Atami Fuga

The room was comfortable, with a modern Japanese style, and the half-board dinner was better than I expected. The Japanese food was well prepared. There’s no private bathroom or shower in the room, so you have to use the public onsen. Atami Fuga is a good pick for the Atami Fireworks Festival. The ocean view is beautiful, and watching the fireworks from the hotel made for a memorable stay. For that experience, I thought it was good value, especially during fireworks season.

Getting to the beach takes effort, since the climb back up uses up your energy, and the bus station is also far away. There is a free shuttle from the nearest train station at set times, though. The view from our room was really good, the stay was relaxing, and the onsen was the highlight. They also had massage chairs in the lobby and a theatre with unlimited free beer in the evening.

The onsen and the ocean view from the room made this a really enjoyable stay. If you can choose, I recommend a sea-view room. The sunrise was incredible. The women's powder room also had luxurious appliances, which made getting ready feel like part of a spa visit. A couple of things to know: the hotel sits high on a steep hill, about 2.5 km from Atami Sun Beach. They can arrange a free shuttle from Kinomiya Station if you email or call ahead. My room had a sink and toilet but no shower, so bathing meant using the onsen. If you're a foreign guest, especially from the West, that may be unexpected. You need to follow Japanese onsen etiquette: no swimwear, and wash at the showers before getting into the bath.

The room was the worst part of our stay. It was filthy. I dropped something under the bed, moved it a little to retrieve it, and found loads of dust. Disgusting. We thought there might not be cleaning staff at night and asked to borrow a vacuum so we could clean it ourselves, but they wouldn't let us use their cleaning tools. Our room was in the old building and had no private shower, so even a quick shower meant walking all the way to the onsen. The onsen itself was nice and had a sauna, but the walk was a pain when we were tired. There are no restaurants near the hotel, and the hotel's restaurant is only for guests with reservations. Very disappointing.