Noborisaka — Hotel in Fujikawaguchiko

If I could give ZERO, I would. ||My nightmare started when I booked a 4-nights’ stay here in a “Honkan W-C” room with a double bed, which was more expensive than a standard room. The photo from their website shows what this room is supposed to look like. I was travelling alone and this room was meant for single occupancy.||On arrival, I was assigned a room right next to the elevator, diagonally facing their public laundry room, on a low floor, with a tiny window. The immediate feel was claustrophobic. I asked for a change since I was certain that I could not put up with 4 nights in an environment like this. I was told that the hotel was “full” even though online booking engines and the hotel’s own website showed that rooms were available. I was then dismayed to find out that I was the target of discrimination, having been assigned a room for “foreigners” - either next to the elevator or at the end of a corridor. This is something known, but not openly spoken about, in Japanese hospitality. Supposedly, foreign visitors do not know how to behave and would risk disturbing the Japanese guests. My money is welcome but not my person. ||The room was fitted with perfectly modern Daikin temperature control, except that you could not operate it at all. You could switch it on or off, and press all the buttons just for fun. It does nothing. ||The hotel handout I was given informs me that the air conditioning is managed by a central system. In short, the temperature control in your room is purely decorative. Yes, it’s one of those highly annoying hotels that would lock everything up for fear that you bump up their energy bill. Usually if you made a nice request, they would unlock it for you but in my case, they were determined not to. I informed front desk that it was too stuffy in the room as there was zero airflow, and was told to open the window. ||So I opened the small operable portion of my already tiny window, only to have the kitchen fumes blast right into my room. The in-house restaurant was open from morning till 6pm on week days and 8pm on weekends, and I was expected to put up with the fumes if I wanted some fresh air. Kudos to the management of this hotel to think that this is acceptable, especially for a 4-night stay. ||One of their Bangladeshi reception staff took pity on me and offered me a table fan. I took it. What could I do as I had already paid for the room?||Check-out time is 10am, as if this was a ryokan. At check-in, I was told that if I wanted to extend my check-out time, ¥1,000 per hour was payable. So on day 2, I decided to tell front desk I would extend my stay on the last day by a couple of hours, due to changes in my travel arrangements. The Japanese staff at the counter informed me that the cost would be ¥2,000 per hour. Apparently the reason was that I was occupying a double room, and therefore I had to pay for two people, myself and my invisible guest, and not just for myself. He would not budge. The hotel’s own information sheet states that the published cost is ¥1,000 per hour per person. ||Today is the third day of my stay. The same local staff sees me at the reception counter as I tried to catch his attention because I was accidentally locked out. He walks off to the end of the reception desk as though I was invisible. Luckily a Nepalese staff came to my rescue. ||I must say that this is the single worst experience with a hotel in all my multiple visits to Japan. I feel compelled to write this review even as I am still at this hotel. ||If you are a foreigner especially if you are contemplating staying for more than one night, you may want to take your business elsewhere. ||In summary:||Pros: |clean (except if your room is facing the kitchen vents, good luck to you)|convenience store, restaurants and drug store nearby||Cons: |discriminatory practices|no temperature control|rude/...

If I could give ZERO, I would. ||My nightmare started when I booked a 4-nights’ stay here in a “Honkan W-C” room with a double bed, which was more expensive than a standard room. The photo from their website shows what this room is supposed to look like. I was travelling alone and this room was meant for single occupancy.||On arrival, I was assigned a room right next to the elevator, diagonally facing their public laundry room, on a low floor, with a tiny window. The immediate feel was claustrophobic. I asked for a change since I was certain that I could not put up with 4 nights in an environment like this. I was told that the hotel was “full” even though online booking engines and the hotel’s own website showed that rooms were available. I was then dismayed to find out that I was the target of discrimination, having been assigned a room for “foreigners” - either next to the elevator or at the end of a corridor. This is something known, but not openly spoken about, in Japanese hospitality. Supposedly, foreign visitors do not know how to behave and would risk disturbing the Japanese guests. My money is welcome but not my person. ||The room was fitted with perfectly modern Daikin temperature control, except that you could not operate it at all. You could switch it on or off, and press all the buttons just for fun. It does nothing. ||The hotel handout I was given informs me that the air conditioning is managed by a central system. In short, the temperature control in your room is purely decorative. Yes, it’s one of those highly annoying hotels that would lock everything up for fear that you bump up their energy bill. Usually if you made a nice request, they would unlock it for you but in my case, they were determined not to. I informed front desk that it was too stuffy in the room as there was zero airflow, and was told to open the window. ||So I opened the small operable portion of my already tiny window, only to have the kitchen fumes blast right into my room. The in-house restaurant was open from morning till 6pm on week days and 8pm on weekends, and I was expected to put up with the fumes if I wanted some fresh air. Kudos to the management of this hotel to think that this is acceptable, especially for a 4-night stay. ||One of their Bangladeshi reception staff took pity on me and offered me a table fan. I took it. What could I do as I had already paid for the room?||Check-out time is 10am, as if this was a ryokan. At check-in, I was told that if I wanted to extend my check-out time, ¥1,000 per hour was payable. So on day 2, I decided to tell front desk I would extend my stay on the last day by a couple of hours, due to changes in my travel arrangements. The Japanese staff at the counter informed me that the cost would be ¥2,000 per hour. Apparently the reason was that I was occupying a double room, and therefore I had to pay for two people, myself and my invisible guest, and not just for myself. He would not budge. The hotel’s own information sheet states that the published cost is ¥1,000 per hour per person. ||Today is the third day of my stay. The same local staff sees me at the reception counter as I tried to catch his attention because I was accidentally locked out. He walks off to the end of the reception desk as though I was invisible. Luckily a Nepalese staff came to my rescue. ||I must say that this is the single worst experience with a hotel in all my multiple visits to Japan. I feel compelled to write this review even as I am still at this hotel. ||If you are a foreigner especially if you are contemplating staying for more than one night, you may want to take your business elsewhere. ||In summary:||Pros: |clean (except if your room is facing the kitchen vents, good luck to you)|convenience store, restaurants and drug store nearby||Cons: |discriminatory practices|no temperature control|rude/...

Started our December Japan trip by staying in this local hotel. Booking it was easy, I just wrote an email to them with my enquiry and they replied promptly. Price was cheap. ||||Although we had the Twin + an extra single bed room. It was a nice fit for us. Even though the room was located in the old wing, I was still happy with it. The best part of the room was the aircon works and most importantly was the window could be open to let in cool air. This is very important as some Japanese hotels' room have only hot air blowing out during the winter seasons and makes sleeping for me almost impossible. ||||We didn't have breakfast or any meals in the hotel as there were restaurants very near the hotel and were cheap and delicious! The shopping mall across from the hotel was great place to visit! Also just a short taxi ride to Fuji-Q and also the train station. There was a local free shuttle bus service that runs from the shopping mall to all over Fujikawaguchiko.||||Definitely highly recommended for a very nice...