Gallery Court OFA ATU

The room was very small, but the location is good and the price is fair. The staff were nice, and the private onsen was the best part.

I'm not very fussy about accommodation, but for 15,000 yen I expected better. It felt more like a dorm than an inn. The shared entrance area was a mess, with toys and other stuff everywhere. The photos on Agoda and other sites looked reasonably tidy, so arriving to that was a shock. The hammock outside was too dirty to use, and there was nobody at reception, so we had to ring for someone. The foreign woman who came was unfriendly. She rattled off instructions in Japanese as if she were using a machine gun, even though she could see from my foreign name that I'm not Japanese. We understood that the hot springs could be used privately from 4-10 pm, as the sign said, so we locked the door. The area was dirty, with lots of mosquitoes and untended plants, which made it feel grimy. Worst of all, the water was cold and smelly, so it didn't feel like a hot spring. We also had to remove a blue cover before using it. I'd never seen that at a hot spring before. It was a hassle and seemed like guests were being asked to cover it because the host couldn't regularly clean out the leaves. That shouldn't be our job. We'd been there less than 20 minutes when she started yelling at us to get out, saying we weren't allowed to use it then. That's fine, but she wouldn't even give me a minute to rinse off, tidy up, and put the cover back. She kept banging on the door, yelling, and trying to get in. I came out less than a minute after she began yelling, but she still gave me a dirty look and scolded me. After that we felt so uncomfortable that we stayed in our room all night except to use the toilet. There are no private toilets, so you have to leave your room to use one. The rooms felt like hospital dorms, and we felt like sick people. The TV was small, the bed springs were weak, there were items left by the previous guest in the fridge, and the walls were thin enough that we could hear next door. Stay here if you want a disappointing stay and a ruined weekend.

Our family had a wonderful stay at Gallery Court Ofa atu Hotel. It felt as comfortable as home, and the staff were warm, friendly, pleasant, and helpful. Both breakfast and dinner were delicious and held up well compared with meals at other hotels. The property is very convenient and close to the Shirahama Beach. We made our best memories of the summer here, and I'd like to stay again next time.

I really liked this place. The woman running it was super friendly, and the outdoor onsen was nice and private. The rooms are plain but comfortable, and the bathroom is communal. There's a great shared space with coffee and a pool table. The food is good, but order ahead because she only cooks a limited amount. I think it might suit a foreigner who's been living in Japan for a while better than either a visiting foreigner or a Japanese person. For me, it's going to be a favorite.