Hoshino Resorts KAI Kaga — Hotel in Kaga

We stayed for two nights in June for the Kaga Ultra Trail Running Race. Before booking, we requested an earlier breakfast than their standard 7am. After several emails, they offered onigiri at 6:30 AM, which we highly appreciated. It’s one of the reasons we booked this hotel.

However, the onigiri was disappointing, lacking flavor and far below convenience store quality. Had we known they couldn’t properly arrange this early breakfast for race day, we would have chosen a different hotel.

We asked for a bucket of drinkable ice to come with the onigiri on the day before and in the race morning. As it was extremely hot that day. However they only deliver the onigiri.

We booked three rooms through the hotel’s official website months ahead, clearly stating that my partner does not eat cooked fish.

We communicated this dietary restriction three times: during booking, through our friends who arrived a day earlier, and again upon our arrival. Despite this, the first night’s dinner included fish tempura and puffer fish nabe. The staff suggested my partner set the fish aside or eat it raw, which was unsuitable given the race the next day. After 30 minutes of discussion, they provided a small pork portion. The dinner portions were also unusually small, leaving our group of six unsatisfied.

When we addressed the issue at reception, the staff did not apologize and stated they couldn’t accommodate dietary requests on the day of arrival, disregarding our prior notifications. When we mentioned my friend shared that one day before our arrival, then they found the note, then apologise.

The next day’s dinner was acceptable. A staff member later apologized in Mandarin, which we don’t speak, and repeated the same excuse, showing a lack of understanding of our concerns. This felt dismissive and poorly handled.

Other than the poor meal arrangement, the yukata provided in room were too small, and despite requesting larger sizes, we received the same small ones the next day.

The public onsen was small, luckily we booked the in-room onsen.

Highlight: We chose this hotel for its appealing design, clear email communication ( only email) and their agreement to accommodate an early breakfast for race day. However, the overall experience was very disappointing due to the failure to honor our repeatedly communicated dietary needs, substandard hospitality, and poor breakfast quality.

Given this experience, we will not stay at another KAI Hotel...

Over the years we have stayed at, and trusted, Hoshino Resorts when we travelled to Japan: Hoshinoya Karuizawa several times; Hoshinoya Fuji; Kai Hakone a few times; Kai Matsumoto; Kai Atami (shame that it closed); Kai Ito and probably a few we have forgetten. We were glad to have found Kai Kaga as a new Kai to stay.

Unfortunately, the drop in service standards was palpable. When we checked in, the two reception staff barely cared how we could park our car, didn't help. Knowing that our dinner was scheduled to start in 10 minutes, the staff nonchalantly directed us to sit in the Travel Library and wait. We had to ask, "Aren't we supposed to get ready for dinner"?

Both rooms were dusty. One swipe of finger across the counter behind the bed gathered a thick layer of dust. My wife had such a serious dust allergy as a result that she had to put in a face mask in order to sleep (for both nights). Corners and edges of the bathroom floor were dirty. More amazingly, the housekeeping staff barely cleaned anything on the second day. The rubbish in the living room was not even removed.

The cause of these issues is likely the inexperienced and limited staff (still recovering from the impact of the pandemic I suspect). We reflected these issues to the hotel manager and she admitted the same. Still, we stayed at Hoshinoya Karuizawa last December (post pandemic) and did not experience such issues. If there is a staffing issue, we would have hoped that the management reduced the number of available rooms rather than lowering Hoshino's standard. It is difficult to win back lost trust.

Lastly, it is strange that Kai Kaga offers guests to use a public bath across the street (no shower, 500 yen per visit for typical guests). As Kai's are onsen resorts, the fact that its own onsens are insufficient in servicing its guests is unacceptable. We ended up not using either onsens for fear of crowding and used the onsen in our own rooms. That...

My daughter has arranged a fantastic 2 nights mother-daughter get away at the Hoshino Resort in Kaga. The resort staff was polite, professional making our stay memorable and very comfortable. Our room with the bath outside on the balcony was excellent. The food was delicious, perfectly presented in beautiful china. The hot water spa inside and outside was well maintained and clean. Although the size was a bit small, but adequate for the number of visitors. The cultural performance, dance was very much enjoyable and the extra craft activities were delightful as well. The bus transport previously arranged through the resort from and back to Kanazawa was excellent, getting into the train station on time. I wish to thank the staff working at the resort for providing excellent...