Takayama Ouan Hotel — Hotel in Takayama

I'm judging this as a Dormy Inn property because that's really what it is. It's similar to their Onyado Nono sub-brand of hotels, but it feels like a cheap imitation. I have no idea why the reviews are so high unless it's because tourists are enamored with the Japanese-style rooms.

The Room== The room was old and not properly cleaned. The shower floor was quite dirty, there was a mystery stain on the headboard that looked suspiciously like bodily fluid, and we found an empty condom box on the TV stand.

The air conditioner makes a horrible noise, as others have pointed out in their reviews. There was no proper safe but instead a drawer with a key that you have to take with you and hopefully not lose.

Free coffee was available in the lobby, but there was no coffee in the room. Instead, there were two green tea bags and two tiny teacups (maybe 50 ml?) that didn't really accommodate the tea bags.

The Service== We asked to speak with a male manager and reported the empty condom box mentioned above. We handed it to him, and he simply apologized. He seemed more confused than anything, and didn't offer any compensation for the inconvenience. Something like a free breakfast ticket would've been nice.

Housekeeping doesn't clean the room unless you put the magnetic sign on the door to request it, and no one explained that to us when we checked in. We were surprised when we came back to find that our room had not been tidied and we had to go back to the lobby to request more towels. (They won't bring anything to your room directly. You have to go down and get it yourself.) We later found the explanation of the magnetic sign on a laminated sheet on the coffee table.

At breakfast, one of the cooks (an elderly woman) seemed to become irritated while I was taking some french toast. She started slamming things down and grumbling. I was a bit shocked and forgot to return the spatula to the dish it's meant to sit on, and that made her even angrier. She picked it up from the grill and tossed it onto the dish. I was a bit scared.

The staff seems totally apathetic to the rude behaviour of guests as well, which I'll describe in more detail below. But it seems they don't care if mannerless tourists create chaos and make other guests uncomfortable. We complained about the people in the room above literally running and jumping at midnight, and nothing was resolved.

Facilities and Amenities== The public bath was decent, but there's no privacy from outside eyes. You can stand on the street, look up, and see people walking around the bathing area nude.

Breakfast was good. There was a wide variety of typical Japanese foods, some speciality local foods, and some Western foods. The coffee was quite bad, though.

The Guests==

I always thought it was a bit silly to have those posters in the onsen with illustrations and instructions in four languages about how to properly use the onsen, but I wish this hotel had them. Among other bad behaviors, I saw tourists do the following: wash hand towels in the bath water; enter the water with a towel around their waist; enter the bath without washing; put their head under the water; shout in the bathing area; splash and play in the bath; blow their nose off the balcony; and more.

The waiting area for the private baths is supposed to be a quiet lounge where you can read manga and relax, but it's always packed with tourists treating it like a party room. Today I encountered a family loudly eating ice cream and smacking their lips. The parents did nothing while their two sons passed gas repeatedly and laughed about it.

The rude behaviour doesn't stop there. I was shoved more than once at breakfast by people who don't know how to wait in a queue. At one point I was first in line for the elevator and, when it arrived, a random guest tried to push in front of me to board it first.

Japanese people don't seem to stay here. The vast majority were nightmare tourists with absolutely no knowledge of basic cultural etiquette. If you're a resident of Japan, you're going to get frustrated...

I wanted to experience a ryokan. This place seemed the place. BUT they have implemented the concept of Japanese style living without taking to account that it is foreigners who wish to try out the concept. By this i mean that foreigners are different size wise and that should betaken into account.|1) all furniture is lower than normal. For those with back issues, it is bad. I happen to be one with back problems so it was a killer.|2) there are NO chairs or a-table. So if i wanted to write anything i had to go to 13 th floor. That is nuisance.|3) there is nothing to put your suitcase.on. I had to put on the round small centre low table and balance the other on a small ledge behind the bed.|4) the water tap in the sink is too close to the rim; water spills out of the basin each time. |5) the aircon does not work properly. |6) the light switch for the light by the room door is A FEW INCHES FROM THE GROUND LEVEL. It does not look like a switch either. Had to ask my nephew for where it was. What sort of designer created that ? |7) i found only one plug point near the sink area. Surely they could have one in the bedroom|8) the room light switches are strange. By the bed, one side clicks some, the other side clicks the-rest. So i had to stretch across to switch off some lights.|9) there is no proper reading light and the light near the sink is a joke. You cant see anything clearly in that mirror with that light. |10) i think that they have taken the concept of no shoes too far. Taking them out on entry and then walking around everywhere in thin socks is strange. I used my bedroom slippers after the first day. To wear the shoes, the chairs etc are about 18" off the ground, not normal.|11) the receptionists are very friendly but they should not have trainees answering guest's questions as they dont understand whats needed. Trainees should be trained before going into service.|12)the bed is about 6" off the floor. It felt like a water bed rather a firm mattress. ||The plus point is that its very central and near the bus and train station.|The breakfast has a-really large range and...

I wanted to experience a ryokan. This place seemed the place. BUT they have implemented the concept of Japanese style living without taking to account that it is foreigners who wish to try out the concept. By this i mean that foreigners are different size wise and that should betaken into account.|1) all furniture is lower than normal. For those with back issues, it is bad. I happen to be one with back problems so it was a killer.|2) there are NO chairs or a-table. So if i wanted to write anything i had to go to 13 th floor. That is nuisance.|3) there is nothing to put your suitcase.on. I had to put on the round small centre low table and balance the other on a small ledge behind the bed.|4) the water tap in the sink is too close to the rim; water spills out of the basin each time. |5) the aircon does not work properly. |6) the light switch for the light by the room door is A FEW INCHES FROM THE GROUND LEVEL. It does not look like a switch either. Had to ask my nephew for where it was. What sort of designer created that ? |7) i found only one plug point near the sink area. Surely they could have one in the bedroom|8) the room light switches are strange. By the bed, one side clicks some, the other side clicks the-rest. So i had to stretch across to switch off some lights.|9) there is no proper reading light and the light near the sink is a joke. You cant see anything clearly in that mirror with that light. |10) i think that they have taken the concept of no shoes too far. Taking them out on entry and then walking around everywhere in thin socks is strange. I used my bedroom slippers after the first day. To wear the shoes, the chairs etc are about 18" off the ground, not normal.|11) the receptionists are very friendly but they should not have trainees answering guest's questions as they dont understand whats needed. Trainees should be trained before going into service.|12)the bed is about 6" off the floor. It felt like a water bed rather a firm mattress. ||The plus point is that its very central and near the bus and train station.|The breakfast has a-really large range and...