Atagawakan

The location was excellent, and the hotel felt peaceful enough to enjoy on your own. The town had enough interesting businesses and people to keep things entertaining. The room was big, beautiful, and clean, with an ocean view, and the facilities were wonderful. I also liked the onsen bath, especially the outdoor part in the rain. The service let the stay down. I forgot to add meals to my booking, and they couldn’t add them on the day, which is fair enough for a ryokan. But nobody suggested an alternative, so I had to work out how to find food in an unfamiliar town. In the end, I walked all the way up the hill to FamilyMart early in the morning for breakfast. On the second day the WiFi stopped working. It took two phone calls before anyone came to fix it. At checkout, I asked the front desk to hold my luggage while I explored a bit more. They left it out in the open in the lobby, unattended when I returned, where I or anyone else could have picked it up and walked out without a security check. When it was time to head to the station in heavy rain, I asked about the shuttle. It wasn’t running then, which was fine since there’s a timetable, but staff offered no help or sympathy and didn’t offer an umbrella. They just reminded me that service starts again at 2pm. My last memory of Atagawa is walking up the hill in pouring rain without an umbrella. I enjoyed the stay overall, but the staff’s lack of care and initiative put a damper on it.

I went in June 2018, so this review is a little late. The service was spectacular, and the staff seemed to go out of their way to accommodate us. The facilities felt tired and needed updating, though. It also seemed like the off-season, since there were only a few guests that night. That made the onsen especially relaxing, as I pretty much had it to myself the whole time. The kaiseki meal they prepared was great. I highly recommend requesting it, since we took an evening walk and found nothing else open. It was a relaxing night, but there wasn’t much else to do in town.

The Golden eye snapper at both breakfast and dinner was super good, and the staff were very kind. Some receptionists can speak Mandarin. Atagawa station is only a 10-minute walk away, and there’s also a daily shuttle to the station. It’s easy to get to Shimoda and Ito station to visit Ajisai park and Omuroyama Mountain. We had a nice trip in Atagawa!

The views from the rooms and public outdoor onsen are amazing, and the private family onsens are wonderful and can be reserved. The rooms are dated, though. The food is awesome if you like fresh seafood.