Hotel Regina Kawaguchiko

The service and room were much better than we expected, and Fuji looked amazing from the 10th floor. Breakfast was a good buffet with lots of Japanese and Western choices. There's also a nice little shop at reception.

We got upgraded to what was more or less a suite, and every room has a Mount Fuji view. We were lucky to get a clear sky on the first day, with a lovely red tint to it. You can sit out on the balcony, and Netflix and other streaming services are available. For transport, call the hotel for a shuttle from 3-8 pm, or catch one leaving every half hour in the morning. Otherwise, a taxi from kawaguchi station is about 1000 yen. Loved our stay.

The only consistently helpful person I dealt with was the man with glasses in the lobby, who assisted with luggage and transfers. The location is quite far from the center. My room was generally clean, but the sheet had marks that looked like dried blood. The spa was clean too, though it had no real view or atmosphere, and I've found better onsens elsewhere. My first impression was already poor because of how check-in went. I'd emailed beforehand to ask about a higher floor if one was available, then asked again at the desk. The receptionist said she'd check, but had already written down my room number and breakfast slip as if it were settled. She then spoke with another staff member in front of me in a way that felt mocking, as though I wouldn't understand. When she returned, she said there was no availability unless I paid extra for an upgrade. Being told simply that the hotel was full would've been fine. Her condescending manner was what upset me, and it was hard not to carry that feeling through the rest of the stay.

The view of Mount Fuji from our premium room was the one enjoyable part of this stay. Everything else fell well short of what we expected. We arrived around 2:30 p.m. and waited about half an hour in the lobby to check in because of “system issues.” Breakfast had plenty of variety, but its quality was much worse than at other hotels we'd stayed in during our three-week trip around Japan. A few staff members were friendly, though the general service and attitude weren't what you'd expect. On checkout day, we were charged 1,500 yen to leave our luggage for three hours, something we'd never encountered anywhere else in the world as hotel guests. The shuttle to the bus station only runs until 11 a.m., and after checkout we weren't allowed to use it when we came back for our bags at 2pm. A very disappointing stay.