Onsenkaku — Hotel in Beppu

Onsenkaku is a Minshuku - Make your own futon, no cleaning, curfew at 23:00.. That’s fine as it corresponded with the room rate - Way cheaper than other lodgings in the vicinity. ||Location - Very good - Very close to Kannawa 2 Bus Terminal (our departure to Fukuoka) as well as the bus stop for our bus arriving from Yufuin. Near the Hells in Kannawa. Traditional & authentic Japanese townscape. ||Room - We were on 2nd floor. Got a large Japanese style room with attached 2nd room and toilet. It can sleep 4. The room is in need to TLC - Torn shoji, holey window mosquito net, defective hot&cold water sink faucet dispensing only cold water... Orherwise, the room is reasonably clean, Aircond/heater worked, bedding very clean and comfortable. We stayed for 2 nights, new sets of towel and yukata were offered as well as fresh flask of hot water. ||Facilities - 1 public bath (man & woman) non-interchangeable. The man’s bath is slight bigger than woman’s bath. Rotenburo-ish but no view since they are walled in. Pleasant enough. Then there are two unappealing private baths. Shampoo&Rinse and body wash provided. As well as dental sets in-room. Not much common area to relax in except for the dining table near the entrance. ||Service - For me, their weakest point is their service. Prior to check-in I asked Agoda to check whether they provide a washing machine. Agoda replied after checking with Onsenkaku that yes, they have a washing machine for guests’ use and it’s available anytime we wish. When we checked in while being taken for the tour of the facilities I saw the washer and asked. However, they said otherwise. Secondly, I needed their help to book a local restaurant. I already had the contact number. Just needed them to call. The conversation lasted 5 minutes as the male staff went round and round (using Google translator, which wasn’t helping much). Finally I deducted he wasn’t willing to help, just not outright in declining to assist. |Thirdly at check-out we asked if we can leave our luggage for an hour and whether anyone can assist to bring our medium sized luggage down since the stairs were quite steep and can be slippery since it wasn’t carpeted. We were told to bring down ourselves. |In conclusion, I have no issue with their hardware, understanding that this is a minshuku, not a full fledge ryokan and the price was cheapest in Kannawa. But I feel they were quite mean in term of services. Especially when it comes to helping to make reservations, which would hardly cost them much. Thus, do stay here but don’t expect much assistance beyond being...

Onsenkaku is a Minshuku - Make your own futon, no cleaning, curfew at 23:00.. That’s fine as it corresponded with the room rate - Way cheaper than other lodgings in the vicinity. ||Location - Very good - Very close to Kannawa 2 Bus Terminal (our departure to Fukuoka) as well as the bus stop for our bus arriving from Yufuin. Near the Hells in Kannawa. Traditional & authentic Japanese townscape. ||Room - We were on 2nd floor. Got a large Japanese style room with attached 2nd room and toilet. It can sleep 4. The room is in need to TLC - Torn shoji, holey window mosquito net, defective hot&cold water sink faucet dispensing only cold water... Orherwise, the room is reasonably clean, Aircond/heater worked, bedding very clean and comfortable. We stayed for 2 nights, new sets of towel and yukata were offered as well as fresh flask of hot water. ||Facilities - 1 public bath (man & woman) non-interchangeable. The man’s bath is slight bigger than woman’s bath. Rotenburo-ish but no view since they are walled in. Pleasant enough. Then there are two unappealing private baths. Shampoo&Rinse and body wash provided. As well as dental sets in-room. Not much common area to relax in except for the dining table near the entrance. ||Service - For me, their weakest point is their service. Prior to check-in I asked Agoda to check whether they provide a washing machine. Agoda replied after checking with Onsenkaku that yes, they have a washing machine for guests’ use and it’s available anytime we wish. When we checked in while being taken for the tour of the facilities I saw the washer and asked. However, they said otherwise. Secondly, I needed their help to book a local restaurant. I already had the contact number. Just needed them to call. The conversation lasted 5 minutes as the male staff went round and round (using Google translator, which wasn’t helping much). Finally I deducted he wasn’t willing to help, just not outright in declining to assist. |Thirdly at check-out we asked if we can leave our luggage for an hour and whether anyone can assist to bring our medium sized luggage down since the stairs were quite steep and can be slippery since it wasn’t carpeted. We were told to bring down ourselves. |In conclusion, I have no issue with their hardware, understanding that this is a minshuku, not a full fledge ryokan and the price was cheapest in Kannawa. But I feel they were quite mean in term of services. Especially when it comes to helping to make reservations, which would hardly cost them much. Thus, do stay here but don’t expect much assistance beyond being...

If you're looking to book a traditional style inn in Japan, this one is very nice! They have a male onsen, female onsen, and 2 different family onsens (lockable door, unisex). It was nice that you have the options of a gender specific onsen as well as family onsens, especially since my room did not come with a bath or shower, so you must rely on the shower in the onsen facilities to clean yourself. Cool room with "go" game board, traditional tatami, low tables, the whole shebang. We did not go for the dinner. It looked good, was 4000 yen per person though.

There are 2 reasons it recieved 3 stars instead of 5 from me.

First reason: I accidentally let the traditional slippers fall onto the stone floor near the front entrance. One of the hosts saw it happen, and even though it was obviously a total mistake, she made a MASSIVE deal of it. I get that it's very important in Japanese culture, but it was clearly a mistake. Take 30 seconds and sanitize the stupid things if it's that important.

Second reason: As I checked out, the host handed me a paper in all Japanese about the bathing tax in Beppu... but my Agoda booking already included $16 CAD worth of bathing tax... Maybe there was a tax increase, maybe not, but it left a sour taste in my mouth. If you are going to be ULTRA STRICT about your slipper policy, then maybe you should also be ULTRA STRICT about updating your fee schedules online. It never feels good to be slapped with hidden costs at checkout time (or ever for...