Hoshino Resorts KAI Beppu

Overall service was lacklustre for a Ryokan under Hoshino, no introduction of room, no luggage service, no explanation of meal (eg. types of sashimi fish etc). Standard of food was also pretty average at this price point. Entire hotel and room was pretty dark with dim lighting at night. Room design was great though with great view and good size private wooden onsen.

Many small details. Fun and very nicely relaxing resort Ocean view is wide and great breathing way. Nice name brand (Kai) Resort woth small onsen(Hot Spring)

The food is not traditional Japanese style. You never know the bite is sweet or salty. The room is aged and not well maintained. The only exciting aspect is the view.

The facility itself is quite nice but the service is terrible. When we arrived, there was no one at the front desk and there was no bell to call for services. Staff members walked around without checking on us. When someone finally showed up, she kept asking about our names and confirmation and claimed that she could not find our reservation. We were puzzled because the rooms were all paid for when we made the reservation. After much waiting and back and forth, they finally admitted to us that they gave our rooms to another party. When we waited there for them to sort out their mistakes, our kids went playing in their daily game area. A guy impatiently told us that we can only play the games after we check in. Hey, whose fault was that? After our newly made rooms were finally ready, they kept asking us whether we wanted to check in. While they apologized, they showed no intent to compensate for the inconvenience. We were a party of 10 and really had no better options. We finally checked in. After they had multiple meetings, they decided to offer us free beverages. I will never come back here.

Amazing service by Yoshi san of Dining, