MIKASA RYOKAN — Local services in Nara

The front-desk staff were the most unfriendly, parsimonious and unhelpful I have ever encountered in 30+ years traveling in Japan.||||For JW Marriott pricing, you get 3 star facilities, in middle of nowhere location, and the most unfriendly front desk staff in Japan.||||Stayed here for 7+ nights and was made to feel unwelcome from nearly Day 1.||||1. There is no laundry or laundry service, so I took shuttle to Nara Station and taxi back (¥2300) to use coin laundry. Asked front desk staff for extra clothing hangars to dry my clothes AND THEY REFUSED! After much squabbling got to borrow TWO extra hangars;||||2. Check out was 12pm. Before 12:18pm (while I was at the Hotel lunch), staff entered my room, opened safe, removed all my belongings, and any items not in my luggage was dumped in an OPEN BASKET, in lobby area for anyone to steal.||||My passport, cash, keys, chargers, ID were literally left in an unsupervised open plastic basket in the lobby guest area because I was 15mins late for checkout (in THEIR banquet hall. Why didn’t they just come and tell me I needed to be gone?).||||Ended up losing a t-shirt and a leather folder. Was glad I didn’t lose my passport or wallet;||||3. Furthermore, I had several empty bags that were thrown away, so asked staff for ONE (1) plastic bag to quickly pack the random small items they haphazardly dumped in the lobby.||||HOTEL REFUSED TO GIVE ME EVEN 1 PLASTIC/PAPER BAG (after they threw MY bags away). I got angry that a $500/night hotel wouldn’t even help me with 1 plastic bag, and they agreed to give me 1 paper bag to use.||||Staff didn’t even look at me when they said “NO”. Just looked straight ahead into distance and said it coldly, before I got angry at their cold parsimony.||||4. There is no food or drink store anywhere nearby (except hotel banquet hall and vending machine) so if you forget to book ahead for food, or miss the strict eating time, you need to order UberEats. Problem is, you WILL BE CHARGED an extra ¥530 entry fee for all vehicles going up mountain. Hotel has vouchers for taxis etc. BUT HOTEL REFUSED to give voucher to UberEats delivery driver, so had to pay ¥530 entry fee + food delivery fee ¥500 for a ¥1300 pizza.||||If you order a taxi yourself, you need pay extra ¥700 for entry up and down mountain on top of the ¥2000+ taxi fee. Hardly worth it. Just stay near the station. Hotel said if THEY CALL taxi they will give a voucher. It’s such a hassle. Why bother?||||5. No luggage storage. You can’t store your luggage at the hotel before or after check-out. You have to bring your luggage to the Hotel’s Information Counter near the station for storage. Weird.||||6. Hotel removes BUT DOES NOT REPLACE towels and bath robe, so if you want to bathe in your room = no towels.||||Note: the hotel is around ¥50000 / USD$400-$500 a night, so it truly boggles my mind that THEY REFUSE TO LEND CLOTHING HANGARS OR GIVE EVEN 1 PLASTIC/PAPER BAG to their guests or even REPLACE TOWELS. And they’ll clear out your room and dump your belongings haphazardly if you run late at checkout.||||The staff made me feel from day 1 they refused to assist or help in anything to make my stay relaxed (manager was kind though; his staff terrible). Sometimes the staff literally stare straight ahead and don’t look at you when they’re talking and telling you “No” to ANYTHING you ask them.||||They’ll EMPTY YOUR ROOM, OPEN THE SAFE AND DUMP YOUR BELONGINGS if you check out

