Hana Irodori no Yado Kayuu — Hotel in Taiji

The hotel is at the tip of a peninsula, overlooking the bay and the mainland; it provides spacious parking for those who come by car, and a shuttle service for those who come by train (fixed hours, though).||||Expect to be greeted and checked in by very welcoming staff, speaking varying levels of English; the reception area looks like a mix of many styles (“...why don’t we add one of these to the mix?”).||||The rooms are spacious, decorated in Japanese style (don’t hit your head…); all have sea view, some with a couch for enjoying the view. ||||The beds are comfortable, with good pillows; however, there is no bed light – the switches are at the door. ||||The bathroom is tiny, with a very small bathtub functioning as a shower, too (a bit awkward to step into); unfortunately, there is no hairdryer. The toilet is in theory one of these Japanese ‘super toilets’ but not really functional and thus a normal toilet in the end.||||Due to its location, it is really quiet at night (except for the odd message over the external public announcement system); the curtains do a reasonable job keeping out the daylight, although they do not achieve a completely dark room.||||The (free) WiFi works well in the rooms.||||Breakfast has a mix of menu and set dishes, mixing European (eg croissant, omelette) and Japanese (eg rice, soup); it is accompanied by live (!) piano music (at times a bit too lively for my taste).||||With low occupancy, the on-site restaurant only has set meals (no...

This was one of the weirdest hotel experiences I ever had. Due to some traffic delays we arrived at the hotel an hour later than ecpected at exactly 5 mintes past seven PM. |The hotel restaurant was open with several tables vacant. However, when we asked to be seated we were asked in turn if we had a reservation? When we said no they declined to seat us as we had missed the reservation deadline (which was seven PM). Us pointing to the empty seats was to no avail.|The next morning was even weirder. For Breakfast they only offer a buffet and again we were asked if we had a reservation? When we asked why that was necessary given that it was buffet style with many empty seats we were told " no Breakfast without reservation"!|So we left this hotel hungry....|The room? Was spacious but with a strange Layout. As is customary in Japan you take off your shoes at the entrance (genkan) but the wardrobe is at the other end of the room right next to the window. There was little to store your clothes so despite the large size of the room you basically have to keep everything in your suitcase. |A second night stand (there was only one) would have been nice. |Worst was the tiny size of the toilet exerbaceted by the positioning of the lamp right above the toilet seat (nothing to worry though if you are shorter than 180cm/6").|Opposite the hotel is a stadium where dolphin and (small) whale are held in captivity- shows are being...

I spent 9 days in Japan and wanted to experience the rural areas as well as the metropolitan. It was obvious not many tourists choose this option, as I was the only non-Japanese person for miles around. The hotel staff speak limited English, which was extremely helpful in negotiating public transportation back north.||||What made this stay so, so special was the service. This was my first trip to Japan, and my first stay in a Ryokan. The staff had to show me (yes!) where to take off shoes, how to use Japanese toilets, how to tie my Yukata... hehe. But it gets better....||||I signed up for the all inclusive dinner and breakfast. Here the staff had to tell me what I was eating, and how to eat it. I did't recognize anything except hte rice. So you can see this was quite an experience for me! ||||the views here are just magical. I spent a long morning in the outdoor baths, listening to the surf and feeling the cool ocean breeze on my skin. I then took a long walk along the beach, then headed over to the Whale Museum. It's a great location, and the beauty can't be beat.||||I highly recommend this place, it was great fun for me and I'll...