Ryokan Nagomitsuki

We had the “one shot two meals” dinner tonight and absolutely loved it. The whole meal felt much more special thanks to Kin Ho, our Cantonese-speaking server. He was warm, attentive and professional from beginning to end, explained each dish clearly, refilled our water without being asked, cleared plates smoothly and patiently answered all our questions with a big smile. Outstanding service. If you stay here for a night, I hope you get Kin Ho too. I’ll definitely come back and ask for him. Thanks for making our night so great! 🙌

We left frustrated and disappointed, feeling that this stay fell far short of what a high-priced Japanese ryokan claiming four-star standards should offer. Good food couldn’t make up for poor hygiene, uncomfortable facilities and the way the complaint was handled. The room was dirty, with dust balls beside the bed. The bed was springy and very uncomfortable, the private onsen water was cold, and the private bath was mouldy and crusty, especially concerning in an onsen setting. On the positive side, breakfast and the other dinner were good, and the ground staff were generally polite and courteous. We stayed two nights and upgraded both dinners to wagyu beef and seasonal kaiseki, expecting a special onsen experience. During one wagyu dinner, I found a visible strand of hair under my stack of beef. The dinner staff removed it right away, but there was still beef left and dessert was served immediately afterward. They apologized, but offered no compensation despite the premium meal price. The worst interaction came at checkout. Receptionist Lim told my partner he had to pay because we had eaten the dinner and, she said, hadn’t informed staff. We absolutely had. When we went back to clarify and expected a professional response, she resisted and repeatedly asked irrelevant questions like how much food was left and what else we ate. The issue was the unhygienic incident and the poor response, not how much we’d eaten. After a long, uncomfortable exchange, she said she had to “fight” to give us only a partial refund of the meal upgrade, as if basic service recovery were a personal favor. The conversation felt defensive, calculating, unprofessional and unpleasant.

The private onsen was lovely, but that’s the one good thing I can point to. The food, cleanliness and service were awful, and I would never return. This place calls itself a four-star hotel, which is honestly shocking after our stay. I shared my dietary needs two months ahead, yet several dishes came out wrong. Even the whole pot of rice was made incorrectly, so I couldn’t eat it. When I raised the issue, the staff member at our table laughed and told my partner he could eat it instead. I was left sitting there while he had dinner. Someone else apologized as we walked out, but nothing was fixed at any point. They were quick to say sorry, but it felt like one team made mistakes and another apologized afterward, with no one in between trying to help. Breakfast the next morning was somehow worse. The morning staff member was extremely rude, rushing around, banging dishes, dropping things on the floor and seeming annoyed with everyone. She didn’t try to help, and her attitude ruined the whole meal. There were also stains on the bed in our dirty room, which fit the rest of the experience. If you’re considering a booking, I’d look elsewhere.

I chose 8:30 breakfast after a staff member asked my group whether we preferred 8:00 or 8:30 at check-in. When we arrived at 8:30 the next day, we were told the restaurant closed at 9:00. Nobody had mentioned that beforehand. I’m used to hotel breakfast running until around 9:30 or 10:00, so that was frustrating. The hotel also felt very inflexible about changes. In the lobby, guests can only take one of each amenity. I was thinking of taking two cotton buds when a receptionist behind me said loudly, “one each only.” It made me feel a bit uncomfortable. The special dinner menu I chose on the first night cost extra, but the amount and quality were decent and acceptable.