HOTEL AO KAMAKURA — Hotel in Kamakura

This is a difficult, but fair review, and my reason for such a low review will become apparent quickly.

Parking: There are a very limited number of parking spaces, just 6, but we were lucky enough to get one, checking in around 5:30 pm. Cost is $1,300 yen per night. Whether there's additional parking elsewhere, I do not know.

Service: The girls were very quick to meet us with a cart for our luggage, although everything we have is on wheels and the cart was not necessary. The staff was quick to check us in, and extremely pleasant to deal with.

Hotel: The overall appearance of the hotel is clean and up to date. The building is directly on the water. There's also a restaurant at the bottom floor of the hotel that is quite good. Plates are small and easily shared.

Rooms: Rooms are well appointed spacious and contain everything that you may need including a safe and a refrigerator. There's a tea maker in the room, free bottled water, and tea set up.

The rooms have plenty of soft pillows for a great night's sleep. Flat panel television (50"?) But cannot comment on the tuning, since we're not TV watchers.

The bathroom is clean large well appointed was plenty of room to move around. There is also plenty of shampoo conditioner body wash hand lotion, and other supplies.

So then why is such a low rating for such an awesome place? Because the room has no windows! That's right, this is not a typo. The room has no windows.

There is a small obscured window that opens into a dark enclosed alley in the bath/sink area. There are also two obscured fixed glass windows in the same bath area, one in the shower and one in the toilet that can't be opened, but that's it!

And then there is the train . . . Or what sounded like a train. I didn't see any tracks near the hotel when we came in, but spotted the train when we left in the morning. So the combination of street noise and the sound of the train being amplifyed as it comes through the ally is very, very disturbing night.

So if you don't mind being in a place with no windows and a nighttime racket, then this place is for you. If you're like me and require a nice window in your room with peace and quiet, you should consider...

Spent a few days at this beautiful seaside hotel, and even in the tsuyu season it was picturesque, dotted with hydrangeas and sitting across from a beach and Enoshima Island.

The hotel is themed after different shades of blue, so each room is uniquely named and painted. Many of them feature patios overlooking the ocean, and the amenities are numerous and free (even in the mini bar).

The shower and bath in my room was enormous, rivaling the size of many Japanese luxury hotels I’ve stayed at. My one complaint - which the hotel staff tried valiantly to address but were ultimately unable to - was the smell from the plumbing in the toilet. It felt like it must have somehow been connected to the proximity to the ocean but I’m not sure. At any rate, this isn’t the hotel’s fault, though it did mar an otherwise near-perfect stay.

Service was always impeccable and friendly. Make sure to visit the soba restaurant, if nothing else than for the soba tea and the black sesame ice...

We loved our short stay at this hotel and Kamakura is a charming seaside town and the perfect place to conclude our stay in Japan. Rooms and beds very comfortable with silky smooth linens and large baths. Restaurant outstanding. Location excellent (train station 3 min walk away); close to the beach. It's unfortunate that a major thoroughfare separates the hotel from the beach but we enjoyed the proximity to the sea. One night there were some cruisers speeding loudly by but the second night was quiet. The only thing lacking is an onsen. Highly recommend and hope we can...