Grand Lectore Yugawara (TKP Hotels & Resorts)

A vegetarian meal with no egg or fish.

It was just okay.

Good!

The private baths were easy to use without booking, and it was helpful that their availability was clearly shown. There was plenty of bottled water in the room fridge for everyone, and I appreciated getting two room keys. The facilities were spotless, and the room was clean and reasonably easy to use. But the experience had a lot of letdowns. The buffet had Japanese, Western, and Chinese food, though most of it wasn't very tasty. Reviews had mentioned a lack of seafood, and that turned out to be true. The imported red shrimp were oversized, while the carpaccio was good. The ajillo ingredients seemed to be salmon, and apparently they only smelled it and couldn't keep up with serving it. The oden was a strange choice alongside the carefully prepared appetizers. The sake-steamed clams seemed popular, but had grit in them. The roast beef was good, but the wine quality stood out in a bad way: it was the very affordable red and white you can find anywhere, and I wish it were better. The salad was sunny lettuce with something, and I wanted more fresh vegetables. Desserts ran out and the selection dwindled, then got replenished unevenly. We kept waiting for karaoke, but it never became available, and other guests were waiting too. They could manage that better. We were told lounge drinks couldn't be taken to the rooms, yet everyone carried them in plastic cups, so I'm not sure what the rule was. There was no tea or coffee in the room, even though there was a kettle and cups. Maybe having drinks in the lounge is why, but it would have been nice to have some in the amenity bar. At breakfast, the coffee was kept warm in a drip kettle and tasted quite sour. If they had a smoothie machine, I thought they could have a coffee machine too. The young night staff member was completely inflexible. They seemed thorough about cleaning and disinfecting, but that was all they did. This was my first all-inclusive stay, and given the overall cost, I wasn't sure it was worth it.