Satonoyu Waraku — Hotel in Minamioguni

All the negative reviews are true. The only reason I booked was the photos of the modernized room and one earlier review saying service standards have improved and apologies from Jack Tang saying staff have been replaced. The latest as I understood is that Jack Tang has resigned in August and it's back to the rigid INFLEXIBLE management with aloof attitude. All the positive reviews coincided before this period.||NO CONTACT VIA EMAIL PRIOR TO ARRIVAL.||Check in_ no welcome drink snack or hot towel typical of all high end hot spring hotel.||First impressions- we arrived slightly after noon and were told that check in time was 3 pm hence we can't stay around. The kind taxi driver who brought us from aso drove us to the visitor centre. Where's the free shuttle service? Then the driver was thirty minutes late in driving us back and didn't bother come out to greet open the door as done with all taxi or hot spring hotel drivers. In other hotels we will be offered hot spring at the open bath should we arrive early.||Amenities_ ONLY ONE BOTTLE OF CHILLED TAP WATER IN MINI BAR.||Room_ a polite Taiwanese service staff brought us to the room close to 4pm. I informed about our dietary needs ie no sashimi no meat which was similar to the positive English review and in the website they cater to dietary needs, but was later informed to our dismay that I would have to take beef for main course and this is management decision from someone called Endo from the family who runs the hotel and who also happens to be assistant chef to the executive chef yasu naka. One of the light bulbs was not working, air conditioner remote control missing and some time spent fixing the bulb. These could have been checked before my check in.||Now to the ridiculous part. As if this was not enough, we were then told about credit card overcharge of 10000yen but we would have to fork out additional 40000 yen to be refunded 50000 yen. We requested direct cash refund of 10000 yen or reverse credit card charge or alternatively a better lobster meal in place of refund. All these requests were refused. Imagine discussing these issues repeatedly through passing messages via the service staff and over the dinner. The entire experience is totally spoilt. We only had half an hour of soaking thanks to the multiple disturbances and would have been better off going for a day trip. And it's Christmas eve! The ultimatum was when the cashier said the credit card will deducT the additional 40000 yen from my hubby credit card anyway whether my hubby likes it or not?!!! This is utterly high handed to convey the charges will be deducted anyway!! My hubby being a chartered accountant is totally appalled by the lack of ethical standards demonstrated by the hotel over a simple refund issue. As international clients how can we be assured that the refund will take place after forking out the additional charges.||We have traveled extensivelY to hot spring hotels and this is the ONLY HOTEL THAT DOES NOT RESPECT AND CATER TO DIETARY NEEDS. Are you sure all Japanese take beef??? Many cultures and religions don't take beef even in Japan e.g. Buddhists. After intervention from the service staff, they simply remove the beef and fried the vegetable garnishes ie onion and capsicum?!!! Reason being we didn't inform early and argued we didn't inform at noon check in. Well, They didn't ask took our passports and we were shooed out to come back later 3pm. Most of the high end hot spring hotels contacted us before hand on dietary needs and confirmation. How to eat few pieces of fried tempura garnish for main course?!!! We started 7 pm. It's 930 pm and still waiting for dessert cos of resolving refund. Hubby beef was medium raw and no checking when he wanted well done so also most not eaten. We requested to see Endo the boss on duty and the cashier which ended with no show until hubbY called the reception again to remind for dessert and to meet the boss on duty. NO SHOW AFTER 30 minutes. Finally when the boss showed up, after one hour of exasperating discussion at 1030 finally agreed to refund cash but when rakuten refund 50000 yen if it comes through credit card, we will need to buy 50000 yen online of half a night through their hotel link... I wanTed to use this as reverse illustration on the risk inVolved if we were to fork out additional but was shocked that they accepted this troublesome method of reFund rather than going back to rakuten to void the overcharge and settle the refund directly. ||i am sure we all shop online and experienced direct refund through reverse credit card charges almost instantly one day later.||IMAGINE Christmas eve spent hungry and angry and speechless...||COME AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE FAMILY MANAGEMENT CLEARLY NEEDS HOTEL MANAGEMENT AND SERVICE TRAINING. And a qualified accountant and cashier well versed in refund. |||We have visited numerous medium to high end hot spring hotels in various parts of Japan to know what's the basic standards and sop. Beyond the nice infrastructure, everything else is lacking in this hotel. They should clearly visit learn and benchmark with the successful hot spring hotels. Clearly they don't care to serve international customers. No smile or warm reception. Don't take for granted all high end Japanese hotels will embrace service standards and cater to customer dietary needs. THIS IS the first that didn't even bother to make any effort and was clearly defensive. I learnt my lesson to take heed of negative reviews rather than looking at one recent isolated positive...

