Izu Imaihama Tokyu Hotel — Hotel in Kawadu

This used to be our favorite summer spot. We'd return at least once a year, for perhaps 4-5 years in a row. However, we hadn't been back for quite a long time. ||||This is what I learned on our most recent visit:||||The hotel room (I think we had a "Hollywood Standard Twin) was quite spacious. The beds were large and comfortable, and there is a nice-sized balcony with a generous ocean view. I see some other reviews on Tripadvisor calling the rooms "old and smelly" -- this has never, ever been my experience, not once. ||||The room seemed exactly as it was over 10 years ago, but that's fine. The colors are soft, muted "beach" colors and we were very comfortable. ||||On our first night we ate at the "Melesea" restaurant, which serves French cuisine. We chose the "Demi portion" course, which was about 9,000 yen (about $62USD with today's exchange rate). We chose it because it wasn't as high priced as some of the other course meals and the portion sizes sounded right for us. ||||There is no question that the "Demi portion" course was one of the best I've ever had in my life. The chef (Mr. Ohki) is obviously a professional who really understands how to bring out the delicate flavors of any dish, and he is a master at preparing sauces. Everything that was served was outstanding. No, we didn't want to pay that much money per person, but ultimately we made the right choice. We both were extremely impressed. ||||The above two things, plus generally good weather, added up to a good experience. ||||Here, though, are things that you should be aware of:||||This is essentially a family hotel. That means if you are coming here for peace and quiet, and you make the mistake of coming on a weekend or a national holiday, you can expect lots of screaming children running with abandon down the hallways and fussing in the restaurants and everywhere else. Japanese parents tend to indulge and spoil their little ones. And forget about using the pool, since that's where parents will be staked out the first thing in the morning. If you are a parent, you might find this to be the perfect hotel. If you aren't, and you do not enjoy the boundless energy and noise of children, you will be sorry you booked a room here. So, think carefully about the dates you arrive and leave. ||||As for prices: Although you can get a "Tokyu Hotel" member card, and although you can find online promotions, the way the hotel makes its money is through its dinners. You are going to pay a lot for them, although there is effort put into them, so, you do feel you are having an "experience." But they do not come cheaply. Also, if you don't book your room with breakfast, expect to pay ¥2900 for a "buffet breakfast." If you are Japanese, you will love this breakfast; if not, you will find an adequate selection of items for a Western breakfast. ||||But what if you want to go "out to eat" at night, instead of paying between 10-20,000 yen for a meal? Good luck. Unless you have your own car (and I'd say about 90% of the customers come via their own cars), you are totally dependent on the limited transportation available to you. This means: There is a shuttle bus for a limited number of times during the day, taking you from the hotel to Kawazu station (I think that's the name of it), from where you can get spotty train service, depending on the time of day or night. But after 5pm, you are on your own. There are no taxis available; that's right -- read that again. We asked for a taxi so we could go to a restaurant. Nope; no taxis after 5pm. I thought that was insane. (All the front desk could do was apologize; I found that unacceptable. They should have made an effort to help us; they did not, at all. In Japan, it's just "accepted" as "moushiwake arimasen" -- essentially, "there is no excuse; I'm sorry" -- I still do not find that acceptable. We paid money and efforts should be made to accommodate us. SOMEONE has a taxi SOMEWHERE in the area.) I tried Uber Eats and Uber Drive -- both of them were considered "out of service area". So... ||||The next best thing we could do was walk, in very poorly lit conditions, to the nearest station, Imaihama-Kaigan. I had to use my phone flashlight and keep it held high so that the cars approaching didn't run us over. I'm not joking. The "3-minute walk" is an extremely dangerous one at night. ||||We ended up taking a train to Shimoda station, where there were a few places still open (we're talking Friday night, early), and bought some items from "Max Value Express" super market, and took them back to the hotel, having to once again hold up my phone flashlight so that we didn't get run over as the lighting on the street leading up to the hotel is shockingly limited. ||||There is (we found out after the fact), a microwave on the 2nd floor. So, you might be able to do what we did and still have a hot meal. But... your best bet is to come prepared with enough money to pay for your fine dining experience. ||||I still love this hotel, but I realized that it's really geared to upper-class families with cars and kids. It's great that you can literally walk straight out to the beach. And there's something enchanting about how old (and well preserved) the hotel is (yes, they've made a few upgrades in their "library" area). You can also get fairly good coffee in the library area using a machine, for ¥450 (way too much, but you're trapped, at a hotel, so they're going to charge you). ||||As for the staff: I found the restaurant staff efficient, but most of them did not smile, not at all, not once. They seemed nervous and jittery, but they did their job well. The front desk staff was pleasant. The cleaning staff would say hello or thank you, depending on whether you were coming or going. ||||The hotel has "gone green" -- you can get a ¥500 coupon if you don't have them clean your room (which is fine if you are only staying two nights). But you have to use the coupon at the hotel's "gift shop" -- and choices are extremely limited. ||||There is a sento (public hot bath), and it's fine. They do need to gather up the dirty towels a bit more frequently, but otherwise, it was fine. ||||So, basically: yes, this is a good hotel, with good (pricy) dinners, acceptable breakfasts, and quick access to the beach. But if you are without a car, do not expect to be doing any "extracurricular" activities, because there is absolutely nothing else to do in that area. I mean, nothing. And again, if you want "quiet," it ain't gonna happen unless you come during the week when you are 1000% percent all children of school age are in school. (This will not prevent parents from bringing their newborns.)||||Choose your dates carefully. ||||With caveats in mind, I can...

