Hoshino Resorts RISONARE Atami — Hotel in Atami

We regretted travelling from Tokyo to stay at this hotel for four nights. We are a family of four with two small children (4 and 1).

The positives: Nice views from the lobby Good selection of activities and play spaces for young children (although non-Japanese speakers - please read my note below) Spacious room, with separate tatami area so child(ren) can sleep separately from parents, and a large bathroom Amenities for children provided in the rooms, such as Lego-like blocks, potty and step stool.

The negatives, which far outweigh the positives: The hotel does not provide any form of lunch at any of the restaurants or cafes. Not even basic things like sandwiches or onigiri! This is despite the fact that the hotel is not within walking distance of any restaurant or place to buy food. I genuinely don’t understand how this can be deemed acceptable for families with children. The restaurant requires pre-booking for dinner, but the hotel doesn’t bother to inform you of this until you arrive, at which point you can’t get a reservation for dinner on the day of arrival. They also only offer two seatings - 5pm or 7pm. We would prefer to eat at 6pm, but that wasn’t an option. There’s also often a massive queue to get into the restaurant for breakfast if you don’t arrive as soon as it opens. I don’t understand why they don’t make the restaurant space bigger. Next to it are a bunch of unused conference rooms. What kind of family resort needs conference rooms? Repurpose that space and expand the restaurant so guests can eat when they want to! While the food is good, the selection is exactly the same every day, so after a few days it gets extremely boring. I suggest they rotate through one special main dish to provide some variety to those staying more than one night. Kids activities have to be pre-booked in advance, which I understand, but if you wait until you've arrived, it's too late for any of the more popular activities. If you are going to run a family-friendly hotel, find a way to make the popular activities available to all guests staying at the hotel The hotel has a 'gift shop' but it’s precisely that - only sells souvenirs and nothing practical, such as kids' snacks, basic lunch items (as mentioned above), baby items (e.g., diapers), etc. The hotel offers a free shuttle bus to/from the station, which is a good service, but the times are roughly every hour and scheduled around check-in / check-out times so not that convenient for going into the town to have lunch, for example. No ‘do not disturb’ signs provided, so housekeeping often ring the doorbell when your child is taking a nap. Curtains in rooms are not blackout so in the summer, a ton of light seeps in at 4:30, waking everybody up.

Note: we are a Japanese-speaking family so this was not an issue for us, but all the children’s activities are in Japanese so I would imagine it’d be very difficult to fully enjoy this hotel if your children don’t speak Japanese.

I don’t understand who this hotel is catering for. It is meant to be a family hotel but the lack of certain basic amenities and thoughtfulness make it inconvenient and undesirable for families with small children.

I cannot in good conscience...

I like Hoshino resorts and this one was very good as well. Atami Risonare is very family and child oriented. A great place to bring your kids.||Everything is clean, convenient and nice. The hotel is spacious and absorbs people pretty well. The rooms are big and comfortable, with nice views of Atami and the fireworks show. The buffet dinner and breakfast are really good. At dinner they had a short baking class for the little ones. The onsen is very nice, didn't ever feel crowded. The pool is small but good for playing with your kids. They have a lounge on the 11th floor which is made as a beach, sand and all. On the 9th floor there is an activity center that has wall-climbing and play areas. My daughter loved it. Outside there is a tree-house and other nature/adventure courses. Seems unique and fun. The staff are all very friendly.||Now for the disappointments. The thing I didn't like was the scheduling. When we got there the check-in lady asked us what time we would like dinner. I said about 18:00. She said sorry, only 19:30 is available. Then why ask us? And also 19:30 is very late, especially for a 4 year old. Not happy about it. If this was an issue why not recommend me to book my time on the website when I reserved? I have been to 3 other Hoshino resorts and did not have this booking issue. Then the lady gave us a review of the activities available. When we said we would like to book some, she told us they are all booked up. Then why tell us about them? This seems kind of crazy. And why not recommend me to book my times on the website when I made the reservation?||I recommend you go to this hotel, but be sure to plan and book your times and activities in advance. The hotel doesn't give this advice and will leave you frustrated and...

if u ever come to Japan make sure u Def check out this spot ... you're in Japan so needless to say the hospitality is out of this world ... but outside of that everything else was fantastic!

Food: The buffet was phenomenal ... not usually a big fan of buffets but this one could easily change a person's mind ... tons of variety and the tastes to die for ... very traditional dishes as well as some dishes with a bit of wester flair ... the breakfast herb chicken was the biggest hit for me absolutely delicious ...

Activities: there is tons to do for everyone of any age ... play areas for the youngsters ... a outrageous indoor beach for the adults after hours ... swimming pools ... hot springs (bath = onsin) ... and they even have a rope course that was fun and scary all at the same time ... and Def. check out the real tree house...

accommodations: I'm still blown away that this was our room ... it was a mini apartment and spacious is an understatement ...

needless to say if ur in Japan and ur looking for a place to relax...take the kids...or just enjoy the view ... you can't...