All the negative reviews are true. The only reason I booked was the photos of the modernized room and one earlier review saying service standards have improved and apologies from Jack Tang saying staff have been replaced. The latest as I understood is that Jack Tang has resigned in August and it's back to the rigid INFLEXIBLE management with aloof attitude. All the positive reviews coincided before this period.||NO CONTACT VIA EMAIL PRIOR TO ARRIVAL.||Check in_ no welcome drink snack or hot towel typical of all high end hot spring hotel.||First impressions- we arrived slightly after noon and were told that check in time was 3 pm hence we can't stay around. The kind taxi driver who brought us from aso drove us to the visitor centre. Where's the free shuttle service? Then the driver was thirty minutes late in driving us back and didn't bother come out to greet open the door as done with all taxi or hot spring hotel drivers. In other hotels we will be offered hot spring at the open bath should we arrive early.||Amenities_ ONLY ONE BOTTLE OF CHILLED TAP WATER IN MINI BAR.||Room_ a polite Taiwanese service staff brought us to the room close to 4pm. I informed about our dietary needs ie no sashimi no meat which was similar to the positive English review and in the website they cater to dietary needs, but was later informed to our dismay that I would have to take beef for main course and this is management decision from someone called Endo from the family who runs the hotel and who also happens to be assistant chef to the executive chef yasu naka. One of the light bulbs was not working, air conditioner remote control missing and some time spent fixing the bulb. These could have been checked before my check in.||Now to the ridiculous part. As if this was not enough, we were then told about credit card overcharge of 10000yen but we would have to fork out additional 40000 yen to be refunded 50000 yen. We requested direct cash refund of 10000 yen or reverse credit card charge or alternatively a better lobster meal in place of refund. All these requests were refused. Imagine discussing these issues repeatedly through passing messages via the service staff and over the dinner. The entire experience is totally spoilt. We only had half an hour of soaking thanks to the multiple disturbances and would have been better off going for a day trip. And it's Christmas eve! The ultimatum was when the cashier said the credit card will deducT the additional 40000 yen from my hubby credit card anyway whether my hubby likes it or not?!!! This is utterly high handed to convey the charges will be deducted anyway!! My hubby being a chartered accountant is totally appalled by the lack of ethical standards demonstrated by the hotel over a simple refund issue. As international clients how can we be assured that the refund will take place after forking out the additional charges.||We have traveled extensivelY to hot spring hotels and this is the ONLY HOTEL THAT DOES NOT RESPECT AND CATER TO DIETARY NEEDS. Are you sure all Japanese take beef??? Many cultures and religions don't take beef even in Japan e.g. Buddhists. After intervention from the service staff, they simply remove the beef and fried the vegetable garnishes ie onion and capsicum?!!! Reason being we didn't inform early and argued we didn't inform at noon check in. Well, They didn't ask took our passports and we were shooed out to come back later 3pm. Most of the high end hot spring hotels contacted us before hand on dietary needs and confirmation. How to eat few pieces of fried tempura garnish for main course?!!! We started 7 pm. It's 930 pm and still waiting for dessert cos of resolving refund. Hubby beef was medium raw and no checking when he wanted well done so also most not eaten. We requested to see Endo the boss on duty and the cashier which ended with no show until hubbY called the reception again to remind for dessert and to meet the boss on duty. NO SHOW AFTER 30 minutes. Finally when the boss showed up, after one hour of exasperating discussion at 1030 finally agreed to refund cash but when rakuten refund 50000 yen if it comes through credit card, we will need to buy 50000 yen online of half a night through their hotel link... I wanTed to use this as reverse illustration on the risk inVolved if we were to fork out additional but was shocked that they accepted this troublesome method of reFund rather than going back to rakuten to void the overcharge and settle the refund directly. ||i am sure we all shop online and experienced direct refund through reverse credit card charges almost instantly one day later.