying in this hotel for sure, and not to mention that their onsen was great, breakfast buffet spread was awesome, and they have a convenient store which sells souvenirs and snacks cheaper than in Sapporo and Hakodate city centre!||||Thank you for the great service,...

This hotel is little remote from hakodate downtown. It takes 20 minutes by bus, and 30~35 minutes+half kilometer walk by tram.||||The hotel is tall and big compared to other nearby hotel, so you won't miss it. Even hotel lobby is spascious, too. There are couple of tables, convenience store, souvenir shop, icecream stall.||||Staffs were very kind and professional on their service. We stayed in twinbed room. ||||Size of the room was adequate - compared to Japanese standard, it was big. Furnitures and interior looked old style, but it wasn't big disadvantage.||||||Onsen of this hotel is not awesome like expensive Onsen Ryokan, so let down your expectations. Anyway, Onsen was neat and clean. Good point is it opens almost 24 hours(closed on 3-4am due to pool cleaning). ||||Breakfast buffet was included in our reservation. Although there weren't many fruit and bread option, homemade style Japanese foods were fresh and delicious for me. My favorite was miso soup,...

We had dinner and two breakfasts booked and paid for at this hotel. Sadly all meals were less than ordinary, particularly the breakfasts which were revolting. The rooms were fine. We chose tatami rooms. The Onsen is magnificent however do be aware that at check out you are required to pay a hitherto UNDISCLOSED onsen tax. It is fine if everyone in the family uses the onsen. However, one of my daughters refused to use the Onsen - but the charge was still levied. The staff were difficult to deal with. One of the desk clerks had extremely poor English but refused to answer my queries in Japanese - obviously believing it is not possible for a non-Japanese person to speak the language. Hakodate is a wonderful place, well worth visiting and I will definitely be back but I would not...