Fukui Academia Hotel

It’s a peaceful hotel with a nice onsen. The only drawback for me was that it’s a bit far from the station area.

The rooms are clean and a decent size, with everything you need, and the price is affordable.

Can I get a job making beds? I’m from Sugaya.

What stood out most during our three-night stay was how badly behaved many of the older local regulars were in the baths and sports facilities. We’d brought our small child for a birthday trip to the dinosaur museum and aquarium, since they love dinosaurs. The hotel’s Rakuten Award reputation had made me feel confident booking, so the stay was a real disappointment, and I wouldn’t come back or recommend it unless things improve. I saw an older man aim a shower at his crotch, another stand by the cold bath drooling after the sauna, and one walk into the changing room soaked in sweat. One man got straight into the bath without rinsing himself first, even early in the morning. In the sauna, someone tossed a mat onto the feet of a person sitting there, acting as if the place belonged to him. The cold bath only fits two, but a man who arrived after the person already in it splashed his face in the middle, sending water around the small tub. Another man turned on the shower with his foot, and older men sat naked on the changing room chairs. It all felt dirty and unpleasant, especially in a shared facility. Our child noticed and commented that one man was using the shower with his feet and another was aiming it at that spot. They were amazed at the bad manners, and I worried they might copy what they saw. From the second day, I left them with my wife rather than bring them into the bath. She said the older regular women were just as bad in the women’s bath. The facilities themselves are quite dated, though the hotel did replenish toothbrushes, disposable slippers, and towels each day. The shower heads, hoses, and chairs were black with what looked like mold or dirt, which seemed far too unsanitary. I understand that cleaning the whole place is difficult, but items like shower heads need replacing. The bath and gym include a heated pool, but the regulars seem to treat them as their own den and hangout, with no regard for basic manners. Breakfast came with side dishes, while rice, bread, and drinks were self-serve. The onsen was the main reason I chose the hotel, and it was simply awful. I’ve seen bathhouses in Kanto replace sauna mats, keep hot water available for testing, and patrol regularly. Here, there was none of that, leaving the regulars to do as they pleased. The hotel should patrol more and enforce basic rules, like not showering at your crotch, wiping off before entering the changing room, and rinsing yourself before getting in the bath. I assume day-use bathing is a way to support the business and a perk for people using the sports center, but if this keeps up, repeat visitors may stop coming. That could also make business harder in a few years as the older regular crowd gets smaller. No matter what, until their manners improve, I don’t want to use this facility again.