Rakuten STAY VILLA FujiKawaguchiko Forest

Set in the forest, Rakuten STAY VILLA is quiet, comfortable, and a nice place to relax after seeing Mount Fuji. The villas are spacious and high tech, with an iPad for customer support and help, plus a device that automatically translates Japanese into your language. There are plenty of parking spaces, and I'd recommend renting a car since it's a bit far from other places. It's a lovely place to stay with family or friends, especially if you have a car. Just be careful not to press the fire alarm.

We had a great time at this fantastic villa home, and I loved the experience. The walls are really thin, though. We were in the unit closer to the road, and I could hear cars speeding past at night, which wasn't ideal. Since it's out of the way, I'd only book it if I were renting a car. With a car, it's all good.

The park and playground across the road were handy, and you can walk there. Shops are a short drive away, about 8 minutes to a grocery store and 5 to a small mall. The villa itself is spacious, though there were a few dirty spots and some insects I first mistook for cockroaches. We could hear the neighboring villa, especially when children were running around, as if someone were jumping upstairs. The fire alarm also went off at 2 a.m. because of another villa, and rang for around 30 minutes before it was switched off remotely. Our room didn't match the one pictured on Trip dot com, so we had expected an outdoor onsen. I also wished there were a BBQ instead of a hot plate, and that the Nespresso had been restocked. The location was great.

We stayed two nights with seven people in this western-style villa. It was very clean and had plenty of room: two queen-size twin beds in the standard first-floor bedroom, a living and dining area, and a kitchen with a fridge, cooktop, sink, microwave, kettle, and basic cookware. Upstairs there was a large bedroom that could fit a family with three children, a small activity room, and a shower room with a small onsen. There was also a laundry room and sauna. Online check-in before arrival made getting in easy. The place is about 1 km from the shopping area, but there is no public transport nearby, so having a car is important. The worst part of our stay at Rakutan Stay Villa was the smoke alarm going off at 2 a.m. It woke the whole family, and the alarm sounded for about three minutes, then went off again at intervals of half an hour to an hour.