Hoshino Resorts KAI Tsugaru — Hotel in Owani

I'm not sure what Hoshino Resorts Kai Tsugaru wants to be. Is it a hotel or a ryokan? Is it luxury or not? The answers to both questions are a bit complicated for a variety of reasons.||||While there is no solid definition of a high-end hotel or ryokan, generally speaking, they often differ in the following ways:||||Top ryokans:||- Smaller, more intimate establishment with a small number of rooms (typically 30 or less.)||- More intimate, personalized service||- Shoes come off upon entering the property||- For Onsen ryokans, they provide yukata clothing to wear while on property||- More inflexible meal times (you can't simply choose exactly what time to make a reservation or when to show up.)||- Half-board||- Lacks full-service amenities of larger luxury hotels like gym, pool and laundry service||- Top quality onsen, with some rooms even having private onsens.||||Top luxury hotels:||- Larger footprint and more rooms||- Slightly more impersonal service (understandable, since it's usually larger)||- Shoes stay on||- Meals are often optional||- More flexible meal times||- Has more on-property amenities such as gym, pool, business center, laundry service, etc.||||Unfortunately, in many ways Kai Tsugaru is a bit of a cop-out. It represents itself as a ryokan, but takes the worst aspects of both hotels and ryokans which left us confused as to exactly what it was. For starters, it's a rather large property at over 40 rooms. This, combined with the fact that it's owned and operated by the Hoshino group, would lead one to believe that it would offer the intimacy of a ryokan but with the convenience of a hotel. It did not. There is no full-time greeter/handler outside the property, with the exception of the second afternoon, when a young lady was waiting outside with a clipboard in hand - she was clearly expecting a guest to arrive and check in. Sorry, but just having people outside during check-in hours is not acceptable in my book (we arrived about an hour earlier than the standard check-in time, but no matter.) Each time we left the property or returned from an outing, the outside entrance was barren with no soul in sight. Even when entering, nobody was hanging out in the lobby area to greet us. The staff are strictly behind the front desk counter in a way that is much more reminiscent of a hotel - it left us cold. And when we were checking in, there were no welcome drinks or snacks, either at the counter or delivered to our room by a room attendant. And therein lies the service problem. Nothing about the service is personalized or intimate. In a ryokan, they often have room attendants assigned to you, and they come to your room shortly after checking in and deliver treats and tea. And, at some place, they will come to your room to escort you to the dining area when it's time for your meal (or, better yet, they bring the food to you.) Not one aspect of their service gave any indication that Kai Tsugaru was trying to be a luxury ryokan.||||Secondly, the meal times are very rigid. This is understandable at ryokans, where they serve elaborate, multi-course offerings that can last for several hours. It's not a scalable operation if people can choose whenever they want to have their meals. But at Hoshino, they take it to another level. It's either 5:45PM or 07:30PM - that's it. No other choices. And dining is in the restaurant, with no option to be served in the room like at nicer ryokans. Or, at the very least, they could offer each group of guests a private room, but even this is not available at Kai Tsugaru.||||And unlike just about every ryokan in existence, shoes do not come off upon entry. You can even wear them in the room. While some Westerners might prefer this arrangement, to us it's unsanitary, and unbefitting of a property that touts itself as a luxury ryokan. It's doubly disturbing in that the rooms are carpeted rather having wooden or tatami mat floors.