Kazeno Kaori

“A Nice, more upscale experience for foreign travelers”

I love this place. Let’s just get that out of the way. Having lived in Japan in the past, I’ve been to a ton of onsen hotels in Japan. Far more than even your typical Nihon-jin, without doubt. But I must say that this place is one of my favorites. It does have one drawback, which I’ll get into late… Plus

I love this place. Let’s just get that out of the way. Having lived in Japan in the past, I’ve been to a ton of onsen hotels in Japan. Far more than even your typical Nihon-jin, without doubt. But I must say that this place is one of my favorites. It does have one drawback, which I’ll get into later, but overall, it’s a nice experience. Located in Shizoka Prefecture, it’s a pretty easy trip from Tokyo. Actually, wifey and I were coming from Osaka at the time, and it wasn’t a problem getting there. Well worth it, for sure. The physical hotel itself is quite large, although there are only nineteen rooms in the entire hotel. During the check-in process you’re brought to a really nice side room, which is basically a café, and you’re given tasty snacks and beverages while filling out the paperwork. The blueberry fruit tart that we had at that time was particularly delicious. The clean and rather slick looking lobby of the hotel, with its soaring windows offering amazing views of the water, has a small gift area, mostly geared toward lady’s beauty products. There’s both an inside and outside ‘fish spa’, which is cool, and also bicycles are available to ride around and explore the area. When we were shown to our room, I have to say I was quite impressed, and you know us jaded native New Yorkers; we don’t impress very easily. But, it was a really nice sized apartment with ample space to relax in. Seriously…I could easily live there indefinitely. The single large bed was firm and comfy. The living room, while a bit small, was really comfy. There’s a pair of binoculars there which you can use to see the beautiful ocean, or aid in watching the many ferry ships going by. There was also a really cool massage chair that we used constantly, and of course there was the onsen out on the balcony. Ah, the onsen. ‘Now you’re talkin.’ We’re all about indulging our onsen fetish, and this place allows you to do just that. The one and only criticism I have about this hotel pertains to the outside onsen. It’s just way too small, NOT just by American standards, but too small period. OK, I’m a 5’10 bodybuilder, weighing in at about 215, so I’d expect a ‘tight squeeze’, but even my very slim 4’11 wife thought it was too small even for her. Given the space utilized outside, they really could have easily accommodated a larger onsen. So, while I did use that onsen often, it wasn’t the most comfortable fit, and definitely not that relaxing. The inside bath is not an onsen, but rather just a wooden styled bath. So, what to do? What’s really cool about this place is that they have their ‘public onsen’ (two of them with different views of the water), which is for the hotel guest, but, you can use it on a private basis! That’s very much a rarity. If they are not being used you can just walk in and have the entire place to yourself. What’s nice is that you don’t have to contend with the normal male/female separate facilities, but you and yours can do the onsen together, which is awesome and a lot of fun. My wife and I used them on a private basis several times, and it was really great. Fantastic! Aside from the fabulous room and onsen indulgences, I’ve got to take a quick moment to comment on the dining experience, which was superb, in every way. Meals are held at their restaurant, and every meal was a lot of fun, in that you have an opportunity to taste a large number of Japanese dishes. When you’re traveling to distant countries, sampling various dishes is certainly a major part of the overall trip experience. You don’t have to like everything, but do give everything a try! Take a look at a few of the pics from various meals, and you’ve got to agree that they look pretty darned delicious! What’s also nice, and very rare, is that the hotel host late night ‘ramen parties’, where you can have different raman dishes for free. A pretty nice touch, indeed. When we weren’t relaxing in our wonderful room, we were on our hotel bicycles exploring the town of Ito. The town itself seems to be something of a seaside tourist spot for Japanese. There’s one shopping area which has all kinds of gifts and interesting food items. That alone was worth the bike ride. In closing, I can honestly report that I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Kozeno Kaori, even though the room onsen was too small. The tiny onsen is the only reason for me not giving 5 stars. In spite of that I can recommend this place, especially so, if you are a foreign traveler. The staff and the hotel were just great. While it was my first time visiting there, I am very sure that it will not be our last. We will return! Hope this review helps.

Moins

“Belle chambre, de la mauvaise situation de l'hôtel”

Nous étions deux adultes. Nous avons passé deux nuits dans cet hôtel. Notre chambre était la chambre japonaise de style fournis avec tapis de tatami. L'emplacement de l'hôtel n'était pas bon du tout, isolé. Il n'y a pas de restaurants ou magasins étaient accessibles à pied. Une voiture ou un taxi é… Plus

Nous étions deux adultes. Nous avons passé deux nuits dans cet hôtel. Notre chambre était la chambre japonaise de style fournis avec tapis de tatami. L'emplacement de l'hôtel n'était pas bon du tout, isolé. Il n'y a pas de restaurants ou magasins étaient accessibles à pied. Une voiture ou un taxi était nécessaire. Le lobby est de petite taille. Le personnel de l'hôtel était chaleureux. Seulement un ou deux employés ne pouvaient communiquer en anglais. La chambre était propre. Nous avons dû demander le petit déjeuner Intercontinental dès que nous sommes arrivés en car seul petit déjeuner style japonais est servi. L'hôtel ne fournit pas le buffet de petit-déjeuner. Le temps de manger le petit déjeuner des clients doit être prévu avec le personnel de l'hôtel la nuit avant, car le restaurant est petite (max nombre de clients qui pourrait être servi et hébergées est à environ 10 à la même heure). Nous avons dû acheter nos pommes, oranges et bananes d'un supermarché comme hôtel n'ont pas eu d' (pour être honnête un personnel de l'hôtel a réussi à me trouver une orange de la cuisine). Le ménage n'a pas nettoyer notre chambre le premier matin parce qu'ils nous ont dit que nous n'avons pas accrocher la propre ma chambre signe, alors quand nous sommes rentrés tard dans la soirée après nous avons fait notre visite, nous avons été choqués. Comme un beau geste de l'hôtel qu'ils nous ont fourni avec un trajet gratuit de la gare. Nous ne reviendrons pas dans cet hôtel sans hésiter.

Moins

“Nice Ryokan”

This time, I’ve chosen this ryokan for me and my 2daugters. I didn’t want to spend many hours traveling , so this location was perfect for us. We’ve took a taxi from Ito station, which was about ¥1000 (USD8). As soon as we arrived, they welcomed us to the small room next to lobby and gave me ¥1000 … Plus

This time, I’ve chosen this ryokan for me and my 2daugters. I didn’t want to spend many hours traveling , so this location was perfect for us. We’ve took a taxi from Ito station, which was about ¥1000 (USD8). As soon as we arrived, they welcomed us to the small room next to lobby and gave me ¥1000 back for my ride....nice ! The room was bit tidy from my past stay at the ryokan, but clean and had nice private outdoor bath at the balcony. We chose a room with bedroom and Japanese style tatami room next to each other. The bath had a tiny tub, so if you are average American MAN, it might be little squishy. But it was ok for 3 girls. View from the room was nice ocean view. We saw a huge rainbow after the rain, it was nice surprise! Dinner was KAISEKI style, had 7-8 small seasonal dishes. Taste was OK. Breakfast was nice. I liked this one better than dinner (sorry) The price comes with all you can drink, which is good if you are drinker. Every drink in your fridge was free too. Oh, they had free RAMEN at the bar from 10pm. What I liked best was “Doctor Fish” which is located next to the front desk. It eats your feet’s dead skin ...sounds gross but it really works ! Overall, I don’t find this Ryokan special nor great. Just about an hour and half train ride from Tokyo makes it attractive. Don’t think we will go back.

Moins