Chaharu

The argument at checkout left me with a terrible impression of the hotel. We had planned to leave our luggage and explore, but worried they might charge us extra for parking, we left right away. Later, I saw other negative reviews describing similar late checkout charges, and I think the hotel should take a hard look at this. Hotels should make money through service, not odd practices like this. I’ve visited Japan many times, and this was my first stay at such a terrible hotel. We’d arrived early that morning. At 9:50, the front desk was busy with check-ins, so my companion and I waited in the nearby seating area, which faced away from the desk. I later went to the smoking area for a cigarette and bought quite a few beautiful, finely made souvenirs from the hotel gift shop. While sitting there, we talked casually about our upcoming itinerary. When I went to check out at 10:23, someone who said she was the manager told me we were three minutes over the time limit and had to pay extra. I explained we’d come early and waited because the desk was busy, and suggested she check the security footage to see that we hadn’t arrived late. She said we were shifting the blame, that they’d only been busy until 10:00, and the desk was empty after that. I told her I was on vacation and wasn’t going to keep watching the desk, especially when the seating area was arranged to face away from it. I also pointed out I’d spent money in their gift shop and showed her the receipts. During the argument, she admitted she’d seen us sitting there early, but still wanted to charge us. I said I could pay if I had to, but couldn’t accept how this was handled. In the end, I wasn’t charged, but the whole thing ruined my mood and our plans for the trip. For the first four days, I’d felt people in Shikoku were friendlier than people in Kyoto and Osaka, and the scenery had made our self-drive trip really comfortable. This hotel experience changed that.