From the moment we arrived at Mikasa in the hills above Nara, we knew that this was going to be a special place to stay. The staff had arrived out front to greet us and assist us with our luggage. Our name was up on the board of arrivals, and after handing over our passports, we were quickly ushered into their main seating area off the lobby for some Ocha and a view of Nara below. My assumption is that they were doing that additional check-in procedures and verifying the room was ready during this time, so it was a nice touch to be able to relax while waiting. ||The ladies in our group were then given their choice of Yukata. For whatever reason, the men's were already in the room. We were then shown the facilities on our way to the rooms and given the information as to how the bathing worked. It was a lot of information to digest, but not unreasonable.||The rooms were larger than expected, with the traditional tatami matting and our own private onsen on the porch. The room had HVAC, which was nice as it was quite chilly outside and it kept the room the perfect temperature. ||Not long after we arrived, it was time for the traditional Japanese dinner. We arrived slightly early to our reserved time but were delighted to find that our own private dining room had already been set up for our dining experience. We could not believe the amount which had already been laid out for us. It was a delightful mix of colors and aromas, and provided a precursor for the several courses which were to follow. The food was amazing. Even when there were dishes that were not to our liking (due to palette, not quality) , we dud enjoy the presentation. Although there was a bell to ring for service, our host always seemed to know when we were finishing and was ready with the next course. It was quite the experience and would recommend to anyone to ensure you get the traditional dining options. ||From there, we retired back to the rooms to get ready for the onsen, which was open for longer hours than expected. I believe they closed at midnight and opened back up at 05:30am. Some opted to get up early to enjoy the relative privacy of an early morning soak before breakfast. ||We again went the traditional route for breakfast, and while it was a bit more adventurous than we were used to, it embraced the mornings offerings of seafood, savory proteins, and intriguing fruits. The quantity of food was comparable to the dinner the previous evening, which is to say, a lot of it. ||After that, it was time to check-out as we had elected for just a 1 night stay, though we would all have liked to stay another night. The best part was, for check-out, they would take you bags and drop them at the Ryokan's information center allowing guests to spend their day in Nara without the hassle of dealing with luggage. Definitely a 5-star touch. Please note that there was some confusion about the location of the info booth as both times we were pointed to different spots on the map, neither of which were correct. The initial welcome email details it most correctly, which is across the street from where the cabs are available and marked by a green sign denoting "Mikasa".||If you are looking for a place to stay in Nara, look no further. You get a truly incredible traditional Japanese experience for a...

From the moment we arrived at Mikasa in the hills above Nara, we knew that this was going to be a special place to stay. The staff had arrived out front to greet us and assist us with our luggage. Our name was up on the board of arrivals, and after handing over our passports, we were quickly ushered into their main seating area off the lobby for some Ocha and a view of Nara below. My assumption is that they were doing that additional check-in procedures and verifying the room was ready during this time, so it was a nice touch to be able to relax while waiting. ||The ladies in our group were then given their choice of Yukata. For whatever reason, the men's were already in the room. We were then shown the facilities on our way to the rooms and given the information as to how the bathing worked. It was a lot of information to digest, but not unreasonable.||The rooms were larger than expected, with the traditional tatami matting and our own private onsen on the porch. The room had HVAC, which was nice as it was quite chilly outside and it kept the room the perfect temperature. ||Not long after we arrived, it was time for the traditional Japanese dinner. We arrived slightly early to our reserved time but were delighted to find that our own private dining room had already been set up for our dining experience. We could not believe the amount which had already been laid out for us. It was a delightful mix of colors and aromas, and provided a precursor for the several courses which were to follow. The food was amazing. Even when there were dishes that were not to our liking (due to palette, not quality) , we dud enjoy the presentation. Although there was a bell to ring for service, our host always seemed to know when we were finishing and was ready with the next course. It was quite the experience and would recommend to anyone to ensure you get the traditional dining options. ||From there, we retired back to the rooms to get ready for the onsen, which was open for longer hours than expected. I believe they closed at midnight and opened back up at 05:30am. Some opted to get up early to enjoy the relative privacy of an early morning soak before breakfast. ||We again went the traditional route for breakfast, and while it was a bit more adventurous than we were used to, it embraced the mornings offerings of seafood, savory proteins, and intriguing fruits. The quantity of food was comparable to the dinner the previous evening, which is to say, a lot of it. ||After that, it was time to check-out as we had elected for just a 1 night stay, though we would all have liked to stay another night. The best part was, for check-out, they would take you bags and drop them at the Ryokan's information center allowing guests to spend their day in Nara without the hassle of dealing with luggage. Definitely a 5-star touch. Please note that there was some confusion about the location of the info booth as both times we were pointed to different spots on the map, neither of which were correct. The initial welcome email details it most correctly, which is across the street from where the cabs are available and marked by a green sign denoting "Mikasa".||If you are looking for a place to stay in Nara, look no further. You get a truly incredible traditional Japanese experience for a...