TOSEI HOTEL COCONE Kamakura — Hotel in Kamakura

We stayed for 3 nights in late July. This is a smaller hotel which was nice and felt very personal. The staff is very friendly and did their best to speak English with us as our Japanese is not good. They even called a restaurant to make a reservation when we weren't able to do it ourselves. There is plenty of bilingual information so English-only speakers should feel comfortable here. The hotel has nice style and looks great. The front garden is beautifully landscaped and sets the tone for the hotel. |We had booked a twin room as we've learned throughout our travels that a Twin room (vs Double room) can sometimes provide a little extra space. Unfortunately, that was not true this time. We had 2 twin beds but they were pushed together and took up the entire sleeping space in the room. We've stayed in small Japanese rooms before but this was a first. We had to walk on the beds to get in and out of them. We wondered how housekeeping did it! We utilized the pillow lending system in the lobby to choose comfortable pillows. The bathroom was a standard Japanese-style modular bathroom. We were able to pick up any amenities we needed in the lobby and some were also provided in the onsen. We could have used some English instructions for the air-con but figured it out using prior knowledge and Google Translate. |The onsen was very nice and we each used it daily. The woman's onsen is accessed through a passcode you can get at the front desk. The baskets with towels provided in the room are nice for carrying items to the bath. |The highlight of the hotel was the breakfast. The staff was so friendly especially one man who went out of his way to say hello each morning. When we checked in, the staff asked us to choose our breakfast time and whether we wanted the Japanese breakfast or Western breakfast. My husband had the Japanese and I had Western so we had a chance to see both of them. They were both very tasty. They were exactly the same all 3 mornings so maybe mix it up if you want some variety. We felt a little silly taking pictures of the Japanese breakfast until I noticed several other guests including Japanese guests doing the same as it was a very traditional breakfast. |We would stay here again but would choose a different room type to have at least a...

We stayed for 3 nights in late July. This is a smaller hotel which was nice and felt very personal. The staff is very friendly and did their best to speak English with us as our Japanese is not good. They even called a restaurant to make a reservation when we weren't able to do it ourselves. There is plenty of bilingual information so English-only speakers should feel comfortable here. The hotel has nice style and looks great. The front garden is beautifully landscaped and sets the tone for the hotel. |We had booked a twin room as we've learned throughout our travels that a Twin room (vs Double room) can sometimes provide a little extra space. Unfortunately, that was not true this time. We had 2 twin beds but they were pushed together and took up the entire sleeping space in the room. We've stayed in small Japanese rooms before but this was a first. We had to walk on the beds to get in and out of them. We wondered how housekeeping did it! We utilized the pillow lending system in the lobby to choose comfortable pillows. The bathroom was a standard Japanese-style modular bathroom. We were able to pick up any amenities we needed in the lobby and some were also provided in the onsen. We could have used some English instructions for the air-con but figured it out using prior knowledge and Google Translate. |The onsen was very nice and we each used it daily. The woman's onsen is accessed through a passcode you can get at the front desk. The baskets with towels provided in the room are nice for carrying items to the bath. |The highlight of the hotel was the breakfast. The staff was so friendly especially one man who went out of his way to say hello each morning. When we checked in, the staff asked us to choose our breakfast time and whether we wanted the Japanese breakfast or Western breakfast. My husband had the Japanese and I had Western so we had a chance to see both of them. They were both very tasty. They were exactly the same all 3 mornings so maybe mix it up if you want some variety. We felt a little silly taking pictures of the Japanese breakfast until I noticed several other guests including Japanese guests doing the same as it was a very traditional breakfast. |We would stay here again but would choose a different room type to have at least a...

Kamakura is a beautiful place to stay and a great getaway from Tokyo. We've been to Kamakura before but stayed further afield and it was so much more convenient to stay at the Tosei Hotel. If you are happy to trundle your suitcase down the cobblestone street from the train station, it's a lovely arrival at the hotel, which is set back from the road (which for the most part is pedestrian only). And don't be fooled by the outside, it is very modern.||The staff are very helpful but not much English is spoken. They use a hand-held translator which works just fine, even in slightly complicated exchanges.||The rooms are a little small - we opted for a twin room to try and obtain a little more space - and in ours we didn't have bedside tables, which was a little annoying. Where do I put my book? My glass of water?||The bathroom, like many Japanese hotels, is a plastic cube or capsule. Ours had now where to hang towels, and it was a little hard to get around the opened door. But there was a separate toilet.||And the windows open! Fresh air. Even though it was winter, we still like a bit of fresh air (we also turn the air conditioning off; there's no need for it as the hotel is heated).||N.B. We didn't use the public bath or eat breakfast here, but we did use the...