Kagariya

“Eastern Hokkaido Base”

I'm surprised this hotel hasn't been reviewed on TripAddvisor in 6 years, but we had a lovely 3-night experience at Kagariya. Highlights: 1) Food. We had breakfast and dinner included in our stay. Everything was fresh and in nice quantities. Highlights include the local Abishiri milk (it must have… more

I'm surprised this hotel hasn't been reviewed on TripAddvisor in 6 years, but we had a lovely 3-night experience at Kagariya. Highlights: 1) Food. We had breakfast and dinner included in our stay. Everything was fresh and in nice quantities. Highlights include the local Abishiri milk (it must have come from the cow that morning), corn tempura (seemingly very local), snow crab, and abalone. 2) Service / hospitality. We felt incredibly welcome by the entire staff. From check-in to service at breakfast and dinner, we felt well taken care of. The hotel front desk gave us band-aids when we needed it, helped re-stock the towels for the onsen, etc. 3) Proximity. We rented a car and drove to Shiretoko National Park (1.5 hours). It was a straight-shot and such an easy day trip. We also took a day trip to Lake Akan / Akan National Park, which was the same distance. 4) Onsen. We had the onsen to ourselves every time. It was one pool that was quite hot. Hours were not an issue. I wish we had more products (e.g., lotion) but otherwise we felt like it was fine experience with a nice view of the lake. We recognize this isn't a five-star hotel by any means, but we had a lovely time and it was a great base to explore eastern Hokkaido. Highly recommend if you want to explore Shiretoko or Akan and have good value for your money.

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“Culinary Delight!”

I’ve read reviews that this ryokan is famous for its food, and boy did it not disappoint! It was the first of the three ryokans we stayed this trip, and we knew we were in the off season and wouldn’t have much to see in terms of scenery. We opted for the meal upgrade, and had a fantastic spread, … more

I’ve read reviews that this ryokan is famous for its food, and boy did it not disappoint! It was the first of the three ryokans we stayed this trip, and we knew we were in the off season and wouldn’t have much to see in terms of scenery. We opted for the meal upgrade, and had a fantastic spread, which included the standard kaiseki meal with the addition of the seasonal kinki fish done two ways! The Onsen is basic, which is essentially a warm water pool. The rooms also had the basic facilities. The toilets are small, which is expected in the traditional ryokan hotel as all showering is usually done at the Onsen itself. The ragwort flourishes in front of the hotel in Autumn, as pictures would prove it. In our little morning walk to the lake front, we saw two white tailed eagles, and there were whooper swans in the lake, which was certainly a plus given we were expecting not to see any thing at all.

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“Three for the room, five for the meals”

A traditional old inn set beside a frozen lake at the time we visited so quite atmospheric The inn was quaint and our room was large with western bed in one section and traditional sitting area in second section, but reeked of stale smoke. Most off-putting for people who don't like to smoke and h… more

A traditional old inn set beside a frozen lake at the time we visited so quite atmospheric The inn was quaint and our room was large with western bed in one section and traditional sitting area in second section, but reeked of stale smoke. Most off-putting for people who don't like to smoke and have to put up with the smell of smoke all night long. It was not pleasant coming in from the nice cool refreshing snow air to the warm smell of stale tobacco smell. But I have noticed that traditional Ryokans allow smoking. If it weren't for the lovely welcoming staff and the delicious seafood meal, it would have been hard to put up with the tobacco smell and I would have had to rate it less. The sashimi was so fresh and clean tasting. Hairy crab, prawn, deep fried Kinki fish, squid, clams - almost every seafood you can think of. Onsen was okay down in basement level. Better than the mass tourist onsen hotels. So worth a stay for the kaiseki dinner, the fantastic breakfast, the really lovely staff and the winter setting watching a fox foraging on the frozen lake was memorable as was the large room for all the wrong reasons - the smell of stale tobacco.

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“4* because of the food”

We stayed here on the first night of our Eastern Hokkaido Trip. Reality doesn't match what we saw online. From the outside the hotel looks old and in need of a make-over. Even the much emphasized Lake Notoro seems quite a distance away. To make it a "not a good start" for us, a mistake was made by … more

We stayed here on the first night of our Eastern Hokkaido Trip. Reality doesn't match what we saw online. From the outside the hotel looks old and in need of a make-over. Even the much emphasized Lake Notoro seems quite a distance away. To make it a "not a good start" for us, a mistake was made by the check-in staff. She had shown us to a room & 30 min later while I was unpacking & making some changes to our bags, she came to tell us that we were in the wrong room! Our room was one that is a few doors away and we had to unceremoniously grabbed our bags & belongings to the other room. Upon entering the room I sensed stale smoke & told her that we had specified a non-smoking room in our booking. She apologised but said that that room was assigned for us & it was their last room! Couldn't believe it as we made our booking through the travel agent some 3 months ago! Both rooms look to me about the same except the size of the first one is a wee bit bigger. Dinner was a different matter. The wait staff although non English speaking, was very polite and friendly. She explained with hand gestures about what was laid out on the table and what else we can help ourselves to at the side counters. She really tried her best to serve us. Food was great and what a spread it was. We just couldn't eat all the food served. Breakfast was just as good. So because of the quality of the food and also the service rendered by the wait staff at both dinner & breakfast, I made it a 4* rating.

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