||||The property itself is very bland - it's a place that could exist anywhere in Japan... nothing about it gives it a sense of place. As mentioned earlier, pulling into the parking lot and observing the (dead) entrance in no way exudes a sense that you'll be staying someplace special. Upon entering, you'd expect sprawling property grounds with a beautiful garden. There is a pond in the back of the building with nice views of it from the the lobby and restaurant; however, we didn't feel that it was particularly interesting. They tried to spruce it up by liberally placing lanterns in the walkway and in the pond itself - and then lighting them up at night. Cute, but it's a cheap way of dressing up an otherwise bland backyard.||||We choose to stay at Kai Tsugaru at the end of a 5-night trip in Aomori, and since we had some dirty clothes that we wanted cleaned (due to several days of hiking in the Shirakami-Sanchi area), we figured that Hoshino would offer laundry service. Nope. Just like a ryokan, they don't do it.||||What, then, are the advantages of Kai Tsugaru when compared with top ryokans in Japan? Not much. Impersonal service, no yukata (they offer "Samui" uniforms, which are less interesting and less stylish than Yukatas), smaller rooms in general (and only one suite), no opportunity to dine in one's own room, no hotel-esque conveniences (gym, pool, etc.), substandard toiletries (they didn't even have moisturizers in our bathroom.)||||While Kai Tsugaru does have a decent communal Onsen (natural hot springs) bath for both men and women, that's all they have. There are no rooms with private onsens, and unlike some luxury ryokans, they don't have onsens that can be booked for private use by couples or families.||||I'm just puzzled by the amount of reverence that is bestowed upon a supposed "legendary" Japanese luxury property chain that is the at the top of the hospitality pecking order.||||A few good things to say about Hoshino Resorts Kai Tsugaru: It's not as expensive as the best ryokans out there, and the food quality exceeded our expectations... they really put some effort into delivering a high quality dining experience. On the downside, the food quantity was much less than at many luxury ryokans. I'm not saying that you would go away hungry, but part of the appeal of a ryokan meal is the sheer number of dishes that are served, and in this respect, Kai Tsugaru comes up a bit short. This also applies to the Japanese breakfast as well.||||Advice on how to improve:||||1) Get the staff out from behind the front desk counter, or at least add additional staff to warmly engage with the guests as they are arriving and departing each day. COVID-19 is not an excuse. We've stayed at well over 30 ryokans over the past year, and service was far more proactive and personal than anything we experienced at Kai Tsugaru.||||2) Redo the rooms - currently they have only one suite room (that is currently being remodeled, so it wasn't even available for booking when we were there) is lame. This is the same problem I have with Hoshinoya Tokyo, by the way... the rooms are too darned small. You really don't feel like staying inside for any amount of time because it just feels to constricting by luxury ryokan/hotel standards. Also, do away with carpeted floors, and have people take their shoes off, and offer some rooms with private onsens.||||3) Offer meals to be served either in one's own room, or at least in private rooms.||||4) Have the server be the same person each meal. This would help make things a bit less impersonal.||||5) Improve the toiletries||||6) Offer laundry service||||7) Add more character to the building (if that's all possible - it might be a case of putting lipstick on a pig)||||Look - we had a decent stay. There were no major service mishaps, the food was decent, and it was reasonably comfortable. It just wasn't a particularly memorable stay. And unless there is a reason to be in the area in the future, there would be zero reason for us to stay here again.||||For people who think Hoshino is on the same level as some of Japan's finest ryokans, or an Aman... if Kai Tsugaru is any indication......

