Shirahone 3 Stars Hotels

"I had high hopes for this hotel because of the onsen, so we booked three nights in a japanese-style room with half- board (breakfast and dinner). First, this hotel is located in the middle of nowhere. You cannot walk to town or any restaurants outside of the hotel property. The closest town is Hirayu Onsen, which is a ten-minute bus ride. We should've stayed there instead. We've been traveling all over Japan for the past five weeks so we've stayed at several hotels before this one. This hotel is the worst so far. If I had to pick one main reason for my low rating, it would be the front desk staff, specifically the Japanese male manager. He was borderline rude. Did not speak a lick of English. The foreign workers are the nice ones. Here, the japanese service staff are surprisingly cold and unwelcoming. They gave us the impression that they do not like western tourists. As I mentioned earlier, we pre--paid for the kaiseki breakfast and dinners. All but one (dinner on the second night) were huge disappointments. We should've just eaten in town, even with the inconvenience. The Japanese-style rooms are subjective. I would never do it again. The tatami beds are just too hard on my back. The onsen is nice. We tried all of them and found the ones outside (shared) were just too hot for us. I guess this is the only redeeming feature of this hotel, but you can also find a better hotel option in town (Hirayu Onsen) where you can walk to many restaurants and the bus station."