I was in Tomioka for my internship at the Silk Mill. This is ...
続きを読むthe nearest accommodation available so I had booked my stay for 23 days (Aug 27-Sept 21). No meals provided and the “hotel” is managed by an old man.
UNREASONABLE HOUSE RULES THAT WAS NOT STATED ON ANY WEBSITES
BRING YOUR OWN BATH TOWEL. DO NOT USE THE YELLOW TOWEL PROVIDED IN THE ROOM.
OLD MAN MANAGING THE “HOTEL” IS INCOHERENT
I was told the rules AFTER I paid in full amount.
- Curfew 10pm (some websites stated 11pm)
- Shower time is only allowed at 530pm-9pm (not stated in any website)
- Weekend restriction: leave the “hotel” from 10am-2pm. (not stated in any website)
I was called on the phone at 950pm to “come back immediately” as the old man “will lock the doors”. I heard from locals working in the local restaurants that some guests did not received any reminder calls from the old man and was locked out that night.
I was asked to leave the “hotel” on weekends from 10am-2pm as they will “clean the rooms” and “to prevent theft during cleaning hours”, guests are asked to “leave the hotel”. On Sept 3 (Sat) morning, I found some bugs in the room and requested for the room to be cleaned thoroughly but the old man said the cleaner is only available during weekdays(?!). So the old man came to my room to remove the bugs using a yellow cloth similar to the “bath towels” provided in the room. I was lucky that I brought my own bath towel and did not use the one provided.
ROOMS DO NOT LOOK AS CLEAN AS SHOWN ON PICTURES POSTED ON WEBSITES
BRING DISINFECTANT SPRAY OR TISSUE
The room walls, curtains and carpets was stained, rooms smelt of cigarettes, bedsheets had hair from previous guest(s), cupboard in the room is locked and unusable by guests, air conditioning was very old (20 years old as mentioned by the old man), and I woke up to new bugs/worms(eg. Cockroaches, fly, unknown creepy crawlies) in the room every morning. The room looked nothing like the pictures posted on websites. Better to bring disinfectant sprays for the room.
THE ROOMS ARE FULL OF BUGS
On Aug 28 (second day of my stay), I woke up to an unknown creepy crawly on the walls in my room. I went to the counter to ring the bell for the old man to come over to remove the bug. The old man told me that there are cockroaches and moths appearing in the rooms very frequently, especially at the lower floors. Every day during my stay, there were cockroaches and fly and other unknown bugs appearing in my room. I told the old man about the bug issue in the room and he accused me of bringing the bugs back from my workplace.
NO 24/7 CUSTOMER SERVICE
Nobody is ready at the counter. Guests will have to ring the bell for the old man to come over from his own house right behind the “hotel”. It is connected to the “hotel” and is visible from the lobby. The house looks new and well maintained as compared to the “hotel”.
NOT SAFE
On Aug 29, (first day of my internship) I came back after work and I was told that the local police came to check on guests staying in this “hotel”. I was suspected of terrorism and was asked to provide details and documents for identity verification. I had never stayed in a hotel where I was suspected for such claims. I changed to a proper hotel in the same town (10 mins walk away) and like every other hotels I stayed before, nothing similar happened. I realized I was not the only victim when I found comments from previous guests on websites stating he/she was also asked personal questions until he/she felt uncomfortable replying. I really wonder what had happened before that lead to the local police checking out guests of this “hotel”.
AIR-CONDITIONING WAS OLD AND NOT WORKING
OLD MAN MANAGING THE “HOTEL” IS INCOHERENT, RUDE AND RACIST.
The air-conditioning was old and it took at least 2 hours for it to start blowing cold air. Even though it was slow, at least it still worked until the night of Sept 5 the air-conditioning was only blowing hot air the entire night. I had to work the next day and I could not sleep because I was sweating so much, I could not even take a cold shower because the bathroom was not available other than during the allowed time. So at midnight, I had no choice but to ring the bell at the lobby for anyone to come help me with the air-conditioning. The old man appeared after I rang the bell thrice. He told me that the air-conditioning was very old and told me that I should not adjust the temperature on the remote control because it will go haywire. I asked to change to a clean and well-maintained room but the old man told me that all the rooms are the same. I was tired and hot and I just wanted to sleep so I stayed in my room that night as the air-conditioning started to work again.
The next morning, the old man was already waiting at the counter when I wanted to return the room keys before going out for work. He was angry and told me I was “complaining too much about the “hotel” being dirty and since I do not like the “hotel”, please look for another place to stay.” He also stated that he “could not sleep after waking up in the middle of the night”(?!). So, I was kicked out by the old man after enduring all the bad service stated above. I stayed calm and told him that I will check out once I found a place to stay. He replied that he will “have to bear with it” until I move out.
I came back from work the same day and told the old man that I was going to check out next day morning. He told me to come back at night for the refund. So I went back to the “hotel” on Sept 7 7pm for the refund. He said that he is a 真面目な人 (serious person) so he is refunding me the remaining 12 nights that I have paid. I did not understand why he wanted to state that but I just wanted to get over with it. I signed the refund receipt stating that I have received the refund of the remaining 12 nights. Then, I was showed another receipt for compensation of air-conditioning and remote control, cancellation fee, and 2 revenue stamps. Then, he passed me an envelope of the remaining refund which he had arbitrarily deducted the compensation fee. I was in shock but I calmly ask for the reason for me to pay compensation for the old air-conditioning, cancellation fee for cancelling the remaining 12 nights but I was on the other hand kicked out by the old man, and also revenue stamps which was supposed to be paid to the government by the business owner. He got very angry and started to scold me that I did not respect Japanese custom because I woke him up in the middle of the night, broke his air-conditioning and did not want to pay the compensation. (All the above conversation was recorded on my phone.)
What an accusation. You call yourself a hotel but you do not even have proper basic facilities and services a hotel should provide, your air-conditioning is old and problematic even before I checked in and it is still blowing hot air the day I checked out, I did not “not wanting to pay the compensation” as you already deducted it from the refund. All I did was ask for the reason for me to pay for such claims. He even threatened to call the police. I insisted but he looked shock and asked me to call the police myself because “it was my fault”. So he called his wife out to the lobby, and proceeded to insult me in front of his wife saying that I am a foreigner, I do not understand simple Japanese language and basic Japanese customs and that I am a不真面目な人 that had caused him trouble and that he will not even let me stay for another night even if I could not find any other accommodation. I left the “hotel” after being scolded and insulted for an hour. I went to the local police station myself with the voice recording.
FOREIGNERS NOT WELCOMED.
On Sept 8, my supervisor and colleague from my internship came with me to the “hotel” to listen to the old man’s part of the story but I was further insulted by the old man in front of his wife, my supervisor and colleague, saying I was a troublemaker and that he should not have allowed a foreigner to stay in his “hotel”.
TO PAY 4500YEN/NIGHT FOR SUCH SERVICE IS OBNOXIOUS. I WAS UNDER SO MUCH STRESS DURING MY STAY THERE. IT WAS AN AWFUL EXPERIENCE FOR ME AND I HOPE NOBODY WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH SIMILAR EXPERIENCE. JUST DO NOT STAY IN THIS ACCOMMODATION.
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