This used to be our favorite summer spot. We'd return at least once a year, for perhaps 4-5 years in a row. However, we hadn't been back for quite a long time. ||||This is what I learned on our most recent visit:||||The hotel room (I think we had a "Hollywood Standard Twin) was quite spacious. The beds were large and comfortable, and there is a nice-sized balcony with a generous ocean view. I see some other reviews on Tripadvisor calling the rooms "old and smelly" -- this has never, ever been my experience, not once. ||||The room seemed exactly as it was over 10 years ago, but that's fine. The colors are soft, muted "beach" colors and we were very comfortable. ||||On our first night we ate at the "Melesea" restaurant, which serves French cuisine. We chose the "Demi portion" course, which was about 9,000 yen (about $62USD with today's exchange rate). We chose it because it wasn't as high priced as some of the other course meals and the portion sizes sounded right for us. ||||There is no question that the "Demi portion" course was one of the best I've ever had in my life. The chef (Mr. Ohki) is obviously a professional who really understands how to bring out the delicate flavors of any dish, and he is a master at preparing sauces. Everything that was served was outstanding. No, we didn't want to pay that much money per person, but ultimately we made the right choice. We both were extremely impressed. ||||The above two things, plus generally good weather, added up to a good experience. ||||Here, though, are things that you should be aware of:||||This is essentially a family hotel. That means if you are coming here for peace and quiet, and you make the mistake of coming on a weekend or a national holiday, you can expect lots of screaming children running with abandon down the hallways and fussing in the restaurants and everywhere else. Japanese parents tend to indulge and spoil their little ones. And forget about using the pool, since that's where parents will be staked out the first thing in the morning. If you are a parent, you might find this to be the perfect hotel. If you aren't, and you do not enjoy the boundless energy and noise of children, you will be sorry you booked a room here. So, think carefully about the dates you arrive and leave. ||||As for prices: Although you can get a "Tokyu Hotel" member card, and although you can find online promotions, the way the hotel makes its money is through its dinners. You are going to pay a lot for them, although there is effort put into them, so, you do feel you are having an "experience." But they do not come cheaply. Also, if you don't book your room with breakfast, expect to pay ¥2900 for a "buffet breakfast." If you are Japanese, you will love this breakfast; if not, you will find an adequate selection of items for a Western breakfast. ||||But what if you want to go "out to eat" at night, instead of paying between 10-20,000 yen for a meal? Good luck. Unless you have your own car (and I'd say about 90% of the customers come via their own cars), you are totally dependent on the limited transportation available to you. This means: There is a shuttle bus for a limited number of times during the day, taking you from the hotel to Kawazu station (I think that's the name of it), from where you can get spotty train service, depending on the time of day or night. But after 5pm, you are on your own. There are no taxis available; that's right -- read that again. We asked for a taxi so we could go to a restaurant. Nope; no taxis after 5pm. I thought that was insane. (All the front desk could do was apologize; I found that unacceptable. They should have made an effort to help us; they did not, at all. In Japan, it's just "accepted" as "moushiwake arimasen" -- essentially, "there is no excuse; I'm sorry" -- I still do not find that acceptable. We paid money and efforts should be made to accommodate us. SOMEONE has a taxi SOMEWHERE in the area.) I tried Uber Eats and Uber Drive -- both of them were considered "out of service area". So... ||||The next best thing we could do was walk, in very poorly lit conditions, to the nearest station, Imaihama-Kaigan. I had to use my phone flashlight and keep it held high so that the cars approaching didn't run us over. I'm not joking. The "3-minute walk" is an extremely dangerous one at night. ||||We ended up taking a train to Shimoda station, where there were a few places still open (we're talking Friday night, early), and bought some items from "Max Value Express" super market, and took them back to the hotel, having