KAMENOI HOTEL TAZAWAKO — Hotel in Semboku

This hotel was a 2 hours drive from Akita airport. ||||So, there is an old wing and new wing of the hotel. We followed the GPS by car and got to the old wing. Entered the building only to find the lobby abandoned and desolate. I saw an old woman walking around so I asked her where check-in was. She told me I had to walk to the new wing through a very shabby looking corridor. After a bit of confusion and heaving of luggages, we got to the main reception and checked in. (PS, if we drove to the new wing, there would be no need to walk in shabby corridors and the new lobby is actually quite decent.) ||||One staff was helpful and even went to collect our car from the old building to park in front of the new building for us. Staff speak no English so we spoke in Japanese. The young lady who checked us in did not look very happy and did not smile at all. However, another lady who gave us a guide of the hotel facilities and led us to our rooms was very nice. She was also present for our breakfast and dinner as a server. ||The room was quite big but old. It was a traditional japanese style room. Someone would come into our room while we had dinner downstairs to make up our futon for us (which alarmed us a bit that they entered without asking). And will put the futon away in the morning for us. They provide tea and little snacks everyday. ||||There was an indoor onsen which includes a bathing area. An outdoor onsen which does not have a shower area. There is also a special sand bath where you are buried till your neck in warm sand to remove impurities from your body. Later, you are required to wash your hair and rinse your body with water but no body soap for at least a few hours. This sand bath requires reservation at the reception and is about 1050yen plus entrance fee of 450yen. ||||Dinner was really good. They were very nice and helpful to accommodate my partner's dietary needs. It will be best if you inform them beforehand. My partner however was a little annoyed with one of the servers who cooked his fish (It was shabu-shabu, so we should have done it ourselves) and broke his rice crackers into the soup when he was looking forward to do it himself. (She seemed to be in a hurry and wanted to get over and done with. Also, because my partner did not understand her, there was some misunderstanding. She might be trying to be helpful? But he did not appreciate her touching his food with her bare hands after cleaning the table next to us.)||||Breakfast for the first day was buffet style but the consecutive days were served as a set. Which seemed like leftovers from the buffet on the first day.||||Overall, we had a great time. The staff were helpful, we had a traditional experience, and the food was overall good. Water from the tap is mineral water from the mountains so it is safe to drink. The water made my...

The room I was assigned to was a Japanese style room. It was quite spacious. It had a TV (I didn t watch anything), a safety box from the Showa Era, a small fridge and 2 tables with their chairs. When I arrived the futon was already laid down. The futon was not that soft nor that fluffy, nor was it uncomfortable. There is a stream right down window. Be ready to have the entire night rocked with the sound of the flowing water. At some point, you will get used to it. The bathroom was very small. Some part of the equipments were broken.

The service was fast especially the check in. There is nothing special to be said about it. It is standard Japanese level service. The food was not too bad nor was it anywhere close to be memorable. You might eat better in a Sukiya.

You do not come to a onsen Hotel to use bathroomsin your bedroom. You come for the public bath. The bathing areas were completely separated. So if you wanted to go to the open air bath, you had to put your clothes back on and walk all the way to the that area. The bathes were large and...

Even though the hotel is located in the highlands very far (not within walking distance) from JR Tazawako Station, with the help of the hotel staff at JR Inn Sapporo JRイン 札幌 where I stayed at from May 7 to 10, she helped me to call KAMENOI HOTEL TAZAWAKO亀の井ホテル 田沢湖 to book the hotel's station pick-up service (complimentary) from JR Tazawako Station (田沢湖駅) but had to wait quite a while as the hotel’s pick-up is only available at 3.30pm.There isn’t much to do around the area which has a lot of abandoned buildings, shops and hotels etc. in a state of akiya.But that doesn’t dampen my mood at all as I get to immerse myself in the traditional Japanese ryokan experience of buffet dinner and breakfast (both were excellent), onsen and wearing the traditional yukata.Although the hotel’s open-air onsen (rotemburo) was temporarily closed due to damage during the winter period, the hotel has partnered with another nearby hotel to allow guests to make use of the other...