Livemax Resort Izu Shimoda — Hotel in Shimoda

The location & private onsen were the only positives to this hotel stay. The area is beautiful and fun to explore if you rent a bike for the day!

This hotel however was dirty & uncomfortable. Prepare yourself for stairs because there are no elevators. The room we stayed in had mold behind the tub (the tub was not sealed so the wall behind was getting wet). The shower curtain was moldy. The AC unit was also very dirty & moldy. The bedding was stained & the bed was very uncomfortable. We could hear the TV in the next room & every door closing.

When we went to use the laundry (which we had to pay for & for soap), the laundry room (open to the outside) was overcome by flying ants, mosquitoes, and beetles. It was nearly impossible to wash my clothes while constantly swatting away bugs & unsuccessfully trying to keep them out of the washer & dryer. I complained & when we came back the bugs were gone and the door was closed, but I have no idea why that wasn’t taken care of before we complained.

At the end of our stay, we wanted to forward our large suitcase full of souvenirs to our next hotel. They had us fill out the form, which seemed odd as at the other hotels in Japan, the staff would handle that for us. After filling out the paper, we asked how much it would be, which the staff member answered not to worry about it. We were skeptical, but left anyway. Only to find out he had sent it for “cash on arrival”. So the suitcase was not at our next hotel when we arrived.

Overall I would not recommend this hotel if you’re staying...

Horrible communication job they made.

I was looking for a pet friendly hotel. Hotels.com said they are pet-friendly and Bookings.com said they are not. So I called the hotel. The worker was not able to speak in English but somehow we communicated that they are pet friendly.

So I booked and they called me back, saying that they are not pet friendly. What the heck? Anyhow, I mentioned that they would give me refund so they said ‘Ok desu.’

But they did not.

So I called them again if they can refund. I asked ‘Eigo daijobu desuka?’ And the worker said yes. So I slowly spoke in English to explain my situation.

He just responded me, saying that ‘no eigo’ and he just hung off.

Very...

We spent a wonderful few days here. There was one person in the staff speaking perfectly fine English, but the rest of the staff was also very accommodating. They even translated the buffet tags just for us! As for amenities, there is a private onsen (hot tub) in every room, an optional breakfast +dinner buffet (which I recommend) and a karaoke room you can rent. It was too cold for that but the pool looked good as well. There is a lot of stuff to see nearby since the coast is so beautiful. Lots of beaches as well where you can swim or surf. We really had...