Country Hotel Takayama — Hotel in Takayama

On September 30th, 2024, we were given a room that had the following list of filthy conditions: -2 spider nests on opposite corners of the room, one with a spider in it -One of the blanket covers had black marks from burnt cigarette ashes -The walls were covered with numerous markings and dirt spots

It was clear that the room had not been properly cleaned for at least several days and indicated that the cleaning staff lack basic hygiene standards, so we contacted the front desk to inform them of these issues.

One of the front desk staff showed up to our room and apologized for the dirty conditions but also said that this is a "lower end hotel", so the cleaning will not be as good as other higher end hotels. We told him that this was not acceptable even for the lowest rated hotels. We then told him to take photos on his camera so he could document these problems but his phone had a terrible camera and it was clear that he wasn’t interested in taking proper photos as he took unfocussed pictures. So, we had to take the photos ourselves of the spiders’ nests and he took a picture with his phone of our photos.

He then said: “So sorry, I am from a worker from Nepal and not Japanese. I will come back in a few minutes.”

He came back with a single replacement blanket and asked if everything was okay now, completely ignoring the fact that we mentioned the issues of the spiders and dirty walls. We explained to him that while we appreciated the new blanket, the issue of the spiders’ nests, the spider, and the dirty walls was a major issue and not an acceptable way to treat customers.

He then left the room for a second time and after a few minutes came back. We told him that we wanted to speak to either the manager or assistant manager but he said that they would be back in two days.

He said to wait a minute and left for a third time from our room and when he finally came back, he simply said “Let’s go to another room” and it was clear that he was told each time by a Japanese staff member to deal with this issue. He kept repeating that he is a foreigner from Nepal, just a worker, and not Japanese. We understand that this was a difficult situation for him as he kept looking at his watch and apologizing repeatedly.

Due to this staff member’s multiple trips to our room, we suspect that he was given instructions from his Japanese staff to deal with this issue as they did not want to deal with it themselves.

This supposedly “better" room was the same size but smelled of heavy smoke and the walls had markings, just like our first room. He said that our original reservation was a smoking room, however we never choose a smoking room in our reservation.

This was besides the point as the main issue was the spider nests and the dirty room conditions. Regardless, this new room was also filthy with stains on the walls and the bed sheets. We told him that this was not a professional way to treat customers and that we wanted to speak to the manager over the phone but he kept saying “No manager”. At this point, we were shocked and frustrated that the staff would treat us like this and to make matters worse, he simply said he had to go and left us in the room. He was clearly trying to brush us off as he knew there was no explanation for these terrible conditions.

We had no choice but to leave the room and head downstairs to ask for a refund. We met the same staff member and a Japanese staff member. The Japanese man was speaking to him in Japanese and told us that he could only give us a refund for the next night’s fee but not today’s. He also said that in order to give us tomorrow’s refund, we first had to give back the two breakfast coupons that we paid for with the reservation. So, we gave the two breakfast coupons back, got the refund for the next night.

This was the worst experience we’ve ever had at a hotel due to the unprofessional staff and severe lack of cleaning standards. A health inspection must be done on Country Hotel Takayama to ensure that the hotel is cleaned and the management are held accountable for...

Country Hotel Takayama is the perfect home away from home in Takayama, Gifu Japan.This hotel is located right across the Nohi Bus Terminal which is right beside to Takayama Train Station. When you get off from the bus, you will immediately see the building. Aside from their perfect location, this hotel also has a KONBINI (are Japanese convenience stores) Family Mart at the ground floor, open 24 hours. Morning markets, Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine, Old Town Street, Hida Kokubunji Temple and Nakabashi bridge are a few tourist location you can easily access by walking (10-15 minutes) from the hotel. ||||I was here last February 24 to 26, 2020. The room is quite spacious for me, got a single room type but I think it can accommodate 2 people in it. I was able to booked it online through Agoda.com for Php 4,024.78, not bad! It has complete basic amenities you can find in a room including a comfy sleeping robe.||||Room is super clean and smells so good. Considering I wrongly booked the smoking type room. The only downside I had about the room was that the heater was broken. It was so hot inside, thanked God it was winter time so I just slightly opened my window. So cold breeze from the outside can get in.||||Overall, Country Hotel Takayama is HIGHLY RECOMMEND aside from their perfect location. Staff are very good, speaks English and really helpful and accommodating. Their Manager helped me booked a taxi who is going to picked me up at the highway on my route to Gujo Hachiman. Because taxis in Gujo Hachiman are booked a day before your arrival and they don’t speak English at all. ||||And If you’re a Filipino, you are most likely going to bumped into one of our kababayan who is working on this hotel. So far, she’s the only Pinoy here and she speaks Bisaya, from Davao City.||||I hope this help post helps you in your future travels to the beautiful City...

The check-in was easy. The price paid was exactly what was quoted on the Expedia reservation. The check-out was very quick, the staff simply gave me the receipt once we gave back the room key. The hotel is really close to Takayama station which is convenient if you plan to take the train a lot. Unfortunately that is it for the positive.

The room was really small for 2 people. Don't expect to leave your luggage open during your stay as there is no room for that. Yes hotel rooms in Japan are on the small side but this is the first room I simply couldn't leave my suitcase open at the least. The bed was rock hard, it was a good thing we were exhausted so we still slept. My bathroom was so small that my wife mentioned that she felt like she was in an airplane bathroom. The shower head is not tiltable. If you start the shower with a good pressure the water would hit the backwall and then flow outside the bath even with the curtain (awkward design).

When you check-in the hotel will give you 1 key. The hotel is still using old fashion physical keys as compared to magnetic keycards that a lot of hotels use now. The hotel asks you to leave the room key at the front desk when you leave for the day, I'm guessing that is to prevent room key loss as they're probably expensive to replace. The problem is that when you come back you go to the front desk to claim your key they simply show you the piece of paper you filled out at check-in and ask if that is your name. You answer yes, you get the key. Basically room security at the hotel is severely lacking.

I would not go back to this hotel for...