Hotel Katara — Hotel in Higashiizu

After 2 nights of traditional onsen ryokan experience, my husband and I decided to have a change for our 3rd and last night in Izu Peninsula and we are pleasantly surprised. I booked through jalan and it's an excellent value of money||||The hotel is located within 5 mins walk from Izu Atagawa station. It's uphill but it's manageable even with our kinda heaby handcarry. There is shuttle bus at the station to wait for u if you arrive by limited express train from tokyo. You need to make a call if you arrive from other direction or by local train time.||||Check in was swift and the staff spoke english!! there is also instruction in english!! This is a pretty big hotel compared to other hotels in this area and it's more like an international chain hotel rather than ryokan. It got indoor pool and a jungle like indoor onsen for the kids. Remember to bring your swimsuits for this area. as we didnt have our private onsen in our room, my husband and I enjoyed our onsen time together despite we needed to change into swimsuits. ||Outdoor hotspring was fantastic. There is no view to the ocean but you can hear the sound of waves from the ocean and looked up the starry sky. The outdoor 'moon' spa is is very large area so you can have whole area to yourself and enjoyed a quiet time. I tried the other outdoor hotsrping next morning (they swapped serving male and female after midnight), this one is smaller and got a view of the ocean.||||Dinner and breakfast were served in buffte style. Again there is a wide spread of choices and they refilled quite promptly. Food are all delicious and there are quite some western cuisine choices, just incase you dont like all the fish dishes in japan. There is also drinks bar with juices, coffee and tea at dinner and breakfast time. Beer is extra. ||||Finally for the room, we booked the 10 tatami room, japan style. Room is spacious and clean with a balcony overlooking the magnificent ocean and you can hear the waves to sleep. what can i ask for more....||||the only part i can fault this hotel, is hotspring closed at 9am next morning and checkin is 10am. Way to early to leave this hotel....i wish both closing time could be push back 1 hour.||Next morning we had slow stroll bout atagawa town. again magnificient view||||anyway i love this hotel, even i have no kids. I love good food and hotsprings and this hotel has it all. I am a city girl and Izu peninsula is a perfect...

After 2 nights of traditional onsen ryokan experience, my husband and I decided to have a change for our 3rd and last night in Izu Peninsula and we are pleasantly surprised. I booked through jalan and it's an excellent value of money||||The hotel is located within 5 mins walk from Izu Atagawa station. It's uphill but it's manageable even with our kinda heaby handcarry. There is shuttle bus at the station to wait for u if you arrive by limited express train from tokyo. You need to make a call if you arrive from other direction or by local train time.||||Check in was swift and the staff spoke english!! there is also instruction in english!! This is a pretty big hotel compared to other hotels in this area and it's more like an international chain hotel rather than ryokan. It got indoor pool and a jungle like indoor onsen for the kids. Remember to bring your swimsuits for this area. as we didnt have our private onsen in our room, my husband and I enjoyed our onsen time together despite we needed to change into swimsuits. ||Outdoor hotspring was fantastic. There is no view to the ocean but you can hear the sound of waves from the ocean and looked up the starry sky. The outdoor 'moon' spa is is very large area so you can have whole area to yourself and enjoyed a quiet time. I tried the other outdoor hotsrping next morning (they swapped serving male and female after midnight), this one is smaller and got a view of the ocean.||||Dinner and breakfast were served in buffte style. Again there is a wide spread of choices and they refilled quite promptly. Food are all delicious and there are quite some western cuisine choices, just incase you dont like all the fish dishes in japan. There is also drinks bar with juices, coffee and tea at dinner and breakfast time. Beer is extra. ||||Finally for the room, we booked the 10 tatami room, japan style. Room is spacious and clean with a balcony overlooking the magnificent ocean and you can hear the waves to sleep. what can i ask for more....||||the only part i can fault this hotel, is hotspring closed at 9am next morning and checkin is 10am. Way to early to leave this hotel....i wish both closing time could be push back 1 hour.||Next morning we had slow stroll bout atagawa town. again magnificient view||||anyway i love this hotel, even i have no kids. I love good food and hotsprings and this hotel has it all. I am a city girl and Izu peninsula is a perfect...

The good:|Dinner was great with a wide selection, especially with a 2yr old son. Breakfast was good but nothing special. The in room or balcony hotspring was big and refreshing. 2nd floor jungle hotspring was nice. We stayed in just the one modern style pool because the temperature was good and easy for the family. I went in the waterfall one by myself which was nice and pretty hot. We also did the pool on the 2nd floor which was fun too. The room was spacious and comfy. Play area for kids was pretty neat.||The bad:|Too many old ladies basically fighting over meals. My wife and I agree they pile up their plates at the buffet like someone is going to steal the food from them. This was funny but also disturbing and made it uncomfortable. For our room with 2 adults and 1 child we go 4 towels a day. Not too big of a deal but they desk charges 100yen for every new towel you get. With so many pools and hotsprings this is pretty weak. They have 2 massage places and the cheaper one more for muscle pain and such was closed the entire trip. The other massage is more aroma and oils. Sauna on pool deck didn't seem to work.||All in all, the building is a bit old but they have done some renovations and looks nice inside. The outside can use some paint and TLC, but not a huge deal since I'm not investing in the property and just staying here. The cost is great since I've stated in hakone and yugawara and for a place like this there with the same setup it would be easily...