Rendaiji Spa Kurhaus Ishibashi Hotel

The appearance from outside is super traditional & rustic. The room is basic but with the oldest appliances. Like the dated mini fridge, the VCR, and a diffuser for the rectangular mosquito repellent (only those who grew up in Japan decades ago would know what it is). So tacky to charge ¥100 for 30 min of video. Wow. Tv is free thank God! The faucet had rust stains and the in room shower stall has a big hole on the wall (as a vent??) They don’t keep the lights on at night so every night we’ve gone back it’s been dark. They just leave one door unlocked and our key left on the counter. I guess we’re the only guests do no one will take our key?? 😅😅😅 They offer meals but I didn’t ask for food. Glad I didn’t…I saw the reviews. Safety…Uh, it doesn’t feel safe walking INSIDE of the hotel especially they TURN OFF THE LIGHTS in the hallway so we have to walk in darkness through a very long hallway/tunnel to get to the building with the rooms. 😱😱😱 The faucet had rust stains and the in room shower stall has a big hole on the wall (as a vent??) Customer service—or lack of. The older man and older woman I think the owners, are very nice but the other dude, it seems to me their son, is SO rude. From the check in to walking us to the room, his condescending tone and uncaring manner by the way he just kept walking fast even though we had my elderly dad who can’t walk fast. He did nothing to help bring the luggage up that my daughter was carrying either. He took the lighter bag and zoomed up the stairs and just waited for us to come up. Before that, he blurted out that “you have two reservation so we have two rooms prepared”. Why would I book two rooms for myself and my teenage daughter? Wouldn’t any normal concierge catch a system glitch and contact me beforehand to check? I guess they’re hurting for money that they’d rather try to coerce customer to pay double. Glad my dad was there to sternly say that’s not reasonable and shouldn’t force me to pay for their mistake. This was also the presumed son doing all the rude talk. There were numerous handmade signs of pieces of paper with room numbers. Very unprofessional. The best part is the Onsen.(hot springs) the women’s has three different pools and one that you sit under the stream of hot spring water. The sauna has been shut off and it says it’s closed since Covid. The outside pool (rock tub) is nice to be in after you get hot from the inside ones. It’s just a very old building that hasn’t been maintained and obviously trying to cut cost. They asked what time we’re coming back but I just told them I don’t know. I guess they shut everything down at a certain time. They should at lease keep the lights (outside and hallways) if there’s any guests… I guess the real best part of the hotel is the outside, the way it seems to be the traditional old school Japanese inn…once inside it feels like “Hills Have Eyes”. There is a large party room and “exercise room” but the machines are dated (the stand up and shake you machine?!?!) and a little “ring” inside the room where you supposed to walk around for health. It’s literally 5ft wide. Every common room had the lights off so everywhere you look it’s eerie. SO creepy. I feel bad for the owners. The nice people because the rude “son” is killing their business. This could be a good place if they’d just focus on the rustic charm and kill it with great service AND keeping the lights on.

Location is decent; 10min walk from Rendaiji station and a 45min stroll to Shimoda. Hotel itself is old but rooms were decently maintained, apart from the shower which I wouldn't recommend using. The place itself is big with many winding corridors, most of which are humid and damp. Staff was friendly, and provided us with umbrellas to use when it was raining. We returned after 10pm and they seemed to be fine with that, after which we used the onsen till about 10:30. The place is due for a renovation but for the reasonable price during high season (august), it's a satisfactory place to stay.

My family and i had a great day at the beach but when we get to this hotel they destroy all the good moments the staff is very rude they make us feel like trash and they welcome us with no respect and when we ask for apology they dont want to apologize and told us to forget about what happen and they dont allow us to take pictures and video and the hotel close at 9pm so we have to get hurry back after we have dinner outside but all the restaurant are far from the hotel that was the worst hotel i've ever been!!!