Japanese style hotel FUKUROU TEI

We spent a weekend here with friends, and the food alone felt like a five-star restaurant experience. The owners made a Japanese course with fresh local ingredients, including sashimi, grilled seafood, and meat. We had breakfast and dinner at the hotel too. Fukurou Tei has just three rooms, so it feels more like staying in a home than a hotel. Everything was spotless, and the futon beds were comfortable. Outside, there’s a garden and hammocks where you can relax and watch the sunset. The family who runs the place are lovely, and they speak English and Japanese. We also hiked among the village rice fields and bamboo forests, and a nice beach is about a 15-minute drive away. It’s a lovely spot for a food-focused weekend away from the city. I’d happily spend another weekend there.

The hosts made getting around easy. They picked me up and dropped me off at the airport, offered rides to tourist spots, and explained the area when I arrived so I could visit the local shrines. Those were spectacular too. They also provided wonderful food, including a packed lunch for my journey. I had a great time and couldn’t rate this place higher.

The bathrooms aren’t inside the rooms, which was the one drawback. Otherwise, it’s a truly special place, with just two rooms, so I imagine it never gets overcrowded. The owners are extremely kind and helpful, and both dinner and breakfast were outstanding. The owner built the place and paid attention to every tiny detail. Very impressive. There’s a nearby park with beautiful old temples and graveyards dating back hundreds of years. Definitely worth a visit.

Five months later, I still feel this stay was a complete waste of my time and money. I paid for somewhere I could sleep, and didn’t get a wink all night. I’m sorry to the owners if leaving suddenly seemed rude, but the noise was unbearable. I wanted the breakfast I’d paid for, yet I had to skip it and leave around 5 AM because I couldn’t take another moment of it. I’d ridden my motorcycle all the way there and arrived around 8 PM, expecting to get a good night’s rest. I’m not a sensitive sleeper and can usually sleep through people talking at a reasonable volume, but there was no soundproofing in the building. One especially noisy couple kept it up until 2 AM, then another group started making noise at 4 AM. This was the worst stay I’ve ever had anywhere, and I’ve never experienced such poor soundproofing. The business can’t control its guests, but I do think it’s responsible for the rooms’ structural soundproofing and integrity. I really hope they address it. The bathroom was wonderful, with one of the best showers I’ve had in my life, and the room and building were traditional. There was a free breakfast, but I wasn’t even there to have it.