Kirishima Kokusai Hotel

The onsen is spacious and lovely, with indoor and outdoor baths that were great for relaxing after a tiring day. The hotel can get very crowded, probably because tour groups seem to like it. Dinner at the buffet felt like a feeding frenzy, with people rushing straight to the crab station and piling it onto their plates. That was quite unusual to see in Japan.

Dinner on December 9th was a very disappointing experience. The middle-aged chef grilling the Wagyu beef seemed to treat guests who didn’t speak Japanese differently. Everyone lined up for beef, but Japanese guests ahead of us consistently received noticeably larger portions than foreign guests who couldn’t speak Japanese. When I saw my portion, I asked for enough for two people. He added one slice. I said it still wasn’t enough, and he reluctantly gave me two more, with a very unpleasant expression and attitude. The way he treated me was completely different from how he’d treated the Japanese guests before me. My husband and I each went up twice, and both times were the same. This kind of discriminatory behavior is unacceptable, especially at a hotel that welcomes many international visitors. I strongly object to it and can’t recommend the hotel.

Comfortable and restful, with some lovely Japanese details. The provided yukata robes, outdoor baths, and relaxing hot spring experience were the highlights 😍

This place is definitely unusual, and the sulphur smell around the area and onsen takes a bit of getting used to. Some parts of the hotel are great, others are a little run down, but it’s good value overall. The restaurant and buffets were amazing, and the staff were super nice. There aren’t many Westerners, and the English isn’t great, but in practice it wasn’t a problem.