HAKODATE Umi no Kaze

I was in the men’s bath when a female staff member came in to collect rubbish and tidy up. It was completely absurd! 😑

I booked three nights in the suite with a private onsen for my client, based on the good reviews and the excellent reputation of the sister hotel, Nonokaze, at Lake Toya. The stay turned out to be only average, and in some ways low quality. At check-in, nobody helped with the luggage, despite the high price of the suite. We also requested extra towels and a special size of yukata, but they were never delivered. The front office women had a cold manner and didn’t offer the respectful, warm Japanese greeting I expected. The room was warm even with the air conditioning running. When I asked reception to check it, the woman said it was already set to the lowest temperature and offered only an electric fan. I told her to ask her manager and have engineering inspect it instead of arguing. I’ve worked in hotels for a long time, and dirt blocking the air can cause this kind of problem. She eventually agreed to send someone. The room itself also felt standard, not like a suite. When we wanted to send the suitcases and bags to the next hotel, staff simply said we could do it from the sister hotel in the next building at 4 pm. We had brought the luggage down at 10 am. They should have explained the 4 pm limit more courteously, or offered to help send the bags on a COD basis if the next hotel could handle it. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to my client again.

I found the rooms at Uminokaze huge, modern, and nicely renovated, with heated floors and a scent diffuser by the bed. Exquisite, really. I’d stayed at Hotel Banso the night before, and this is one of my favorite onsen resorts. You can also use the sister hotel’s bath. It’s right beside Yumoto Takubokutei, with the entrance closer to the sea. The entrance is blackish and hard to miss. A taxi from Hakodate JR cost $1680-2020, depending on the type, with the big black ones costing more. From the Yunokawaonsen tram stop, it’s a 5-10 minute walk, depending on snow. The “Relax” onsen is huge, with a standing bath, two regular baths, three tubs of sake, and two other tubs whose contents I couldn’t identify. Everything was well maintained. I didn’t enjoy the sister hotel’s onsen as much, since it’s a crowded public bath on the 11th floor. If it’s your first time, wear a yukata or the two-piece outfit, and bring the bag with both large and small towels. Use the small towel to dry off before going into the changing area. I only tried the breakfast buffet. It was a small but excellent spread, including DIY Kaisen Don. Dinner buffet was $6600. The hotel shop has snacks, while the sister hotel’s shop is almost like a 7-Eleven. Staff speak a little English, and pointing gets you by. They’re more fluent in Mandarin. The advertised pictures were very close to what I found.

The hot springs were pretty good, and the rooms were spacious.