to once again hold up my phone flashlight so that we didn't get run over as the lighting on the street leading up to the hotel is shockingly limited. ||||There is (we found out after the fact), a microwave on the 2nd floor. So, you might be able to do what we did and still have a hot meal. But... your best bet is to come prepared with enough money to pay for your fine dining experience. ||||I still love this hotel, but I realized that it's really geared to upper-class families with cars and kids. It's great that you can literally walk straight out to the beach. And there's something enchanting about how old (and well preserved) the hotel is (yes, they've made a few upgrades in their "library" area). You can also get fairly good coffee in the library area using a machine, for ¥450 (way too much, but you're trapped, at a hotel, so they're going to charge you). ||||As for the staff: I found the restaurant staff efficient, but most of them did not smile, not at all, not once. They seemed nervous and jittery, but they did their job well. The front desk staff was pleasant. The cleaning staff would say hello or thank you, depending on whether you were coming or going. ||||The hotel has "gone green" -- you can get a ¥500 coupon if you don't have them clean your room (which is fine if you are only staying two nights). But you have to use the coupon at the hotel's "gift shop" -- and choices are extremely limited. ||||There is a sento (public hot bath), and it's fine. They do need to gather up the dirty towels a bit more frequently, but otherwise, it was fine. ||||So, basically: yes, this is a good hotel, with good (pricy) dinners, acceptable breakfasts, and quick access to the beach. But if you are without a car, do not expect to be doing any "extracurricular" activities, because there is absolutely nothing else to do in that area. I mean, nothing. And again, if you want "quiet," it ain't gonna happen unless you come during the week when you are 1000% percent all children of school age are in school. (This will not prevent parents from bringing their newborns.)||||Choose your dates carefully. ||||With caveats in mind, I can...

After a busy two weeks of our tour of Japan, we were ready for some relaxation and had booked this hotel.||Unfortunately the weather wasn’t quite beach weather when we were there and was cloudy, but we still managed a paddle in the sea.||The hotel itself is in need of some updating, especially the bathroom. The bedroom was spacious and had a nice seating area, plus all rooms have sea view and a little balcony. This was lovely.||On check in, we were told that the hotel had 3 restaurants - French, Japanese and a Teppanyaki. The hotel also showed to have a bar. When we went down for dinner at 7pm, the Teppanyaki wasn’t open at all. The French said they were busy but could fit us in in an hour (it didn’t look full at all!) and the Japanese said they were full for the rest of the night. Again, we could see a lot of empty tables. At no point during check in had we been warned we would need to book and there was a risk of the restaurants being full. There was a bar but this was closed. Like the Teppanyaki restaurant, this was never open during our stay. The French restaurant was nice but very expensive for what we got. The hotel wasn’t even close to being full, so I would hate to think what it’s like in high season! ||The restaurants have English menus, but there are very little English signs in the rest of the hotel.||The area where the hotel is, is a very small town and there wasn’t any other options of places to eat. You would need to get a taxi or train to another area. On the second day, we purposely had a large lunch whilst out in Shomoda (we got the train, was very easy) and got some nibbles and drinks from the 7/11 in town to have in our room for dinner because we didn’t want to pay the high prices and couldn’t even guarantee getting a table! ||The grounds were pretty but the pool was closed and had it been open, there was a sign saying you had to pay to use the pool??? As a westerner, this is unheard of. We had a look at the onsen, which looked nice. Separate men and women areas. The massages looked to be very expensive, so we didn’t bother. ||Overall, we were both very disappointed and pleased to not be staying any longer. I am not sure why they are advertising a restaurant and bar when they’re not open at all. The services and facilities are far from what they say there to be. Disappointing and overall incredibly overpriced for what you get (approx £250 per night!!!) not...