Where to begin. We stayed here as we needed to be in the Ichinose area, and wanted a western room with en-suite. Takimoto was our only option for the dates we needed. The price seemed way excessive compared to the other, and vastly superior hotels we stayed in on our Japan tour, but again, needs must, so we booked. The hotel is like stepping back 30 odd years - and indeed most of the public areas and our room seemed like they’d last seen a paintbrush that long ago. That said, seems to be the norm for most hotels in this area. Hotel does all inclusive, which I guess they’d say justifies the exorbitant price. The standard of food sadly does not. Breakfast was just about OK, dinner was VERY average. There is a help yourself beer machine, which has a mind of it own, and also a wine machine which wasn’t regularly checked and had empty bottles ( average quality ) within unless you asked them to be changed. There is an evening bar of sorts, poorly stocked unless you drink whisky. Fireplace with marshmallows is a nice touch. Ski and boot hire included, which again softens the blow a little. Staff were mostly friendly barring the manager, more of which follows. My son, the reason we were visiting, joined us for the aforementioned average buffet dinner 3 times, once due to poor weather. Upon checkout I was presented with a bill for almost Yen 30,000. On querying this with the manger, he hid behind Google translate, clearly refusing to listen. As a comparison, the beautiful Hilton Hiroshima charges Yen 4,700 for a fabulous buffet dinner - enough said. I’m well travelled, Japan is a wonderful country full of amazing people but Hotel Takimoto is a shameful exception to this and I’d honestly try to find somewhere else to stay … if you can!
