SHIRAHAMA KEY TERRACE HOTEL SEAMORE — Hotel in Shirahama

I write this review has a hotel owner / operator.

This hotel employs practices with booking.com and Expedia that I find somewhere between purposefully ignorant, and downright predatory, and likely violate the supplier terms of service (I will be asking my market manager to review).

I am specifically referring to the fact that for our booking, we could not add children on booking.com, even though the room type said it could accomodate them. We tried to book direct, but their own booking website was impossibly to use in English. When we called to ask about this, they said not to worry, and the children could be added when we arrived. We expected a modest / small charge per child to cover their relatively low quality breakfast / dinner buffet. The value of the breakfast / dinner buffet certainly does not exceed 5000 yen per day.

What were met with instead was a charge of 29,000 yen, per night for a 13 year child, staying in the same room. Mind you, the cost of the room for two adults was about 75,000 yen. We observed two other families experiencing his same frustration, and staff confirmed this is a daily occurrence / frustration.

I don't believe there is ever a good reason not to be transparent with pricing when offering a room. Had the additional charge for children been disclosed, we would have certainly stayed somewhere else, and maybe considered day use of their facilities.

I see for future dates, children can be added, and at a reasonable price. Maybe this was a misconfiguration, or even a misunderstanding on our part, but in that case, we would have hoped to have been offered a price for our children that was on par with the price difference we saw for future dates. As an operator, the only reason I can imagine not to be transparent is to avoid contracted commissions on additional guests, or take advantage of guests that have already arrived and are unwilling / unable to find alternative accommodations after a long day of traveling.

All of his said, despite feeling taken advantage of economically, my children did genuinely enjoy the property. Despite the mediocre food, the children's facilities, pool and osnen were quite enjoyable. However, it is hard to truly enjoy amenities, even nice ones, when an experience starts with feeling cheated.

I am attaching photos which show that for a future date, the cost difference of a room only option, and including two meals for a family of 4 is only 16,000 yen per night. The fact that we already paid for meals for the two adults, and were asked to pay an additional 29,000 yen per night for a child is absolutely outrageous, and left me in a position where I could not genuinely enjoy and otherwise decent product.

If the property would like to rectify this situation, our booking number with booking.com was 4803317866 and we would welcome a response...

We booked a twin room with a partial ocean view, but upon entering, we were immediately disappointed and disgusted. The room was at the very end of the building, with a view that was mostly a wall and a small window overlooking a parking lot. You could only see a tiny bit of the ocean if you stood right next to the window.The sofa was filthy, the room looked extremely run-down, and the bathroom layout was bizarre, with half the sink blocked by a wall, making it very uncomfortable to use. Dust was visible in every corner, adding to the neglected and dated feel of the space.After complaining, the staff initially asked us to pay for an upgrade to a sea-view room. Following further discussions, they agreed to charge us only half the upgrade fee, which I feel should not have been charged at all given the state of the original room. Since it was late at night, we accepted the offer.The new room had an incredible view, which was its only redeeming feature, but it still looked as run-down as the rest of the hotel.The included breakfast and dinner buffet were major disappointments. Both meals were exactly the same every single day, with no effort to introduce variety. Breakfast, in particular, was subpar: the pastries were rock-hard and completely inedible, and despite there being many options, the quality was so low that I could barely fill one-third of my plate. This should give you an idea of how bad the food was. The few items I did try were tasteless or overly processed.Dinner was only slightly better, with more substantial offerings, but the lack of variety made it boring after the first night. Many dishes felt reheated and lacked any freshness or creativity. Overall, the food quality was far below the standard you’d expect from a property claiming to be a resort.The onsen was another disappointment, feeling more rustic and dirty than relaxing, with an unkempt appearance that did not inspire confidence in its cleanliness.This hotel seems to have been left untouched for decades, resembling an old resort-style property catering to tourists with little regard for quality or local charm. During our trip, we stayed at other local onsen hotels in different cities, which provided much more enjoyable and authentic experiences.The only highlights were the stunning views and the incredibly kind staff, especially Shanti and Wang, who were apologetic and did their best to accommodate us despite the hotel’s many shortcomings.In summary, while the staff and the views were wonderful, the property itself desperately needs renovation, and the overall experience left much to be desired. The repetitive, low-quality meals and lack of upkeep made this a stay I would not recommend unless you prioritize the view...

What sold me to book this hotel is their onsen facility and I was not disappointed. First of all, before you go into the gender separate bath area, you will see a shampoo bar section where you can pick your own shampoo/conditioner to your liking (even inside the bath area they have 2 kinds of shampoo/shower gel already). Once you get through the changing room (small lockers also available for your valuable items), you will arrive at the top level of hot spring, Right the way, you can see the 2-storey high window overlooking to the ocean. When you walk down the stairs to the lower level, there are 3 pools and a huge bath stalls area. On this level, you can also find a dry sauna and hot stone room for you to sweat out and release toxins from your body. The best part is when you walk through the screen door and down a flight of stairs to their outdoor onsen, which is built on the cliff right next to the ocean. It's just so relaxing to soak in the onsen water overlooking into the ocean!||||The dinner that came with my room package is Japanese semi-Kaiseki style, with one hot dish cooked in front of you and the rest is set up and ready for you as you sit down. I find the food quality very high and service was good also. The morning breakfast is served at the main cafe restaurant buffet style. The food is more catered to Japanese taste bud, with some basic western items like eggs and sausage. I was slightly underwhelmed comparing this with the dinner.||||The only slight (very slight) complaint I have is the room. I was given a non-renovated room where I think every piece of furniture looks to be at least 30 years old, with chips and stains to show. However, the bed was comfortable and the sea view was nice. I was able to get a very good deal perhaps low season, so I would not deduct any marks because of this. But if you are paying rate, I would try to get some confirmation that you are getting a renovated room.||||By the way, they also provide free shuttle bus pick up 3 times per day from the train station. You can check their website...