I'm not sure what Hoshino Resorts Kai Tsugaru wants to be. Is it a hotel or a ryokan? Is it luxury or not? The answers to both questions are a bit complicated for a variety of reasons.||||While there is no solid definition of a high-end hotel or ryokan, generally speaking, they often differ in the following ways:||||Top ryokans:||- Smaller, more intimate establishment with a small number of rooms (typically 30 or less.)||- More intimate, personalized service||- Shoes come off upon entering the property||- For Onsen ryokans, they provide yukata clothing to wear while on property||- More inflexible meal times (you can't simply choose exactly what time to make a reservation or when to show up.)||- Half-board||- Lacks full-service amenities of larger luxury hotels like gym, pool and laundry service||- Top quality onsen, with some rooms even having private onsens.||||Top luxury hotels:||- Larger footprint and more rooms||- Slightly more impersonal service (understandable, since it's usually larger)||- Shoes stay on||- Meals are often optional||- More flexible meal times||- Has more on-property amenities such as gym, pool, business center, laundry service, etc.||||Unfortunately, in many ways Kai Tsugaru is a bit of a cop-out. It represents itself as a ryokan, but takes the worst aspects of both hotels and ryokans which left us confused as to exactly what it was. For starters, it's a rather large property at over 40 rooms. This, combined with the fact that it's owned and operated by the Hoshino group, would lead one to believe that it would offer the intimacy of a ryokan but with the convenience of a hotel. It did not. There is no full-time greeter/handler outside the property, with the exception of the second afternoon, when a young lady was waiting outside with a clipboard in hand - she was clearly expecting a guest to arrive and check in. Sorry, but just having people outside during check-in hours is not acceptable in my book (we arrived about an hour earlier than the standard check-in time, but no matter.) Each time we left the property or returned from an outing, the outside entrance was barren with no soul in sight. Even when entering, nobody was hanging out in the lobby area to greet us. The staff are strictly behind the front desk counter in a way that is much more reminiscent of a hotel - it left us cold. And when we were checking in, there were no welcome drinks or snacks, either at the counter or delivered to our room by a room attendant. And therein lies the service problem. Nothing about the service is personalized or intimate. In a ryokan, they often have room attendants assigned to you, and they come to your room shortly after checking in and deliver treats and tea. And, at some place, they will come to your room to escort you to the dining area when it's time for your meal (or, better yet, they bring the food to you.) Not one aspect of their service gave any indication that Kai Tsugaru was trying to be a luxury ryokan.||||Secondly, the meal times are very rigid. This is understandable at ryokans, where they serve elaborate, multi-course offerings that can last for several hours. It's not a scalable operation if people can choose whenever they want to have their meals. But at Hoshino, they take it to another level. It's either 5:45PM or 07:30PM - that's it. No other choices. And dining is in the restaurant, with no option to be served in the room like at nicer ryokans. Or, at the very least, they could offer each group of guests a private room, but even this is not available at Kai Tsugaru.||||And unlike just about every ryokan in existence, shoes do not come off upon entry. You can even wear them in the room. While some Westerners might prefer this arrangement, to us it's unsanitary, and unbefitting of a property that touts itself as a luxury ryokan. It's doubly disturbing in that the rooms are carpeted rather having wooden or tatami mat floors.||||The property itself is very bland - it's a place that could exist anywhere in Japan... nothing about it gives it a sense of place. As mentioned earlier, pulling into the parking lot and observing the (dead) entrance in no way exudes a sense that you'll be staying someplace special. Upon entering, you'd expect sprawling property grounds with a beautiful garden. There is a pond in the back of the building with nice views of it from the the lobby and restaurant; however, we didn't feel that it was particularly interesting. They tried to spruce it up by liberally placing lanterns in the walkway and in the pond itself - and then lighting them up at night. Cute, but it's a cheap way of dressing up an otherwise bland backyard.||||We choose to stay at Kai Tsugaru at the end of a 5-night trip in Aomori, and since we had some dirty clothes that we wanted cleaned (due to several days of hiking in the Shirakami-Sanchi area), we figured that Hoshino would offer laundry service. Nope. Just like a ryokan, they don't do it.||||What, then, are the advantages of Kai Tsugaru when compared with top ryokans in Japan? Not much. Impersonal service, no yukata (they offer "Samui" uniforms, which are less interesting and less stylish than Yukatas), smaller rooms in general (and only one suite), no opportunity to dine in one's own room, no hotel-esque conveniences (gym, pool, etc.), substandard toiletries (they didn't even have moisturizers in our bathroom.)