Hotel & Spa Resort La Vista Akangawa Kushiro — Hotel in Kushiro

Thoroughly enjoyed our 3 nights stay at La Vista Akangawa. Food was marvelous, views were mesmerizing & service was fantastic! Almost perfect except for 2 small minor details (explained below). Firstly, the views from our room were out of this world; herds of wild deers greeted us everyday! Such a beautiful sight. Views of the river (and of its water flowing) and snow capped hills were so peaceful and zen like. Food (breakfast & dinner) were super delicious. We were served Japanese Kaiseki meals but we opted for Western set for breakfast on 2 occasions (although they were still Japanese themed which was ok with us). The Kaiseki meals served during dinner were so sumptuous and elaborate. Every day we were served a different menu for both breakfast & dinner; just amazing! The view from the restaurant was also very beautiful; we liked the fact that the resort would rotate guests’ seating in the restaurant for each meal, so every guest would get a chance to sit at the window seats with a view! Other notable pleasant surprises were complimentary snack tray (chips, cookies, sweets etc) at the restaurant’s entrance which guests can help themselves to after each meal, the customary ice cream/popsicle outside the onsen entrance, all day coffee machine at the lobby area, and servings of ginger tea and hot chocolate from 4-6pm. And for those guests who chose to have their dinner at 8pm, complimentary Japanese canapés were served from 6–7pm to “tide over” their hunger! Free “midnight” ramen noodles were also served from 10:30-11:30pm for those craving for supper! Hotel staff from the front desk to the restaurant as well as housekeeping were all so polite, friendly and helpful, although they speak very limited English, we got by with just Google translate!

Our complaints; firstly, would be the duvet used; they were too thick (non-breathable too), although comfortable, was very hot. We can’t be under cover for too long and we needed to keep pushing it aside when it got too hot and then had to go under the duvet again when it got too cold. And secondly, the onsens. Views from the “public” outdoor onsen were great, but it was very small compared to other onsen resorts which we have been to. Although there were also “private” onsens (there were 3 private baths, even smaller, wherein a max of 2 guests were allowed for each private onsen at any one time), we didn’t make use of any of them as we weren’t too comfortable with the “hygiene” level because no soap/shampoo were allowed to be used in those private onsens because waste water (from showering) flows directly into the river below.

Will we return to La Vista?...

Feedback on My Stay at La Vista Akangawa

This was my second stay, and I was very disappointed with the service, facilities, and overall atmosphere compared to my first visit.

Customer Service at Check-In During check-in, we were served by a trainee receptionist (an elderly woman) whose attitude was far from professional. Her rude and dismissive responses left a negative impression and spoiled our holiday. • We had booked what we believed was a river-view room based on the information and images on the hotel’s official website. However, the receptionist kept saying “no, no, no” without offering any explanation or alternative options, which was both unhelpful and impolite. • After 30 minutes of frustrating conversation, she finally mentioned that we could pay an additional 8,000 yen per person to upgrade to a river-view room. If this had been communicated properly from the start, we would have accepted the situation without the unnecessary argument. Misleading Website Information The booking process through the La Vista Dormy Inn website was misleading and contributed to the issue. • The room type titles on the website do not clearly indicate whether the room includes a river view, and the images displayed are inaccurate and inconsistent with the actual room types. • I specifically chose my room based on the images provided, which depicted a river view. However, upon arrival, I was informed that the room I booked was facing the car park. This discrepancy between the website and reality was unacceptable. This was extremely disappointing.

Downgraded Atmosphere The lobby lacked the warm, inviting winter atmosphere I enjoyed during my first stay. The welcoming feel has noticeably downgraded and all facilities looks run down a bit.

Run down room The room has some wear and tear is acceptable. But the toilet door was spoiled which is not acceptable. The curtain spoiled also. The wallpaper peeled off. It should be fix before customer stay in.

Suggestions: Update the website with accurate room descriptions and images. Train staff to provide clear communication and a warm welcome. for this premium stay high price, the hotel should maintain good quality service and room conditions and facilities. I hope these issues are addressed.

As a premium onsen hotel, these lack of maintenance, low class service and misleading website and bad staff attitude are unacceptable and diminish the overall guest experience. I hope the management takes these concerns seriously and implements changes to prevent similar issues in the future. It’s not worth my stay for the current price...

Just stayed 2 nights at Deluxe Triple room.||1. Location:|Isolated, away from the center of Akan lake, beautiful views of mountains and river. |You DO NEED a car, there's a sign said not to walk around becuase there's a bear. |Hotel is located on the slope and one issue: Room facing the river HAS to go down 6 steps, TO get to elevator. Not sure what architect was thinking, but there's a stairs. We had to drag our large suitcases up and down the stairs. ||2. Room:|Perfect setting. 2 twin beds (slightly wider) in bedroom and almost king size large sofa/bed in living area. Plus sofa sets and 3 seater seating facing the river. Bathroom is facing river and you can take a tub watching the views. Spacious room and storage, loved that beautiful room. ||3. Breakfast/Dinner|Dinner was kaiseki as other Ryokans. Appetizers were meiocore, could be more straight forward Hokkaido's produce. There were many small appetizers (probably good with alcohol but I don't drink) and not sure what it was even I was reading Japanese menu. I'd rather have Ikura don or Kaisen don instead of fancy small bites. Issue was: dinner is only at 5:30pm and 8pm and takes 2 hours Kaiseki course. If you don't tell them and put you at 8pm, dinner ends at earliest 9:30pm. They should start at 5 and 7:30pm instead to accommodate everybody's dinner time. ||We saw deer coming every morning and dinner right outside the restaurants and had pleasant meal time. ||4. Public bath:|Public bath was nice, but not so big. There's lockagle private bath but it is not outdoor. There's a sliding doors you can open but bug will come in at night with the lights, not sure it was good idea to make indoor. Also, tub is very small. If you are thinking about taking a bath with family with children, only one of them is large enough to take a tab together. ||Area was absolutely unspoiled and beautiful. I think if you get there probably this is the best resort to stay. I've stayed at many, many of Kyoritsu resorts and this one was one of...