Kuretake Inn Asahikawa

The friendly, helpful staff and tasty breakfast were good, and I appreciated the free morning coffee and tea corner as well as happy hour drinks. But I left feeling more frustrated than satisfied, because this hotel didn’t suit me at all. I’m very sensitive to heat, and the room issues made it hard to rest. I’d booked a non-smoking room, but was put in a smoking one that smelled of cigarettes. I figured they might be fully booked and tried opening the balcony door, but it only opened a tiny amount, maybe a tenth of the way, so the smell took ages to clear. The air conditioning also didn’t work properly. The heater was on, and switching to cold still left hot air blowing three hours later. I ended up keeping the balcony door open to get some cool air in. The next morning the room was finally cool enough for me, so I left for the day. When I returned, the heater was on again. I had switched it off before leaving, so the cleaner must have turned it back on while cleaning. My clothes, face and body moisturizer, makeup remover, and everything else in the room had become hot. Having hot things against my body felt really uncomfortable, and I was upset. I know the weather was cold, but I believe the guest should decide whether the heater is on, rather than the cleaner deciding for us because they felt cold. I got very little sleep waiting for the room to cool. I came back around 11 p.m. and had to be up at 5 a.m., so you can imagine how late I finally slept. That lack of sleep could have been avoided if the cleaner hadn’t turned the heater on. In response to the hotel's reply: I had turned the heater off before I went out, and it was on when I got back, so the cleaner was the one who switched it back on. I understand it’s cold this time of year and that the heaters are the only option right now, but whether to turn one on should be my choice. The apology didn’t feel sincere, and they didn’t admit the mistake. I don’t appreciate that. This isn’t how you handle a customer complaint.