SIZE MATTERS
This is a very small house. We are told by the manager Derek this is pretty normal for Japan. Having been to Japan before we didn’t find places quite this compact. Had we have had the actual rooms sizes in square meters we would not have taken it. There were 5 adults and 1 child in our group.
It says it sleeps 8. That doesn’t mean there are 8 beds, there are actually 6 beds and there are futons in the cupboard that you can put on the floor in the lounge room and sleep.
Honestly, and this isn’t taking away from Derek as he did a great job as a manager but this wasn’t what we expected. This would be great for up to 4 people. The lounge room became the 3rd bedroom for us. The 3rd floor bedroom is a loft and has a ceiling height of about 1.0-1.5 meters. Something to remember in there middle of the night if you wake up. We didn’t use the loft bedroom as it is ONLY accessible through another bedroom which isn’t practical at all.
Sleeping in the lounge room meant you go to bed last on the futon you make up and put away each day and no one else in the house can access the kitchen or bathroom as the bed on the floor blocked the access. Each morning we had to schedule the one bathroom so everyone could take a shower. It took an hour to get out of the house each day.
Put your back to any wall and walk 5 paces, this is the width of the house. Not kidding. TV has no English channels so we didn’t bother with that.
There is a toilet upstairs. I opened the window and I was a hand length to the neighbours window. It’s all very cosy. As Derek was leaving he said “just so you know the walls are paper thin” he wasn’t kidding and we noticed every time someone upstairs went to the toilet.
We like the area, some nice restaurants and cafes but we left early. Actually I had to talk everyone into staying as they all wanted to leave after a walk through on arrival. However since we had paid nearly US$2,500 in advance with the no refund policy I talked them into staying - for part of the stay.
The photos of this property make it look bigger than it is. Also it would be very helpful if they measured the rooms and published them so everyone knows in advance. We own a Resort in Thailand and we know be transparent with all our marketing is paramount to having happy guests 99% of the time.
Overall everything is in the house that you need. It’s just small. If you can deal with ‘compact’ and there are not more than 4 people then this could be an option for you. Not for us I’m afraid.