Hoshino Resorts KAI Kaga

A waitress from Yamagata, who spoke English fluently, served us during dinner. When she learned that my son would be visiting Yonezawa, she kindly wrote him a note with her restaurant recommendations. Her hospitality and thoughtfulness beautifully reflected the warm spirit of the staff at Kai Kaga.

My wife and I had a fantastic stay at KAI Kaga to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and the hospitality from the team truly enhanced our experience. We are thankful for the attentive service and assistance we received throughout our visit. The staff is young and energetic, always serving guests with cheerful smiles, which left a lasting impression on us. However, I would like to mention one area for improvement: the lack of a complimentary shuttle bus service from Kaga Onsen station to the resort. Given the premium price we paid for our stay, it was disappointing to find that nearby resorts offer this basic service to their guests.

We stayed for two nights in June for the Kaga Ultra Trail Running Race. Before booking, we requested an earlier breakfast than their standard 7am. After several emails, they offered onigiri at 6:30 AM, which we highly appreciated. It’s one of the reasons we booked this hotel. However, the onigiri was disappointing, lacking flavor and far below convenience store quality. Had we known they couldn’t properly arrange this early breakfast for race day, we would have chosen a different hotel. We asked for a bucket of drinkable ice to come with the onigiri on the day before and in the race morning. As it was extremely hot that day. However they only deliver the onigiri. We booked three rooms through the hotel’s official website months ahead, clearly stating that my partner does not eat cooked fish. We communicated this dietary restriction three times: during booking, through our friends who arrived a day earlier, and again upon our arrival. Despite this, the first night’s dinner included fish tempura and puffer fish nabe. The staff suggested my partner set the fish aside or eat it raw, which was unsuitable given the race the next day. After 30 minutes of discussion, they provided a small pork portion. The dinner portions were also unusually small, leaving our group of six unsatisfied. When we addressed the issue at reception, the staff did not apologize and stated they couldn’t accommodate dietary requests on the day of arrival, disregarding our prior notifications. When we mentioned my friend shared that one day before our arrival, then they found the note, then apologise. The next day’s dinner was acceptable. A staff member later apologized in Mandarin, which we don’t speak, and repeated the same excuse, showing a lack of understanding of our concerns. This felt dismissive and poorly handled. Other than the poor meal arrangement, the yukata provided in room were too small, and despite requesting larger sizes, we received the same small ones the next day. The public onsen was small, luckily we booked the in-room onsen. Highlight: We chose this hotel for its appealing design, clear email communication ( only email) and their agreement to accommodate an early breakfast for race day. However, the overall experience was very disappointing due to the failure to honor our repeatedly communicated dietary needs, substandard hospitality, and poor breakfast quality. Given this experience, we will not stay at another KAI Hotel in the future.