La Vista Hakodate Bay — Hotel in Hakodate

Worst Customer Service ever in Japan (even anywhere else)!

I came from Sydney for a week's visit to Hokkaido, and Hakodate is my first stop. I stayed in La Vista Hakodate Bay, mainly because of its famous breakfast buffet. The front desk check-in service, complimentary coffee&tea, and the room are all OK. The long queue for check-in and check-out in limited area worried me a bit due to Covid.

However, the customer service at the breakfast was the worst service I have ever seen throughout my life. The breakfast opens at 6:30am, and I arrived at the restaurant at about 6:50 just to get a better seat for a view of the city. When I arrived there, the waitress took me to a seat and literally slapped a number plate on the table, and said in English 'this is your table' very slowly in a bad manner. I did not react immediately but asked politely, 'may I please sit closer to the window to have a view', which was rejected immediately with 'no, this is your number!', again with very rude attitude. I was shocked as I was not expecting an attitude like this here in Japan or anywhere else. I then said a bit seriously , 'OK, but could you please mind your attitude as you seem a little rude to me'. She then said OK (I don’t know whether she understood) and left! I was a little annoyed and did not pay attention to the breakfast and forgot this is why I came here for. There had not been many people visiting the restaurant on the early Saturday morning, so the desired seats are mostly empty. I was not bothered too much because I thought they might have been reserved for other guests. Then at about 7:30am when I was about to finish and people started to fill in, I saw different groups of random guests coming in, walking straight to the window seats without any problem and I was a bit uncomfortable. I asked the same waitress why I came in early and was taken to a designated seat whereas others don't. I do not understand what she said to me in Japanese. But when I asked may I know your name please, she would not let me, afraid me making a complaint. I felt not fairly treated here and needed to figure out the reason, then I called the manager and asked for explanation, who apologised and the waitress said a single word, 'sorry', very unwillingly. Eventually, I did not know why I was taken to a designated seat where others don’t.

Overall, this is not a customer service I was expecting anywhere, not to mention here in Japan, where above average customer service is expected even in the smallest shops. I would really hope there could be someone that could speak English and let people know the rules and why different treatment are enforced here. It is a little bit due to language barrier, but not completely l as you meet many people who cannot understand or speak English but you can see they welcome you and would like to help you out. The attitude in this restaurant was definitely wrong, making people unwelcomed and uncomfortable.

Looking back, I woke up early, just to try the famous breakfast, but was really annoyed by the rude customer service. I set high expectation to the breakfast but received completely opposite customer service. I did not take a single photo of the restaurant or the dishes that was expected and was very disappointed. This really ruined my day and also my view toward the restaurant and the hotel.

I have met a lot of warm-hearted people in Hokkaido and previously in Kyoto, Mt Fuji and Tokyo in the past 2 weeks, but this kind of experience really let people down.

I am sorry but I need to vote down this place to anyone considering, especially...

Worst Customer Service ever in Japan (even anywhere else)!I came from Sydney for a week's visit to Hokkaido, and Hakodate is my first stop. I stayed in La Vista Hakodate Bay, mainly because of its famous breakfast buffet.The front desk check-in service, complimentary coffee&tea, and the room are all OK. The long queue for check-in and check-out in limited area worried me a bit due to Covid. However, the customer service at the breakfast was the worst service I have ever seen throughout my life. The breakfast opens at 6:30am, and I arrived at the restaurant at about 6:50 just to get a better seat for a view of the city. When I arrived there, the waitress took me to a seat and literally slapped a number plate on the table, and said in English 'this is your table' very slowly in a bad manner. I did not react immediately but asked politely, 'may I please sit closer to the window to have a view', which was rejected immediately with 'no, this is your number!', again with very rude attitude. I was shocked as I was not expecting an attitude like this here in Japan or anywhere else. I then said a bit seriously , 'OK, but could you please mind your attitude as you seem a little rude to me'. She then said OK (I don’t know whether she understood) and left! I was a little annoyed and did not pay attention to the breakfast and forgot this is why I came here for. There had not been many people visiting the restaurant on the early Saturday morning, so the desired seats are mostly empty. I was not bothered too much because I thought they might have been reserved for other guests. Then at about 7:30am when I was about to finish and people started to fill in, I saw different groups of random guests coming in, walking straight to the window seats without any problem and I was a bit uncomfortable. I asked the same waitress why I came in early and was taken to a designated seat whereas others don't. I do not understand what she said to me in Japanese. But when I asked may I know your name please, she would not let me, afraid me making a complaint. I felt not fairly treated here and needed to figure out the reason, then I called the manager and asked for explanation, who apologised and the waitress said a single word, 'sorry', very unwillingly. Eventually, I did not know why I was taken to a designated seat where others don’t. Overall, this is not a customer service I was expecting anywhere, not to mention here in Japan, where above average customer service is expected even in the smallest shops.I would really hope there could be someone that could speak English and let people know the rules and why different treatment are enforced here. It is a little bit due to language barrier, but not completely as you meet many people who cannot understand or speak English but you can see they welcome you and would like to help you out. The attitude in this restaurant was definitely wrong, making people unwelcomed and uncomfortable. Looking back, I woke up early, just to try the famous breakfast, but was really annoyed by the rude customer service. I set high expectation to the breakfast but received completely opposite customer service. I did not take a single photo of the restaurant or the dishes that was expected and was very disappointed. This really ruined my day and also my view toward the restaurant and the hotel.I have met a lot of warm-hearted people in Hokkaido and in Kyoto, Mt Fuji and Tokyo in the past 2 weeks, but this kind of experience really let people down.I am sorry but I need to vote down this place to anyone considering, especially...

We stayed in the Deluxe Twin Room for one night, with the breakfast buffet included. The price on the hotel website was about 20% less expensive than the third party travel websites, and I was even able to select a high floor with a view.

This hotel is about a 15 minute walk from Hakodate Station, though because the road was slippery from the snow, it took us about 20 minutes. There is also a bus that runs from Hakodate station to the hotel. It is about a five minutes ride, though the bus departs infrequently.

The room interior has an intriguing design, which is a mix of Japanese and Western styles. Our room was on the 11th floor and also had a view of Mt. Hakodate. Not much was visible at night, but it was beautiful in the morning. Although I appreciated the interior design, I think the room was quite dark and could’ve been better illuminated.

The bed and pillows were not very comfortable, I was tossing and turning all night trying to get comfortable. The linens in the room were a bit old and worn out, these need to be replaced.

There are various free beverage machines throughout the hotel including coffee and nutritional juice. There were also paid vending machines for bottled beverages. They also have free noodles late at night, though I did not take advantage of this amenity.

This hotel is supposedly quite famous for their seafood breakfast buffet, but it was a little bit underwhelming for me. Although it is unique to offer seafood, I felt like the quality and variety was...