||IMAGINE Christmas eve spent hungry and angry and speechless...||COME AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE FAMILY MANAGEMENT CLEARLY NEEDS HOTEL MANAGEMENT AND SERVICE TRAINING. And a qualified accountant and cashier well versed in refund. |||We have visited numerous medium to high end hot spring hotels in various parts of Japan to know what's the basic standards and sop. Beyond the nice infrastructure, everything else is lacking in this hotel. They should clearly visit learn and benchmark with the successful hot spring hotels. Clearly they don't care to serve international customers. No smile or warm reception. Don't take for granted all high end Japanese hotels will embrace service standards and cater to customer dietary needs. THIS IS the first that didn't even bother to make any effort and was clearly defensive. I learnt my lesson to take heed of negative reviews rather than looking at one recent isolated positive...

When sinking nearly JPY200,000 into a mere two night stay, you typically would expect the service at this ryokan to be immaculate, as the service at most estalishments in Japan tends to be, regardless of expense. As such, I was shocked to encounter hotel staff that treated my fiancee and me carelessly at best and, at worst, with open and willful rudeness.||||First, let me confess at the outset that, although my mother is Japanese, I am 6'2 (1.89 meters) and obviously not Japanese. Still, I have been coming to Japan all my life and have lived in Tokyo for four years now, so I was surprised to be greeted at the entrance to this ryokan by a male staff member who spoke to my fiancee and me with a brusqueness that Japanese men scarcely would use toward their dogs and certainly not with Japanese customers. I'm normally not a stickler about the sub-standard treatment that foreigners regularly receive in Japan (which I have accepted as a fact of life here since I was young), but I certainly expect better treatment than open disdain from an establishment where I am paying the equivalent of half a month's rent in Tokyo to stay for two nights.||||The best part about our stay were the accommodations themselves. We loved the exposed wood and private bath in our room, and the outside deck overlooking the gently rolling river was peaceful and gorgeous.||||Still, what should have been a beautiful, relaxing weekend in Kurkoawa was spoiled by the terrible treatment we received from the staff. When we called to ask questions of the front desk, we received curt replies (for example, "Please look at the information provided in your room") quickly followed by a sharp click of the receiver. When we wanted to arrange a car to take us into town, we finally had to walk to the front desk in order to capture someone's attention. Each of our handful of entirely reasonable requests (including, for example, to arrange dinner service in our room) was greeted with an "I don't give a crap, please stop bothering me" attitude that deeply offended our expectations as paying customers and, fairly or unfairly, as foreign residents of Japan.||||I say "fairly or unfairly" because I am not Japanese and therefore cannot be sure whether the terrible treatment we received is distributed equitably to Japanese patrons or only to foreign visitors. For the sake of my Japanese brothers and sisters, I hope it is the latter....||||Lastly, the food, which their Japanese website describes as being sourced locally, was fine but unspectacular, certainly not nearly on the level of the food we have enjoyed at other ryokan (particularly Karuizawa in Nagano and Akanoyu in Yamagata ... although I admit I am biased toward Akanoyu, as they serve Yonezawa beef from my mother's hometown). Most distressingly, when we were ordering nihonshu to accompany our dinner, we asked for a recommendation from our server, who recommended the most expensive bottle from the ryokan's selection but could neither explain any of its attributes, where it was from or why it would be a good match for our meal. Normally, no big deal, but I expect far better from a ryokan at this price range.||||I sincerely hope that the owner of this ryokan fires its current management and installs a more accommodating staff. Perhaps then it would come near to matching...