Kunsthaus

We paid 13,980 yen for one night with two meals in July 2015, the first night of our honeymoon. Parking was tight enough that we left our car on top of the one in front of us. Our Western-style room had a low bed with firm springs, which my wife liked because it put less strain on her back, though the gorilla painting on the wall was creepy. Dinner was on the first floor with 14 guests, seven Japanese and seven Chinese. The smoked duck and steak impressed me, and the coffee was delicious, but my wife's salad had a hair in it. We had a bath in our room after dinner. Breakfast, mostly bread and eggs, tasted good but the serving was small, like the night before. There was another hair in my salad and one in my wife's soup, which was a letdown.

The bathroom was the worst part for me. It's an ordinary shared home bathroom, so it wasn't somewhere I could relax. The toiletries were regular store-bought products, and I wished they'd at least decanted them into different bottles. There was no hairdryer, and with only sinks in the changing area and toilet, we had to brush our teeth there. Some tiles were chipped, which made the place feel unclean. I hated it. The house is fairly large, but the interior feels very lived-in and the rooms are dim. The yard is used for parking, so anyone who isn't good at parking should take care. The food wasn't bad, though even with good ingredients I could make something similar myself. A dog barked like crazy. I'm not allergic, but I really dislike dogs and it freaked me out. Luckily they seemed to keep it in a room, so I didn't have to face it. The whole stay felt like staying at a friend's house, except it wasn't particularly casual and it wasn't free, which made it worse. My Hokkaido trip was ruined.

The rooms and bathrooms were cleaned with real care, and I didn't run into any of the issues I've had at other places. The owners also took lots of photos for me and gave me plenty of tourist information. I'd like to come back in another season. Dinner was a generous course built around fresh Biei vegetables, with both meat and fish as mains, so come hungry. The steak was among the best I've ever had. There was a good range of alcohol too, especially appealing if you like wine. You can't bring outside food or drinks into the restaurant, but you can buy them there at reasonable prices; you can bring your own to the room, where there's a refrigerator. A lot of hotels have that familiar, intimate feel, but this one struck a pleasant balance. I thought it was wonderful.

We came to mark our wedding anniversary, and I left wishing we'd booked somewhere else for the price. The exterior looked nice, and the food was delicious, but inside the room felt like an ordinary home's bedroom. Service wasn't great either. It was oddly hot and humid in there, with no air conditioning, and no offer of extra fans.