Name: Kawane Onsen Hotel
Address: 195-1, Sasamado, Kawane-cho, Shimada city, Shizuoka 428-0101, Japan, Shimada, Shimada, Shimada, Shimada, 428-0101, Japan
Rating: 8

Shopping on site

General

Non-smoking rooms

Fridge

Cable TV

Hairdryer

Rooms

Laundry

Wake-up service

Telephone

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Restaurant

Vending machine

Meals

Karaoke

Recreation

Free parking

Parking

Outdoor pool

Pool and beach

Baths

Massage

Sauna

Beauty and wellness

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Shizuoka Airport

Kawane Onsen Hotel

Shimada

My friend booking this hotel for me since I don't know the area. When I arrive, the staff trying their best to communicate with me in english. What makes me in amaze is that they also printed the menu in english, also with the sign of allergies and pork (my friend tell them that I do not eat pork) so I know which food I need to avoid and they give their advices about the food there. The food is delicious, I had dinner and breakfast there and all of them is very tasty....
the other things that I would recommend is their onsen. they have indoor and outdoor onsen. and after a great onsen, I try their relaxing chair and ice cream. its really impressive and I really like their hospitality and everything is clean.

would like to come here again someday!

Basic , neat, clean hotel, with an average buffet style restaurant ( chocolate fountain is the best). Japanese style rooms are much more spacious than the western style ones. Go for it if you don't mind sleeping on the " floor".  You have to request a room with view on the river. I did enjoy the rooftop where you can sit and relax.

Simple and peaceful

The hotel looks forbidding from the outside. It is quite new, sitting next to public hot springs footbaths and building, with a couple of interesting shops nearby (about the only shops you'll see here.)
The rooms facing the road are less inspiring, although the road itself is not a busy one.
The feeling we had was just "neutral". The rooms are quite large, with a balcony - wonderful view of the river and mountains. (Note: if the occupants of the room next to yours have their balcony door open, you'll be able to hear their conversations plainly. In fact, there was some noise from our neighbours through the walls at night.)
Immaculately clean, fully equipped (including a hair-dryer). Quite a comfortable bed, but for personal preference the pillows were too soft.
Drinks vending machines in a recess near the lift. (Hope you like Sapporo - the only choice - it's too sweet for me, I'm afraid...)
Masses of information - all in Japanese.
(Stairs from the 4th floor to the roof terrace - a few loungers and benches - that's all. But great view!)

The onsen facilities are well organised, super-clean: separate bathing for men and women. No mixed bathing.  The water gives your skin a silky smooth feel. Two pools - the outdoor one set at 38 degrees, the indoor one at 41. A small sauna, set at 90 degrees.

The staff were friendly enough, but only one of them understood and spoke some English. (I had a problem with setting up the wi-fi - only one young man could help.)

I certainly would not dream of staying at this place again. First, it is so unremarkable.
we paid over 9000 yen per person for one night, with dinner and breakfast. There aren't many restaurants nearby, and there isn't a convenience store, so you're stuck with what the hotel provides... and that's the problem.
We chose the 7 o'clock dinner session (the second one). All the food that should have been hot was almost cold (perhaps because the bains maries were left open??). The waitress pointed out to me that the bains maries were hot. Well, OK, but I suspect the cooked food had been prepared long before, and allowed to cool down. VERY disappointing.   (Why not replenish the bains maries during the first sitting, at 6.00 p.m.???)
A feeling of "the management don't care" came over us. IF a manager had put him/herself through the experience, perhaps things would have got better - perhaps.
There was no sign of real meat. A few cold sausages (rendered a bit greasy because they had gone cold) and some equally greasy little strips of bacon. End. The place caters for families. Children like chicken. Any chicken? No, not a scrap. The so-called curry was only sauce - I fished about for any indication of meat, but in vain.  There was indeed tempura (squash), cooked by a 'chef'... who was there for about 5 minutes in every hour. POOR show.  Tempura is a world-famous Japanese dish, but this place did it no favours. The tempura prawns were, of course, COLD. The selection of vegetables was poor, and the salads on offer were very plain.

Although it was early June, when melons are in season, and Kawane is noted for its fertile soil, no melon, or any other fresh fruit, it seemed, had ever entered that place. The fruit was the international cheapie bulk catering option: tinned fruit, in its sugary syrup, turned into a bowl. Oh dear!

Breakfast was also at the lowest level of catering at a business hotel. A humdrum selection of things, again, majorly COLD when they should have been hot. There was a mini-grill, so I put some of the once-hot food on to a plate and heated it up. The scrambled eggs, fatty sausages and bacon came to life - more or less...
Again, no fresh fruit or juice.

The hotel is part of a big chain in Japan, Toki-no sumika. I think this is the problem. It's institutionalised (like an old people's home or a hospital), free of any caring approach, imagination or joined-up thinking. I have eaten at Gotemba Kogen in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture), another Toki-no sumika place, and found the food to be over-priced and desperately boringly lacklustre.
The buzzword in Japan for hospitality and friendliness towards visitors (with the 2020 Olympics in view) is 'omotenashi'. This concept has not reached this hotel (in sharp contrast with all the people we met everywhere on our tour of the area). A great pity - it could be so-o-o nice!!
(Personal note: most establishments succeed or fail because of their managers.)

There was a survey, of sorts, to be completed if you wish. After dinner, my wife, who is Japanese, wrote our assessments carefully in Japanese. I added a couple of comments in English. We handed the form in at Reception. My suspicion is that it was 'filed' in the bin ASAP, as it was negative. OR the manager saw it and chose not to react.

We hadn't expected luxury, but we had expected much better quality and service. The poor quality of the catering and the lack of follow-up to the survey, affected the whole of our stay. So "average" is a generous evaluation.

Kawane Onsen Hotel

Main amenities of the hotel

Location

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hotel

What other amenities are there?

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Additional information

Payment