Hoshino Resorts KAI Hakone

The stay is very comfortable and the ambience is excellent with the great decoration.

This is truly one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed at. The location is amazing, right next to a river and all the rooms face it. The onsen are open on one side and also face the river. The staff are all brilliant - kind and helpful. The food was out of this world. I can’t wait to go back to this hotel. It’s expensive but worth every penny!!

I expected basic courtesy, clear communication and reasonable assistance. Instead, we encountered dismissive responses and a repeated focus on rules and charges without adequate consideration of the circumstances. 1. A pregnant guest was left without childcare assistance A pregnant member of our party was accompanied to dinner by her nanny to assist with feeding her child. Because the child has fever. So she asked nanny to help to accompanied her child. The nanny was not requesting a meal or an overnight stay. We were seated in a private dining room with sufficient seating, yet staff instructed the nanny to leave because the dining arrangement covered only five adults and two children. This left the pregnant guest without the assistance she needed. If accompanying caregivers were not permitted, the restriction should have been communicated respectfully and with consideration for the situation. No practical alternative was offered. 2. Inadequate dietary information and dismissive treatment We booked through Agoda and did not know the dinner menu in advance. At check-in, no one asked about my dietary restrictions or advised me that the relevant course contained beef. The menu presented at dinner did not identify the type of meat. My Agoda confirmation also did not mention a five-day deadline for dietary requests. When I asked about the meat and explained that I did not eat beef, the initial response was that I should simply omit the course, despite having paid for the full kaiseki dinner. Our request to speak to a manager was initially discouraged on the basis that the answer would be the same. When the manager attended, she attributed the situation to my failure to email more than five days in advance. She stated that raising the matter at check-in would not have helped and directed me to Agoda because we had booked through that platform. I recognise that meal adjustments may require advance preparation. My principal concern is how your staff treated us. A preparation requirement does not justify dismissive communication or treating a paying guest’s concern as an inconvenience. Fish was eventually provided after repeated requests. Staff initially warned of a very long wait and could not give an estimate, before stating that it would take 15 minutes. I agreed to wait and received seven slices of sashimi. Staff then asked me not to inform other guests. This was an uncomfortable and unprofessional way to handle the matter. 3. Poor communication during meal service Three trays of beef were served without explaining that they were intended for four guests to share. Three guests understood them to be individual portions within their kaiseki sets. Only after we enquired about the remaining portion did the manager explain that each guest was supposed to take four pieces from the trays already served. By then, one guest had been left without their beef course. The children were served rice, furikake and seaweed soup, without a meat or other protein dish. Our request to purchase additional food for them was declined. 4. Lack of compassion when members of our group became unwell After dinner, rapid tests indicated that one child and one nanny had influenza A. Our group included two children (2 years old) and a pregnant guest. Our immediate priority was to separate those who were unwell, arrange further testing and reduce the risk to everyone else. We had booked separate accommodation for both nannies approximately four months in advance. Their temporary presence at the property was not an attempt to obtain an unpaid overnight stay. The unwell nanny had been resting in one of our rooms since approximately 3 p.m.; the positive test results became known only after dinner. We had only one vehicle. Our driver had returned to purchase additional test kits for the other nanny and the pregnant guest, so transport to the nannies’ accommodation was not immediately available. We asked for futon bedding to be moved into the room alre