HOTEL LiVEMAX Kuroishi

We really enjoyed our stay, even though our twin room was missing the sofa and tea table shown in the photos, which made it less comfortable to use. The room itself was large, as you might expect from a former love hotel, and the bath had onsen water. There are two free bicycles, the staff were helpful and nice, and the surrounding fields and mountains made for great scenery. The room was cleaned daily.

For the price, this place is reasonably acceptable. The room was impressively spacious compared with other business hotels, and the cottage layout gives each room parking for one car with easy in-and-out access. It’s a former adult-oriented hotel, and the aging building and facilities show that. The boiler and wind can be noisy when you’re trying to sleep. Some issues mentioned in older reviews have been fixed, including the lack of vending machines, weak hot water, missing tables, and outlets too far away without extension cords. There’s a nice large tub, but its jets and TV don’t work, and it took 30 minutes to fill. The sauna was also out of order, though it hinted at the luxury this adult-oriented hotel once had. Check-in is at a separate front desk building: you get out of your car, finish the procedure, and receive your key.

Room 106 was so cold that I wouldn’t recommend staying there. I’d booked a non-smoking room with three beds, but the only heat was a single electric oil heater, which didn’t warm the room until morning. The old air conditioner remote’s LCD was too cold to read, so I just trusted it and turned the unit on. I wondered how it would do in summer. I was alone in the triple room, at least, and thankfully didn’t catch a cold. This is a love hotel, with separate rooms arranged in a circle. There’s no shutter over the parking spaces, so you can see the neighbor’s car. The bath is large and the TV only gets terrestrial channels. You check in at the entrance after leaving your car, then can go out again with the key. The front desk is unattended from late night to early morning, and at checkout you leave the key in the mailbox and drive away.

The shower pressure was the one letdown, but everything else was great. There isn’t even a convenience store nearby, so keep that in mind. The two men at the front desk were really helpful, and I appreciated their assistance.