Hamachidori-no-yu Kaishu — Hotel in Shirahama

Overall, a displeased experience. Front counter short dark skinned guy who was sri Lankan from what I hear was really sarcastic. I remember him responding to me something along the lines of Can you wait? I will get there. Introduction to hotel facilities was just procedural, no hospitality. I can sense some form of racism towards non-Japanese (only from him so far, but he happened to serve me on way too many occasions) the rest of the staff seemed polite..

Funny Quotes from Mr Sri Lanka (Shorter Front Desk - not racist cause there's a tall dark skin guy I never spoke to but may have seemed much nicer) Can you wait? I will get to that. Man, Don't have face wash. We don't give that for man.

Checkin: Carried a bit too much luggage for checkin, from car to checkin was assisted by two amazing ladies, 周 and another. She also helped us when we were quite annoyed with the service. Very good attempt for service recovery. I really did feel slightly happier and was looking forward to an overall better trip.

Checkin to getting to our Room: Mr Sri Lanka indeed saw we had many things on hand. But upon checkin "unintentionally" missed out on that.

Checkout: She was not around during checkout. Lugged 1 huge luggage, 1 small, 3 plastic bags and one duffel bag and small bags and jackets and coats. Me and my partner were obviously struggling. Nobody helped us get our shoes. Guy standing right beside door was using his phone (totally ignored us - this was on 13 January 1040am), dark skin shorter guy was there of course saying good bye but with a pretty sarcastic smile having known we had complained about him (yet again not trying to service recover cause we did highlight that checkin was bad and we received little assistance), 2 people walked past and just said bye in Japanese but could ignore we were struggling.

However, I honestly always see Japanese checking in and out and with full assistance from the staff.

Suspect that there is some racism in services. Their Chinese staff there are commendable and super willing to help but sadly not always around. (Just the generic headcount is really not very useful)

Total Cost: Approximately 90,000 yen a night. (Nightmare cost for such...

I stayed for two days and overall, the atmosphere was wonderful. We had breakfast and dinner on both days—while the food was generally enjoyable, there were some inconsistencies. I was quite satisfied with the signature sashimi boat course, which was a highlight. However, the beef course on the following day was somewhat disappointing. Some dishes were excellent, while others fell short, resulting in noticeable variation in quality.

The staff were very kind and welcoming. Although their English was not perfect, they communicated effectively and made a genuine effort to assist us throughout our stay.

One issue I encountered, as also mentioned in other reviews, was the behavior of some guests. Many of the visitors appeared to be from a particular country, and while most followed the rules and were respectful, there were instances where a few did not. For example, I witnessed someone filming in the public open-air bath and others swimming while wearing yukata, which goes against the etiquette. These situations detracted from the otherwise peaceful and relaxing environment.

This property clearly aims to offer a high-quality stay, and the price reflects that. However, the behavior of fellow guests can significantly impact one’s overall impression. Personally, I value autonomy and freedom, but I also believe that fair enforcement of rules is essential when those boundaries are not respected.

If such disturbances persist, I might reconsider staying here again in the future. I sincerely hope the management will continue working to maintain the peaceful and high-standard atmosphere they are...

I had a good impression upon entering the beautiful garden, and service was fine until I showed my foreign passport and the reception staff immediately switched to broken English... Some of them like to practise, so I don't really mind, but he cut out a bunch of things that other staff were explaining to the people beside me. The worst was he just left me after checking in to bring my own luggage to the room 3 halls away!!! I have never ever had to do that at a hotel, lest a ryokan! ||||The room hadn't aged that well either and really needs an update. The tatami mats were discolored in patches and it didn't feel very clean. The baths were so busy that you'd never be able to get a key to the private ones, and you'd be lucky to even get a washing station at times. The only good thing was that there was a variety of facilities at the onsen, like cold water, hot water for pouring, plum salt etc... The private bath in the room was small, but actually pretty nice, except the view from my bath window was a garden hose. ||||Dinner was a circus show. Lots of kids screaming around and people talking loudly. You had to line up along the stairs to get into the hall at your desired dining time! Food was below average and poor at times because of the quantity that needs to come out. Service was so lacking as a whole, so much that I needed to switch to the other seat because plates weren't cleared and I couldn't access the nabe!||||I enjoyed my other lodging at Shirahama so much better. Look elsewhere if you want a quiet onsen experience with good food...