Itoen Hotel Atagawa

The onsen bath was really good, and the hotel is okay for the price. My room was old but clean, while the food was mediocre despite being plentiful. I regret paying an extra 3000 yen for the in-room bath. It was dark, dirty, and looked like it was from the bubble days or earlier. The beach behind the hotel is really nice, so be sure to go down there.

The ocean view is very good, and the spa is good too. The meals weren't good, though, and there's no sauna.

The location is great, and the ocean view from the window initially seemed like a reason to book. But a big red roof takes up much of the view, and the windows were white and dirty, probably from the sea breeze, so we could barely see the ocean unless they were open. The room was old and moldy. Its bathroom was in terrible shape, with no sign of repairs, and the heavy, badly fitted sliding doors and shoji screens were noisy and needed careful handling at night. The tissue box said Atagawa View Hotel, so I suspect the annex is a recently acquired hotel. Adding rooms without adding parking or dining capacity has made things more inconvenient. We stayed in the annex after checking in at 5 PM on Sunday. I knew from other Itoen hotels that checking in late could mean missing out on services and getting a later meal time, but there were no parking spaces or attendants when we arrived. I parked in a free spot and went to the desk. The staff were very unfriendly. They told me the lot was full and I could only parallel park in front of the hotel, then took my car keys after I parked. They gave almost no information about the facilities unless I asked. Yahoo! Travel listed dinner from 6 PM to 8 PM with a 90-minute limit, and breakfast from 7:30 AM to 9 AM with a 60-minute limit. We were told every slot except the latest was booked, leaving us dinner from 8:45 PM to 10:15 PM and breakfast from 9:45 AM to 10:45 AM. Dinner started almost at 9 PM. Check-out was at 11 AM, so there wasn't much time to relax after dinner even though breakfast took less than an hour. We walked a few minutes to the annex. Its corridor had no air conditioning, and gaps let in the outside air, so we got cold again after warming up in the bath. It was our fault for arriving late, but all we could do was laugh. We filled up on snacks from a Family Mart five minutes away. The large observation bath had a great view from the washing area, but both that area and the space around the bath were slippery. It wasn't just detergent: the water drained poorly, and detergent bubbles floated all the way to the tub. The men's open-air bath was small enough that I had to fold my legs when sitting in the tub to let people pass. The glass was dirty and blocked the ocean view while I soaked. We chose a room with two Japanese-style rooms and an ocean-facing window. The public website photos and the actual experience were so far apart that it felt close to fraud. The food fell short of the image by about a third at dinner and by half at breakfast. The photos are completely inappropriate. Being old is fine, but being dirty and unexplained is disappointing. I can't recommend this hotel. If you do book, I'd choose the main building and check in early. Before spending time on advertising, they should make basic repairs, improve the facilities, and train staff in customer service. The location is so good that I'd pay more for another inn with an open-air bath. This was a truly unpleasant stay, and it was terrible.

The ocean-facing room had an amazing view, with moonlight on the Izu Sea at night and sunrise over it in the morning. If the view is your priority, I recommend it, though bad weather might lower the rating since that's the hotel's main selling point. The baths rotate daily, so you can try both in one night. The open-air bath is either rock or cypress, and felt a bit small for a building this size. I liked the wide choice of shampoos and body washes, but the showers were weak. The bath view was still wonderful. Dinner is a buffet with all-you-can-drink alcohol, which suited me as a heavy drinker. The selection may feel limited to other guests, and there wasn't much that felt distinctly Izu. If you have the money, ordering the simmered alfonsino is a good idea. I like light flavors and found the seasoning just right, though others might find it bland. I stayed in the main building. Getting there by car is easy, but walking from Izu Atagawa Station is a challenge. The hotel sits on a mountain, and the routes are awkward and hard to find even on a map. You can climb past Atagawa Prince Hotel and follow the busy road by the Family Mart, go down toward town and climb steep stairs from Sakuranamiki Park before squeezing through a narrow passage, or pass Ajidokoro Imahan and take the stairs at the overpass. There aren't many options. Other services feel old-fashioned at best, outdated at worst. The walls are thin, so conversations and toilet or bathroom noises from next door carry through. I noticed a slightly odd smell from the tap in my room. There's an air purifier, but the room tends to get dry. For the price, I thought the stay was worthwhile. Atagawa is convenient for reaching Shimoda, Kawazu, and Ito, so I'd recommend it to people arriving by car.