Aso Plaza Hotel

This is a very unique hotel, even nationwide, home to a mystical place overflowing with mysterious power where you can experience spoon bending. To bet on spoon bending, you must pay the entrance fee at the reception in the adjacent cafe. Apparently, you must follow a set route and complete each mission one by one. It's important to bow to the Five Peaks of Aso, showing your gratitude. The rooms have a retro feel, and the lobby's design, which makes the most of that retro feel, adds to the nostalgia. The food was buffet-style, with just the right amount of food, so you wouldn't get bored. The dining area was comfortable and about the size of a wedding reception. The courtyard is lit up at night. Leaving the dining area, there is a gift shop, and next to it is a room reminiscent of the early Showa era, which appears to have been used as a library. This hotel must have a lot of history. There were also some Mucha paintings, which I wasn't able to see in the Czech Republic. The overall retro feel of the hotel makes it a comfortable stay, even for those not so keen on high-tech.

I stayed from January 7th to 8th, 2026. It was a partner program with my company, so I stayed for 25,500 yen per person. Dinner seemed to be a +plus plan, which included Akagyu beef stew, tomato sukiyaki, and sushi rolls. I was so excited to try the Akagyu beef that I checked in without eating outside. I had also mentioned that I was pregnant and could not eat aperitifs, raw food, or anything undercooked. When I checked in, the room itself was very clean, but it felt very cramped, probably because it had a hot spring attached, as it was a unit bath with no sink. Next, dinner. This was absolutely terrible. I was greeted by a foreign woman with glasses and long bangs who had her hair tied up in a bun. After explaining that drinks were self-service, I was told that staff would initially bring me rice and miso soup, and that refills would be self-service. As the meal progressed, I decided I wanted rice, so I asked the female employee again if I wanted to wait for the rice before getting it myself, and then asked if it was okay for her to bring it to me. She said, "Okay, I'll bring it," and went to the back. After a while, the Akagyu sushi roll was brought to me. At this point, I realized she didn't understand Japanese or that we weren't able to communicate. The Akagyu sushi roll was very cold and hard, and disappointing. In the end, the rice never arrived, so I asked another older man, and he said I could get it myself from the beginning, which left me wondering what all the previous explanation and the wait were for. The older man didn't even apologize for his incorrect instructions, and he spoke in a very unpleasant manner, as if he'd misunderstood us and made it seem like there was no way he would have given such instructions. I realized partway through that the Matsumae salad contained squid, and I wasn't sure if it was cooked through, so I was too scared to eat it. Also, the Akaushi beef sukiyaki was lit without any explanation (such as when to open the lid, or whether an employee would open it for me or I would do it myself), and steam started to come out. I wanted to open the lid, but there was no place to put the hot lid. I watched the staff, but there were no foreign women there, and the other people (small men and older men) ignored me, so I opened it carefully to avoid getting burned, and the Akaushi beef was overcooked and rock hard. It ruined the delicious meat and was completely unappetizing. I left most of it. And finally, the beef stew was cold, tough, and too sour, so it was also not tasty. I thought it was terrible that everything in the +plus plan was so bad. Also, I appreciate the accommodations they made for me as a pregnant woman, but the sashimi I received was just konjac sashimi (which I didn't want) and three small pieces of yuba (which was disgusting). The horse sashimi was served as some kind of tempura (no explanation, oily, and just bones), and it wasn't tasty at all. My husband's horse sashimi was apparently served with dried-out onions because they had been sitting for too long. I didn't want someone as uncommunicative as the female staff member to come forward. The breakfast buffet was also freezing cold, and the food, including the thick omelet and lotus root with spicy sauce, was inedible. The only things we could eat were fruit, yogurt, and bread. As we were leaving the dining area, a short man was standing at the exit, probably talking to someone, with his elbows on the table and bowing in a very slumped position, which was very unpleasant. Finally, when it came to putting on makeup in the room, none of the mirrors had enough lighting to allow us to do so. We did it in the unit bathroom, but it was too small and we couldn't spread out our cosmetics, which was very inconvenient. In that case, I would have preferred to stay at another inn for just one night and spend the money on a delicious meal outside instead of spending my money on this kind of accommodation. The hotel I stayed at in Kagoshima the night before had a great room, very attentive service, and surprisingly delicious food, so I expected a really nice hotel if I was paying a higher price. But now I feel silly for having spent money on a hotel where the food was so bad and the service so poor. I want a refund. I'll never use this hotel again.

The food was delicious. The view from the room was amazing.