Hoshino Resorts KAI Enshu — Hotel in Hamamatsu

Picked this hotel as I like my teas and wanted a relaxing short break whilst on my holiday to Japan so decided to try a hoshinoya/kai hotel since they're supposed to be a luxurious hotel chain. Definitely wasn't disappointed. Stayed for 2 nights and even though the staff spoke limited English (and I think only a handful actually spoke English), the service was impeccable! Absolute fantastic and attentive customer service from the moment you srrive at the hotel. We arrived at the local train station and took a free shuttle bus to the hotel which was around a 45 minutes drive. Shuttle bus stop was easy to find. I believe it goes to a few different hotels but the staff member will annouce the hotel name when you arrive. When we arrived at the hotel, the staff was waiting outside to greet us and they assigned a member of staff who spoke some English to welcome us and take our luggage. As soon as we entered the hotel, the staff member told us our room number and asked us to go to our rooms and wait there for 5-10 minutes. We literally didn't have to go to the reception to check in or anything (thought I believe this differs for each person as I saw some of the japanese guests sitting at the tables in the lounge whilst the staff checked them in). After a few minutes in our rooms, a member of staff came to help us check in by introducing the hotel to us and booking our time slots for dinner/breakfast and activities. Note: the staffs english can be a bit limited but they try really hard and please be patient. I understand a bit of japanese so it was fine but worse comes to worse, use google translate.

Room itself was quite big. A bit old for my liking as everything was made out of wood and you can tell its starting to get a bit old. But everything seemed clean and the service made it up. No usb plugs, only japanese but you can borrow from reception (I borrowed usb-c and iphone chargers)

For dinner and breakfast, as we stayed for 2 nights, the menu was different for each night and morning. Lovely food and good portion sizes. If you dont finish the main meal (the rice dish) during dinner, they will help you pack it up so you can bring it with you for later as a snack etc.

Onsens were nice, though they weren't as hot as the ones I've previously been to but still nice. Water was quite clear too so not sure how much minerals were in it.

As a tea themed hotel, there was a very wide selection (13 types) of green, hochija and black tea to chose from throughout the day. Cold tea, ice lollies and ginger tea are provided. We attended the tea making session when we arrived and that was quite interesting as the staff teaches you how to properly make tea. Bear in mind, the staff speaks in japanese when teaching but they will guide you in english through each steps and answer any of your questions at the end in English.

Water machines dotted around throughout the hotel. No microwave or ice machine but you dont really need one and Im sure they would happily microwave for you if you needed. Only downside was no bottles of water in the room but they had water machines so thats fine.

Again, staff are really attentive and I believe they make a note of small details you tell them etc. so when a different member of staff serves you, they know. I told 1 member of staff that I'll be going Nagoya after the hotel stay and in the morning, the new member of staff who served us knew about this and started a conversation with us about Nagoya. Very hardworking staff, you see them working everywhere and extremely polite.

In terms of location, it's quite far from the city centre and there arent that many entertainment or sightseeing places nearby. Theres a cozy town/temple etc that's around 20 minutes walk away. There's also a theme park, zoo and cable cars nearby (10-20 mins walk) if youre interested.

Loved the whole experience, next time I'll definitely be staying at another Kai/Hoshinoya resort (maybe a newer hotel this time) but just great experience!! Thank you to all the staff who served us during our...

Stayed 3 nights at Kai Enshu. The hotel is just located opposite the Lake Hamanako. Our Onsen Suite is located on the 7th Floor, overlooking the beautiful lake from dawn to dusk. It is also within walking distance to The Lake Cruise departure point and the Cable Car (Ropeway) Station.||Nearby, there are also Seven Eleven and Family Mart Convenient Store.||If you wish to walk to Kanzanji small little town, it is about 15 mins walk away. Please note the town is pretty quiet during weekday and most of the shops are not open.||Our suite is immaculately appointment and it comes with Private Onsen. Though the price is high but it is worth it to book this room category.||We booked the Half Board plan (Breakfast and Kaiseki Dinner). They only offered Japanese Breakfast, and no other choices unlike other Kai or Hoshinoya, they do have Western Options.||The serving is extremely small, if you are a big eater, this is not for you. Same goes to the dinner, the Kaiseki though it is beautiful and colourful, prepared carefully by the chef using freshly local produce, but in our opinion, the portion has to be right. It is way too small for westerners or Asian who eats regularly.||Upon arrival, the staff didn't inform us when the Ropeway and Lake Cruise will be closed, as these are the 2 major attractions they should inform all their clients so they can plan their days. When we were there, the Ropeway was closed for 2 days, and the Cruise, not operating on certain days. ||For the breakfast and dinner, most of the dishes are seafood or fishes. We are not very comfortable in eating fish with lots of bones, in our opinion, there should be options as well but there was none.||The Tea Brewing ceremony was done in Japanese and we don't understand a bit, more effort should be done to cater to the English speaking audience.||The socks provided in the suite was not as comfortable as Kai Yufuin which the quality is better, and it also has the anti slip stud. Please standardized the offering.||At the Tea House, there were only 2 types of Cold tea provided where they have 6 dispensers but the tea offered were repetitive for the 3 nights we stayed there, we do not understand the approach.||It is a nice resort but there are rooms for...

We stayed here for 2 nights with our 5yo daughter. It was our first ryokan experience and a first with Hoshino resort. I can rave on and on about this place but in short I'll just say that it's worth every penny I spent here and the experience was so good that I didn't wanna leave. My biggest regret was only booking 2 nights!||The level of service here is so personalized that in my years of travel, even brand name hotels do not come close to such level of service. From the moment we stepped in til we checked out, the staff did their absolute best for everything. They even remember where we were heading to after checking out and wrote a small note to wish us a good time and safe journey. One of the staff - takeno-San even went the extra mile when he heard we may consider visiting the local theme park and also consider orange picking - he recommended immediately a farm to visit and also gave us coupon for the local theme park. He noted everything! Another lady - Kurahashi-san who served us during dinner on second night noticed my daughter looked a bit bored as she had finished her dinner and the adults have not. So she offered a small toy to keep her company which we are very thankful for. ||I've had hesitations initially about bringing my 5yo to a ryokan but this resort made us feel very at ease.||I highly recommend this place especially if you want a break from the bustling city of Tokyo and want to just relax and restore your tired body and mind. The food / kaiseki is excellent - including the kids kaiseki! It was so delicious that my daughter finished all her food without...