River Retreat GARAKU

It felt like staying in a living art museum, with thoughtfully put-together rooms. The lobby had a huge record selection and an incredible sound system, and the amenities and food were both fantastic. Easily the most authentic, high-end Japanese hotel I’ve stayed in.

The staff were fantastic, and I really appreciated how hard they tried to speak English since our Japanese is very limited. Dinner and breakfast were both delicious. It’s a beautifully designed retreat, too.

We had booked through Agoda for 5.20 to 5.22, but a few days before our overseas family trip, the hotel emailed to say we had the wrong rate and wanted twice the amount we’d reserved. They offered a simple apology and asked us to pay the extra. It threw our plans off and spoiled the mood, so we canceled because that approach to charging more felt unpleasant. Agoda told me the mistake was the hotel’s. The booking site had shown one amount, then the hotel tried to collect the difference by email. That’s outrageous and makes the place feel unreliable, not like a retreat at all. We’ve stayed at Peninsula, Mandarin, Imperial Hotel, Aman, Shangri-La, and Four Seasons while living in Tokyo for 4 years. This hotel’s price is similar, but the customer service wasn’t even at inn level. I still wonder whether the owner told the employee to get the money, or whether the employee was just trying to cover up a mistake.

The river and mountain setting is lovely. The hotel itself is a solid gray concrete building, though. The food was good and the service great. The rooms are nice if you pick one of the newly renovated modern ones. The older traditional rooms are dated and poorly lit.