Kumamoto Hotel Christmas Forest Garden (Love Hotel)

I ended up looking for a place after my plans to stay with relatives in Kumamoto were canceled because of an illness. Business hotels and hot spring inns without meals were expensive for inbound tourists, so I looked at love hotels and booked this one through an app. The room rate was reasonable, about 5,400 yen. There’s a Santa monument at the entrance, and the outside looks like a foreign mansion. You can park your car anywhere. When I went into the lobby in the middle of the building, the smell was amazing. The place is clearly old and not new, but it’s clean and well maintained. Amenities are available to borrow from the lobby, including a luxurious shampoo and conditioner set. You can fill a container with Aso spring water at the dispenser and have it brought to your room. The room was a decent size, with a particularly spacious bed. The bathroom was spacious too, and I really enjoyed the jetted tub. The facilities are old, but still usable and had no issues. There was no welcome drink or breakfast service, and it seemed those would cost extra. I had a pleasant stay in a comfortable space and would like to come back.

I picked this hotel because it had the best access from the airport. I checked in after midnight. The listed price for staying from midnight until 12:00 was ¥4,980 before tax, or ¥5,760 with tax. I used a ¥1,000 coupon from the official website, so I expected the room to cost ¥4,760. I couldn’t see the total on the TV after entering the room, so I called the front desk to check. Then I ordered fried octopus for ¥430 including tax and ice cream for ¥50. I placed both orders on my phone and took screenshots. I expected the final bill to be ¥5,240: ¥4,760 plus ¥430 plus ¥50. The price list at the entrance said consumption tax and service charge were included. So what is this “service charge” supposed to be? The air conditioner in my room was broken, and even after I reported that water was dripping from it, nobody offered to move me to another room. On top of that, did they overcharge me? Was I charged for asking for a towel to wipe up the water? There were what looked like bath-salt tea leaves in the bathroom, with hair in them, and the towels smelled of cigarettes. The item prices were wrong too. The amounts were ¥430 and ¥50, right? I ordered both at the tax-included prices, so shouldn’t that come to ¥480? Where did ¥541 come from? I thought the condition might be understandable for the price, but charging a fee that wasn’t listed or explained is unacceptable. It feels like fraud and a rip-off, so I’m writing this here. The water service, amenities, and bathroom size were nice compared with other hotels near the airport. There’s no elevator, though, which makes it hard if you have big suitcases or other luggage. If they hadn’t added this service fee, I could have overlooked the bathroom trash and dust, the leaking air conditioner, and the rest, and rated the place well. I’d read the Google reviews beforehand, so I took screenshots of the order, confirmed the price over the phone, and photographed the final payment details. It was just as other reviews said, the service fee was real. Everyone, especially people from outside the prefecture, be careful! The red restaurant next door seems to be the same. The snacks arrived quickly and were delicious, and I was thinking about coming back. What a shame. Unless they clear up the mystery of the service fee, I probably won’t use the place again. Someone please answer.

The room and bed were spacious, and the towels were fluffy, smelled nice, and felt great. The bathroom floor was slippery, though, and having to take the stairs because there’s no elevator was difficult for me with my heart condition. I was traveling and couldn’t tell where to park on my first visit. From the lot it looked as if you could open a door and go straight into the room, so I had to call and ask. I’d read that the food was good and wanted to see the menu, but couldn’t find it. I bought a supermarket bento just in case, and only found the details after scanning the QR code in the room. The table and sofa were too close to the big TV, which made it hard to watch. I wish the information page explained the parking, food menu, and lack of an elevator.

The exterior and interior were both nice, and it wasn’t too expensive. There was a decent range of amenities, and the bed was large with springs that didn’t feel worn out, so I didn’t have any complaints... I guess? I didn’t really see the point of the claw-foot bath lol, and maybe it’s just hard to get into. The hot water came on quickly, but the shower head was poor. I couldn’t really feel the water pressure, and it felt a little cold, which was disappointing. Maybe... It was easy to see why the place was popular.