Rakuten STAY Atami

The rooms were fantastic, and we chose one with a sea view. There was free ice cream, drinks, and nuts too. It's much easier to check in online before you arrive using the URL they provide. Otherwise you have to use the hotel's tablet, which is a pain because the connection kept dropping.

The login process was my only real complaint. Their website was supposed to let us log in and scan our passports, but it couldn't read them, so we had to go to the hotel to check in. Aside from that, the service was good and the room was comfortable. The facilities were great. There was free-flow soft-serve ice cream and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on the ground floor. Level two had a well-stocked vending machine and a coin-operated washer. The onsen is on B1. It's a little small, but quite good, and I recommend going around 7-8 pm when it's empty.

The parking directions never came because they didn't reply to my repeated emails saying I hadn't received the code. I wasted my IDD call trying to reach them, and without that email I had no idea where the car park was. Their check-in app was a mess too. The QR code only worked on my wife's phone, so we were already tired by the time we got through the whole ordeal. I booked through Agoda, which was another lousy platform. I wouldn't recommend this place.

Getting in and out is usually done with a keypad or smart lock, using a code sent to your phone. That makes arrival times pretty flexible, and check-out is automated too.