湯布院温泉 すみか — Hotel in Yufu

Kinda strange experience with this hotel. I was initially sent around seven questions (in Japanese and they are applicable mainly to non Japanese) and the email threatened to cancel if I do not answer by the following day. I did my best to answer but left out question 3 which required me to write down the exact full names of the people who are staying, each of our home addresses and passport number.

Now, these are quite sensitive personal data and I do not have my friends' details readily on hand and even if I do I'm hesitant to share them to some place I've not even been to yet. I mentioned that we will hand them the passport and write down the details when we check in (a common procedure that is required by Japanese laws) but then another email came in saying that they want me to fill in the details of question 3 again and if I fail to reply by today (note that the deadline has changed) it will be cancelled. I suggested that they cancel it anyway as I don't think I would want to comply.

I am a frequent traveller in Japan and this is the first time I'm being asked so forcefully and kinda rudely so am giving it one star because of how unreasonable the demands seem to be and also I don't like such threats. I would imagine that the owner would at least be kind enough to explain rather than to keep insisting. Anyway, it does look beautiful so it is a shame but for those who are still keen, please refer to the questions below (not sure if they do provide in English but their first email to me, as a foreigner, was in Japanese).

海外の方は以下の質問に対するご回答をお願いします。明日までに以下の質問に対するご回答ご返信が無い場合は大変申し訳ございませんが、ご予約はお取消しさせて頂きます。 質問(1)貴方もご宿泊者のひとりですか？それとも代理の予約ですか？ 質問(2)ご宿泊者の男女構成をお教え下さい。（男性何名様？女性何名様？） 質問(3)ご宿泊者全員のお名前と正確なご住所、パスポート番号をご記入下さい。 質問(4)日本語が理解できる方はいますか？ 質問(5)...

Sumika is an incredibly well maintained onsen in Yufuin! The spaces are beautiful and we stayed in a private villa (called Oku no in) a short walk from the main building that had a private bath attached to the room. Everything is brand new and gorgeous and the staff were very kind and welcoming. ||I’ve read the bad reviews on this page and here are my two cents after having actually stayed here- all of the bad reviews are written by people who got their reservations cancelled on by the staff for various reasons and therefore never actually stayed here. The staff are very serious about not having ANY smokers stay in their new space (understandable) and also in true Japanese style, require someone to speak Japanese so they are not welcoming to tourists (again, this is their space so I think they’re entitled to dictate these requests). ||I understand the frustration and shock of dealing with such choosy staff, but that’s only because they aren’t all about bringing money in. They want all of their guests to have the best experience in the best space and not be bothered by loud groups or smokers, so they are picky about who they accept. ||Just be respectful and don’t expect to get your reservation accepted if no one in your party speaks Japanese. It’ll be very hard to communicate with the staff otherwise anyway! ||All in all, I couldn’t ask for more from the great food or relaxing...

The hotel will cancel your reservation for no reason!!!||I booked this hotel via Rakuten Travel which is a well known and credible website in Japan. I used this website to book hotels in Japan for years! This is my first time to encounter this situation.||I got an email from the hotel next day morning, simply saying that they've cancelled my reservation because the rooms can only be booked in person and they could not reach me by mobile (which I left in my Rakuten membership account years ago.)||When I book the hotel, I'm 100% sure I provided my mobile phone number that I am currently using, but they didn't contact me via the current phone number I provided.||||I replied their email and tried to explain I DID make that reservation "IN PERSON" and since I no longer live in Japan, I don't use that old mobile phone anymore. I also said that I'm surprised that they cancelled my reservation without trying contact me by email. I asked them if I could make a reservation again? ||||Then, the hotel just replied to me in one line: We know you've provided your email address and we cancelled your reservation after informed you by eamil.||||That's all!!!||||They didn't even let me know if I can re-book the hotel. Such an arrogant hotel, never ever seen such a thing like this in my life before!||||||長年楽天トラベルを利用してますが、はじめてこんなことに遭いました。||楽天で予約した翌日朝、ホテルからEメールが届きました。||「代理予約不可、連絡不可の為、ご予約はお取消しさせて頂きます。注意事項等を改めてご確認下さい。」と書いてあった。||||すごくショックだった！||確かに私本人が泊まりしたいのに、確かに私本人が予約したのに、今使っている携帯番号もちゃんと書いてあったのに...||メールのやりとりも一切なし、一方的にキャンセルされた。||||そのメールを見たら、私が早速返事しました。||||代理予約ではなくて、本当に私本人の予約です。||それから、もう日本に住んでいないため、何年前楽天で登録した携帯番号も使っていませんが、予約する時、ちゃんと今使っている携帯番号を書いてあるはずです。その電話で連絡してください。すみかさんがEメールで連絡せず、直接キャンセルなって、本当にショックです...などなどのことを説明しました。||最後に、もう一度予約することができますかと聞きました。||||偉い偉い由布院温泉すみかからのご返事はこの一行だけ：||貴方様からの本メールにも記載されていますが、、2018-03-01にEメールでご連絡の後、キャンセルさせて頂きました。||||私は日本時間3/1午前零時半ぐらい楽天トラベルで予約しました。||すみかは3/1午前十時半ぐらいメールが届き、十一時ぐらい予約をキャンセルされました。||||それは何の連絡？ダダのキャンセルのお知らせだけなんじゃない？||それに、ただの半日だけでお客の予約をキャンされたなんて、本当にちゃんと連絡したい気持ちが全然感じられません！||||キャンセル理由を説明してくれますか？と私返事しましたが、一切返事が返ってきません.............||||対応が信じられないくらい最悪です！||||第一次在網上寫負評，但我真的覺得這旅館太過惡劣了。因為日本樂天旅遊網站的機制是必須要入住過後才能寫評價（難怪他們可以保有那麼高評價）我找不到申訴管道，只能在這裡留言，希望大家注意。我不知道他們是否排拒外國人入住，我真希望他們一開始就註明不接受外國人才不會浪費彼此的時間。他的訂房規則只曖昧寫著外國人若是不能充分理解旅館規則他們會把預定取消。我曾在日本住過一陣子，日文溝通絕對不成問題。日本樂天旅遊網站也是我長年使用的訂房網站，第一次遇到這種事．．．||||因為看它們在樂天的評價不錯就預訂了，隔天一早卻收到他們的取消信說：因為不可以幫人代訂、還有電話聯絡不到所以取消了我的預定。||||我覺得非常吃驚，這是什麼理由？因為我的確是本人要入住，而且預定時我也留有我現在使用的手機，他們沒有連絡我現在用的手機，反而只打了我許多年前申請樂天帳號時留的日本手機。||||想說是否有什麼誤會，趕緊回信給他們表明真的是我本人要入住，還有他們聯絡的手機是我註冊樂天帳號之初填寫的手機，現在不住在日本已經沒在用那支手機了。||順便又再留了一次我現在使用的手機給他們，問他們是否還能再預定？||內文我提到了我覺得很不可思議他們居然沒嘗試用email聯絡我，就直接取消了我的預定。||結果，收到他們的回信，只有短短一行：沒錯，你有登記email信箱，但我們也是在email跟你聯絡過後才取消你的預定的。||||什麼跟什麼．．．這算聯絡嗎？email內容只有「我取消了你的預訂」這叫做聯絡？||查了一下紀錄，我是在日本時間3/1...