Taishoike Hotel — Hotel in Matsumoto

We, a group of 8 Thai people, have stayed at this hotel for one night on 15th October 2019, and even with many good things and experience we had during our stay, I really have to warn foreign tourists about one of our worst Japanese hotel service experiences ever. ||||Let’s start with the pros||- Location: this hotel is the best spot to enjoy the stunning view of Taisho Pond at night and early morning sunrise. You cannot ask for more.||- Overall facilities: for the price we paid, the room condition, hot spring rooms, restaurant, vending machines, shop are very nice for a 4 star hotel in the heart of the beautiful national park like Kamikochi. The foreign hotel staffs were very nice and kind to us all. Thank you so much for your wonderful services. ||||Now the cons||- Very racist and unprofessional Japanese staffs: there are many of us in our group who live in Japan and able to communicate very well in Japanese. We have travelled and lived in Japan long enough to learn its complex culture and to be totally respectful to the place and the people. We really love Japan because of that delicate and beautiful way of living. ||However, during our stay this time, whenever we interacted with Japanese hotel staffs, whether at the restaurant or the reception area, our experience was extremely disappointed. Here are the examples of our horrible incidents.||||1. The Japanese reception manager spoke very rudely and unprofessionally to us compared to the way we heard him spoke to other Japanese guests. When we were checking out, our friends spoke in Japanese with the Japanese reception staff to complete the process and also to ask for the taxi service. The Japanese staff just told us in Japanese to move to wait at the sofa to wait for the taxi because “this area is only for check in and check out guests”. But when he spoke with other Japanese guests, he said in Japanese that they “please sit down and wait at the sofa area, and I will let you know when the taxi arrives”. Finally, when we got in the taxi, he didn’t come out to bow or send us out or anything. But he did that when the Japanese guests left. ||||2. The Japanese restaurant waiter knocked one of our friend’s hot pots from its stove, and almost ran over his lap, but all he did was just shortly and neglectfully saying “Gomennasai” and walked away immediately. ||||As we mentioned earlier, we had a great amount of travel experiences with authentic Japanese hotels, from mini homestay-style ryokan to 5-star exclusive resorts, and many of us speak and understand Japanese very well. So, with these unacceptable, racist, unprofessional manners from the Japanese hotel staffs here, we have to sadly warn all other foreign tourists who might think about choosing to stay here. ||There are other very nice hotel options nearby inside the Kamikochi National Park that would treat all guests the same amazing Japanese standard that we all have impressed with before. I know that it might not be as close to Taisho Pond, but we would not want to see anyone else go thru the same horrible experience we had with this hotel. ||||And finally, if what the Japanese staffs of this hotel just did to us was the best of their efforts, the owner needs to start taking them all back to hotel management...

We, a group of 8 Thai people, have stayed at this hotel for one night on 15th October 2019, and even with many good things and experience we had during our stay, I really have to warn foreign tourists about one of our worst Japanese hotel service experiences ever. ||||Let’s start with the pros||- Location: this hotel is the best spot to enjoy the stunning view of Taisho Pond at night and early morning sunrise. You cannot ask for more.||- Overall facilities: for the price we paid, the room condition, hot spring rooms, restaurant, vending machines, shop are very nice for a 4 star hotel in the heart of the beautiful national park like Kamikochi. The foreign hotel staffs were very nice and kind to us all. Thank you so much for your wonderful services. ||||Now the cons||- Very racist and unprofessional Japanese staffs: there are many of us in our group who live in Japan and able to communicate very well in Japanese. We have travelled and lived in Japan long enough to learn its complex culture and to be totally respectful to the place and the people. We really love Japan because of that delicate and beautiful way of living. ||However, during our stay this time, whenever we interacted with Japanese hotel staffs, whether at the restaurant or the reception area, our experience was extremely disappointed. Here are the examples of our horrible incidents.||||1. The Japanese reception manager spoke very rudely and unprofessionally to us compared to the way we heard him spoke to other Japanese guests. When we were checking out, our friends spoke in Japanese with the Japanese reception staff to complete the process and also to ask for the taxi service. The Japanese staff just told us in Japanese to move to wait at the sofa to wait for the taxi because “this area is only for check in and check out guests”. But when he spoke with other Japanese guests, he said in Japanese that they “please sit down and wait at the sofa area, and I will let you know when the taxi arrives”. Finally, when we got in the taxi, he didn’t come out to bow or send us out or anything. But he did that when the Japanese guests left. ||||2. The Japanese restaurant waiter knocked one of our friend’s hot pots from its stove, and almost ran over his lap, but all he did was just shortly and neglectfully saying “Gomennasai” and walked away immediately. ||||As we mentioned earlier, we had a great amount of travel experiences with authentic Japanese hotels, from mini homestay-style ryokan to 5-star exclusive resorts, and many of us speak and understand Japanese very well. So, with these unacceptable, racist, unprofessional manners from the Japanese hotel staffs here, we have to sadly warn all other foreign tourists who might think about choosing to stay here. ||There are other very nice hotel options nearby inside the Kamikochi National Park that would treat all guests the same amazing Japanese standard that we all have impressed with before. I know that it might not be as close to Taisho Pond, but we would not want to see anyone else go thru the same horrible experience we had with this hotel. ||||And finally, if what the Japanese staffs of this hotel just did to us was the best of their efforts, the owner needs to start taking them all back to hotel management...

My wife and I spent 2-3 days here over the summer. While getting here on public transport is definitely a journey and a headache, once you're here, this is an amazing, relaxing, serene place to stay for a weekend. The hotel is a bit older, but there are very few options if you want to stay close to the park, and this resort is a great choice. It's right next to a bus stop heading to and from the park, situated right along the river/pond, and it has a great walking trail if you'd prefer leaving early and hiking alone on the beautiful trail. The hotel was comfortable and the staff was friendly. The large dinner meals they included in the price were very filling, but definitely more "authentic" then we were expecting. We love most Japanese dishes, but the lake fish "char" was a bit too much for us. Oh well, there was plenty more to eat!||||We purchased the Standard Twin Room, but we made sure that it was facing the Taisho Pond. We had some rain, so it was great to be able to sit in the room with the window open and comfortably watch the rains roll by. If we had planned the trip during perfect weather, the Mountain side would be fine for a discount, since we wouldn't have been in the room as much.||||We never actually used the Onsen spa, since they have separate rooms for men and women and we wanted to enjoy it together. We spent most of our time hiking and relaxing...