Hoshino Resorts Kai Sengokuhara

“If you’re a foodie… this isn’t one to miss!”

A truly memorable short stay n Hakone. A great location for jumping on a bus on the Hakone loop… 15 / 20 mins (inc the walk from the hotel) and you are at the terminus for the Rope way and the Pirate boat trip across the lake. The accommodation (with just 16 rooms) just oozes quality and tranquili… more

A truly memorable short stay n Hakone. A great location for jumping on a bus on the Hakone loop… 15 / 20 mins (inc the walk from the hotel) and you are at the terminus for the Rope way and the Pirate boat trip across the lake. The accommodation (with just 16 rooms) just oozes quality and tranquility with every room having its own private balcony with hot bath to soak in. Beds, whilst traditional, are so comfy! Now… for the main event! The food…. OMG what a truly amazing experience… breakfast and dinner… and whilst super quality and beautifully (and privately) served in your own booth have a total quantity to blow even the biggest eaters! Wonderful service and to close… I’m not sure where a couple of the ridiculous reviews have come from but they are obviously either an error or are trying it on…. Try for yourself - you won’t be disappointed. Huge thank you to the staff for such a wonderful experience this week.

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“Staff / Restaurant experience - exceptional. Rooms - a little less so.”

I have decided to split my review into separate sections, dealing with the public areas, accommodation, and staff / food offering, as we found them to be slightly disparate experiences, especially the rooms. BEDROOMS; To set the scene…….We were warmly welcomed by two members of staff one of whom … more

I have decided to split my review into separate sections, dealing with the public areas, accommodation, and staff / food offering, as we found them to be slightly disparate experiences, especially the rooms. BEDROOMS; To set the scene…….We were warmly welcomed by two members of staff one of whom led us through the very calm lower entrance areas, up the escalator and into the tranquil reception. After a few minutes of ‘admin’ work whilst we were (fairly) comfortably seated, we were taken to our room (206). First impressions were ones of, serenity, space and quality. Everything was explained to us in detail which was great. One thing to note is that communication is sometimes a little strained as the staff don’t have very much English, and why should they! It’s like a Japanese person turning up in The Yorkshire Dales and expecting the staff to speak Japanese. In fact this slight discord only serves to reinforce that you’re now in ‘proper’ Japan. And there’s always Google translate! On closer inspection however, it becomes apparent that the rooms require a little TLC. The issues we witnessed were; dirt on the ends of the balcony roof struts, what appeared to be red wine stains on the floor matting, a badly repainted ceiling where there’s been some water damage at some point, unclean sink around the plug outlet, poorly cleaned glass in the shower / Onsen area, corroded shower controls, green mould in the Onsen and some strange growth on one of the vents in the Onsen (see photos). For a hotel charging the amount they do, this really lets down the overall impression. PUBLIC AREAS (excluding public Onsen which we didn’t use): This is, thankfully, a completely different story and it’s almost like a completely different management oversees these areas. These areas are spotless and very ‘modern Ryokan’ in style. The restaurant continues the Zen feel with the semi private areas providing a calm, comparatively secluded dining / breakfast experience. We stayed 3 nights and were seated in different areas for breakfast and dinner each time which was a nice touch. RESTAURANT EXPERIENCE: Service in the restaurant is sublime, even by our first night server for whom it was one of her first nights. You are presented with a menu which has around 20 items on it which left us (and other guests judging by overheard conversations) wondering whether we had to choose options…..but NO! It’s everything on there! Each course is served and present with rigorous attention to detail on beautiful crockery and serving dishes. On each of the three nights a different menu is presented offering, for us Japan first-timers, some amazing neverbefore experienced textures and flavours some of which were nothing short of mindblowing. Your server seems to appear (Mr Benn like for those of you old enough to remember) exactly on time at the end of each course to clear and bring you further culinary delights. One tip - if you want a bottle of wine from the limited but excellent list, ask them to chill it half an hour before your 5.30 or 7.30 sitting. Please wear the traditional Japanese garments (apologies, I’ve forgotten their names) provided for your evening meal at least, as most people do and it really adds to the immersive experience. With regards to breakfast, on the first morning we opted for the Western style rather than Japanese option but, after delighting in the Japanese food on the first evening and in consideration of the fact that the Western option really isn’t very (Western), we changed our request and went full-on Japanese. This was just as good as the evening meal and we’d thoroughly recommend going for this option. So, as you can see, a tale of two halves really. Having spent nearly 40 years in the Design and Construction industry, I can tell when a company should be investing in an upgrade and, from our experience, this is overdue at this Kai property.

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“Spotless rooms, great food and helpful staff”

Beautiful room and facilities, the mealtimes are made very special by the attentive staff and the food is good. The meals are incredibly generous in size! We found staff to be friendly and most spoke a good level of conversational English which was really helpful. The room and onsen was spotless a… more

Beautiful room and facilities, the mealtimes are made very special by the attentive staff and the food is good. The meals are incredibly generous in size! We found staff to be friendly and most spoke a good level of conversational English which was really helpful. The room and onsen was spotless and the beds really comfortable. We found it easy to get around Hakone via the local bus and other modes of transport. The staff provided us with a timetable and directions to the correct stop If you have mobility issues the short walk to the bus stop is steep. My only criticism is that we were offered a taxi but then told there are no taxis and to get the bus to the station - fine by us but if we had a lot of luggage I think that would have been pretty stressful. Overall a great stay and I would definitely stay again!

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“Underwhelming, uninviting stay”

We stayed at Hoshinoya Tokyo previously and had a remarkable time, so we expected Sengokuhara to deliver a somewhat similar experience. Unfortunately, it fell far short. From the start, the check-in process was terrible. When we arrived, there was no one at the front entrance to greet us, we weren… more

We stayed at Hoshinoya Tokyo previously and had a remarkable time, so we expected Sengokuhara to deliver a somewhat similar experience. Unfortunately, it fell far short. From the start, the check-in process was terrible. When we arrived, there was no one at the front entrance to greet us, we weren’t even sure if the hotel was open. To reach the main lobby, you need to take a long set of escalators that feel more industrial than welcoming. With no staff to assist, we had to haul our luggage, stroller, and bags ourselves. Since there are no elevators leading up to the lobby, this location is not friendly for families with small children or anyone with mobility challenges. Check-in itself was unnecessarily long, which set the tone for the rest of our stay. The resort felt oddly empty, we only saw about 5–6 other guests the entire time, making the atmosphere more minimal and borderline eerie. And because the resort is small, there simply weren’t enough staff to properly accommodate guests. For example, our group of 8 had booked three rooms and wanted to schedule massages, but only three of us could be accommodated. The onsen was the biggest disappointment. We came to Hakone expecting a private onsen experience, but what we found were just two bathtubs side by side and a small outdoor tub. If you’re seeking a memorable onsen experience, this is not the place. Dining was another letdown. Both breakfast and dinner were the least enjoyable meals of our trip in Japan, uninspired and lacking the quality we had expected from a Hoshino property. On the positive side, the rooms were comfortable and well stocked with amenities. The hotel thoughtfully provided a traditional Japanese outfit for our toddler, which was a nice touch. Overall, while the rooms were decent, the lack of hospitality, disappointing onsen, limited services, and poor dining left us with an underwhelming impression. Compared to Hoshinoya Tokyo, KAI Sengokuhara was a major disappointment and not an experience we’d recommend.

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