||||While Kai Tsugaru does have a decent communal Onsen (natural hot springs) bath for both men and women, that's all they have. There are no rooms with private onsens, and unlike some luxury ryokans, they don't have onsens that can be booked for private use by couples or families.||||I'm just puzzled by the amount of reverence that is bestowed upon a supposed "legendary" Japanese luxury property chain that is the at the top of the hospitality pecking order.||||A few good things to say about Hoshino Resorts Kai Tsugaru: It's not as expensive as the best ryokans out there, and the food quality exceeded our expectations... they really put some effort into delivering a high quality dining experience. On the downside, the food quantity was much less than at many luxury ryokans. I'm not saying that you would go away hungry, but part of the appeal of a ryokan meal is the sheer number of dishes that are served, and in this respect, Kai Tsugaru comes up a bit short. This also applies to the Japanese breakfast as well.||||Advice on how to improve:||||1) Get the staff out from behind the front desk counter, or at least add additional staff to warmly engage with the guests as they are arriving and departing each day. COVID-19 is not an excuse. We've stayed at well over 30 ryokans over the past year, and service was far more proactive and personal than anything we experienced at Kai Tsugaru.||||2) Redo the rooms - currently they have only one suite room (that is currently being remodeled, so it wasn't even available for booking when we were there) is lame. This is the same problem I have with Hoshinoya Tokyo, by the way... the rooms are too darned small. You really don't feel like staying inside for any amount of time because it just feels to constricting by luxury ryokan/hotel standards. Also, do away with carpeted floors, and have people take their shoes off, and offer some rooms with private onsens.||||3) Offer meals to be served either in one's own room, or at least in private rooms.||||4) Have the server be the same person each meal. This would help make things a bit less impersonal.||||5) Improve the toiletries||||6) Offer laundry service||||7) Add more character to the building (if that's all possible - it might be a case of putting lipstick on a pig)||||Look - we had a decent stay. There were no major service mishaps, the food was decent, and it was reasonably comfortable. It just wasn't a particularly memorable stay. And unless there is a reason to be in the area in the future, there would be zero reason for us to stay here again.||||For people who think Hoshino is on the same level as some of Japan's finest ryokans, or an Aman... if Kai Tsugaru is any indication......

After having stayed multiple times at the KAI in Hokkaido (Poroto), I finally made the choice to visit the Aomori area and stay at the Tsugaru property. This was a 2-night stay over a busy holiday weekend.||The location of the hotel is quite remote and necessarily so since KAI properties need to be close to onsen sources. Owani-Onsen is a 10-minute train ride from the nearest city, Hirosaki, and the hotel times their shuttle service with the arrival and departure times of trains to Hirosaki and Akita. From Aomori Airport to KAI Tsugaru will take about 90 minutes (bus from airport to Hirosaki station, and then to Owani-Onsen station.||Check-in was quick and efficient, even though there were 4-5 groups checking in. Staff English was "workable." The onsen area is quite small. There are individual shower areas and then just two baths. One inside with apples bobbing in it, and one outside with a view. I liked the outside one better. I visited on both days around 6 pm, before dinner, and there were only 2-3 other people using the baths (male).||I reserved the smallest size Japanese style room which was more than adequate for a solo traveler. The view was out into the woods. I guess nothing much to rave or criticize about the room. I liked the futon, which was very comfortable.||The dinners at the restaurant were very nice. I observed that while Poroto might need to adhere to serving Hokkaido regional foods, Tsugaru is not so limited and they had a wider variety of items to serve. The rice quality was good. I never tried Kirin Heartland before, but it was a great beer. The quality of the beef was good. I think I ended up having at least 2 bowls of rice each meal. The restaurant and the hotel as a whole is a little bit larger than Poroto, with more guests. But at the restaurant, the larger size did not bother me and the larger size of the hotel was not a bother at all. In fact, I noticed more Japanese guests this time than in Poroto, which I notice had more foreign guests.||The next day after checking in, I spent the day visiting Hirosaki castle. Again, the train and shuttle times are quite logically set up so that you can be back at the hotel by exactly 5:15 pm.||One little tip - there is a large park 5 minutes up the hill from the hotel - it's called Ajara Park. There is a beautiful small pond there which is quite pretty - very photogenic.||Overall, I was very happy at my stay but truth be told, I was not sure if I would come back to this hotel. It's quite remote, and it takes a bit of effort to get there. There should be enough of a draw for this effort. For Poroto it's the lake and the charm of the village it is located in. For Tsugaru, the park was pretty and Hirosaki is nearby. I am not sure if...