Mercure Hida Takayama — Hotel in Takayama

I recently stayed at this hotel during my visit to Takayama and would like to share my experience. Overall, the hotel has its positives, including its close proximity to the JR Takayama Station, spacious and clean rooms, and the availability of an onsen on the 9th floor. However, there were a few aspects of my stay that left me feeling disappointed.Let's start with the positives. The hotel's location is excellent, being only a 3-4 minute walk from the JR Takayama Station. This convenience made it easy for me to explore the city and access transportation options. The room itself was spacious and well-maintained, providing a comfortable environment for my stay.On the 9th floor, there is a free onsen available for guests to enjoy. While the experience was decent, it's important to note that it didn't quite match the expectations of a natural onsen. Unfortunately, the view from the outdoor area was obstructed, and I noticed the presence of some sand in the pool. However, if you've never experienced an onsen before, it might still be worth giving it a try.Now, let's discuss the service aspect, which left me feeling frustrated. Upon check-in, I encountered an inconvenience regarding the breakfast arrangement. I was asked to select a time slot for the breakfast buffet, with options ranging from 6:30 am to 8:15 am or 8:45 am to 10 am. As a frequent visitor to Japan, this approach seemed unusual and not particularly customer-friendly. Besides, the floor of the buffer area was sticky for two consecutive days.To my dismay, the breakfast arrangement on the following day was even more frustrating. I was informed that I could only choose from three available time slots: 6:30 am to 7:30 am, 7:45 am to 8:45 am, or 9:00 am to 10 am. This sudden change was attributed to the hotel's capacity to serve a tour group that had arrived the previous night. Unfortunately, this change was not communicated to me during check-in, as the information sheet provided by the hotel did not mention such arrangements.As someone who values courteous service, I found this unexpected change to be unacceptable. Furthermore, the hotel staff did not display a friendly or apologetic attitude when addressing this issue. Compounding matters, my family and I needed to catch a bus at 8:30 am, forcing us to select the earliest time slot and wake up at 6:15 am to have breakfast. It's worth noting that guests are required to leave the buffet area once their designated time slot is over, and late arrivals are not permitted. This left me feeling angry and disappointed with the overall breakfast arrangement and the hotel staff's...

Not meeting expectations and I’d never recommend this place to anyone (nor come again).

Things that were expected but are not there: No restaurant, contrary to what they claim (dinner is fully sold out, there is no à la carte, and there is no room service; I dined at McDonald’s lol). No luggage sending service; you're invited to use the nearby Family Mart or Post Office, both of which has poor reviews regarding customer service. Not enough front desk staff (I arrived 30 minutes before check-in time, and my room was not ready; when I came back 45 minutes later, there was a line that would take at least half an hour). No body lotion anywhere; I can't remember the last time I was in a hotel that didn’t have body lotion. You get a razor in your room but no shaving cream (and no lotion!). No laundromat; I'm not even sure if there is any laundry service at all. Nothing in the onsen (no razor, lotion, face soap, toothbrush, toothpaste… nothing, only small towels); you get body soap, conditioner, and shampoo in the wet area but not even soap in the dry area; the hotel staff don’t mention that. Expect that someone will steal your slippers in the onsen; the hotel provides no solution to this (shoe lockers or tags with numbers) nor has any spare slippers; I walked barefoot as mine got stolen. Also, breakfast is too crowded despite reservation (this is the hotel's decision on how big they make the restaurant and front desk for how many rooms; I don’t give a pass for rush hours in a 4-star place).

On the bright side: Beautiful, clean, and modern room. Beautiful, clean, and elegant onsen. Good choice at breakfast. Very professional and nice staff with very good English (but ultimately unable to help due to hotel’s policies).

Overall, a nice stay but at a very steep price. It’s really sad that there are so many shortcomings, with some that come across as not being committed to customer satisfaction. This does not befit 4 stars (no restaurant??!) nor the price.

This is my second disappointing stay with Accor branded hotels in Japan. I plan to avoid Accor moving forward as the shortcomings felt of a...

Everything about this place feels premium. We are just 1 night into a 2 night stay and loving it so far.

We felt welcomed as accor elites and were upgraded to a privilege room on level 7, the staff are still a little green and forgot to charge for the second night (I was honest so I went down to pay when I realised I paid too little). The water and cakes are a nice touch (accor silver and gold benefit?).

2 parking stations on the same street, closest for 1,200 yen for 12 hours and the other one a little further up (just past the station) was 1,000 yen for 24 hours, but was full we we arrived. We did what everyone else did and parked opposite the hotel to offload luggage and then park.

Room is big and extremely clean, love the product they give and the bamboo room keys - seems very sustainable. The bed is nice and firm and there are nespresso coffee pods in the room.

With the onsen on level 9, all towels are in the change room, it was snowing when I was bathing which was magical. There are yukata in the rooms.

Breakfast was amazing, everything again felt premium. I loved the Hida beef curry, the local grilled Hida chicken and the freshly shaved parmesan cheese wheel. Everything at breakfast was good. The filter coffee was nice and so we're the pastries. So far I would definitely return.

Second night was fine, breakfast was just as good as the first day, and the onsens were just as quiet as the first night. Ok the second night I parked at the 1,000 yen for 24 hours further up and although water is sprayed on the ground, no one scrapes off the ice from your car (I used a water bottle to do it, as I couldn't find a scraper nearby). When I was trying to get out, no one let me out so I got stuck in ice in the exit, luckily 3 kind locals helped me out - so it you park at the cheaper park, be prepared to exit the parking lot in one fluid movement or risk getting stuck in ice.

We were not able to load luggage at the hotel as they were service vans blocking the parking area. We did the very scummy thing and parked at the restaurant next door and loaded up our luggage there (luckily no one was there as the restaurant...