Gero Kanko Hotel

It was a few years back that we stayed here for a night in December. Still can remember how rude the staffs were. We were driving from the north to the hotel and because it was snowing, traffic was a bit slower than what we have expected. We finally arrived hotel 30 mins later than what we have mentioned in the booking, the lady who checked us in, after acknowledging our booking already put on a long face. We understand that being punctual is very important in Japan and we quickly apologised for our late arrival. The lady after hearing our apology just threw out some cool words: yes, and we did called your phones a few times. At this point we just realized that we forgot to change the SIM card with the no.that the hotel had called. We immediately apologised again, however, the check in lady didn't show any more pleasant face. During the stay was generally okay and the food was average. We booked a room with private onzen but the onzen in the balcony is lack of privacy. People down in the carpark can easily see the bath. I cannot say the staffs were welcoming, hardly saw a smiling face on them. What made it an even more terrible experience was the time we checked out. We were at the room arranging our luggages and we had to drive straight to the airport later. It was a 5 mins late than the announced check out time, the phone rang and the staff in the phone was rushing us to go. We told them we need little more time and were coming soon. However another 5 mins later when we were about to step out of our room, the phone rang again and the staff reminded us the check out time! Come on, it's only a 10 mins time and what could have been done if we left 10 mins earlier? Will you treat your guests in this manner? Of course when we went down, the front desk staff was not welcoming as usual, put on his long face and was annoyed when we were deciding which card to be charged. It was a totally upset experience in this hotel, we don't know what happened to these staffs to make them put on long faces. We love Japan and we have stayed in many different kinds of accommodation in Japan, from B &B to luxury hotels. But never in our experience that we were treated like this. It really ruin our trip that we had met so many kind people.

During Christmas, we stayed one night with 2 meals and a 45-min session of private onsen package. The service was excellent and the meals were OK. The hotel offers free shuttle from Gero Station. It's good that there is a range of yukata of different colours and patterns to choose from.

Stayed for one night en route to Shirakawa-go. This traditional onsen hotel is located mid-hill so the rooms can get a good view of the river running through Gero. Service is top notch as in all onsens. Only a few staff could speak English though. Our room was quite old and there was no amenities in the bathroom at all, so we had to go down to the public bath even if we just wanted a quick shower without hot spring. Hotel offers free pickup and drop off service to JR station which was great. Overall it was an enjoyable stay but I think there might be other better options in Gero with the same price.