I had a really excellent and unforgettable stay in KAI. First you will have an interesting entry by taking a cable car from the entrance to the lobby, and then you will get a superb environment, the decoration looks fantastic, all the staffs are nice and helpful, the food tasted brilliant, everything is extraordinary good and almost perfect in this hotel.
The room was beautiful and the private onsen is great for those who have tattoos that cannot be covered up. The rooms were spacious and the welcome snacks were delicious.
Some staff members were great but some were not so nice.
They didn’t really introduce facilities in the room to us. Lighting in bathroom and private onsen was very dim - I slipped and fell as I missed the step between the onsen and shower room.
Public bath was ok. Quite small.
Meals were ok. The staff at restaurant for dinner was smart in bringing me packs of ice for my bruised and swollen arm.
One staff volunteered to take photos for us before leaving and she was sweet. The other staff at ground floor after we got off monorail simply ignored us.
This is an additional review to the first.
To those of you thinking that it’s a good location, forget it. Yes, it’s scenic forest with a lot of vegetation. But it’s too secluded. Theres absolutely nothing you can walk to. You have to taxi everywhere. To give you a picture, it’s like 10-13 mile to the Tobu line and a little more to the JR Station. Just a simple taxi from the station to the hotel is like $60 average for a half hour drive. The hotel offers no Shuttle services. So, plan to add a lot more for your local transportation budget. Just Going from the hotel to a tourist spot can vary. It’s better to hire a drive/car for a day than pay for separate taxis. 3-6 hours. I’m guessing we spend $300+ per day minimum. Daily you have a $120/day just going up and down the mountain then you have the cost of visiting sites around the mountains and local area.
You can try public transportation, or sign up with a tour bus company. Not my Cup of tea.
I find that 3 days at an Onsen is a day too much.
So, I can say, “been there and done that”
No need to return to Nikko.
Very disappointed in Hoshino Kai, which was my brand of choice. It might just be this property.
Did i mention this irritant? I purchased from their curated gift shop, over $400 worth of Omiyage (gifts for friends and family). The hotel didn’t offer any gift wrapping or even packing plus a charge for a bag! Shame!
Outstanding, beautiful resort to relax and unwind. This place is perfection. I had the room with a private bath that overlooked the garden. So beautiful and serene.
The curated kaiseki meal and breakfast were incredibly delicious. Highly recommend this resort, will be back again!
The room was absolutely beautiful, the private bath was so lovely in the cold night air. The staff were all so friendly and attentive, it really felt like they had thought of everything! We would definitely stay here again
The only downside is that when arriving, the driveway/road up to the hotel is completely gravel so it was very hard to get our suitcase to the hotel. We ended up getting a taxi back to the train station at the end of our stay and that was much easier. Strongly recommend not walking to the hotel from the train station if you have a big suitcase like we did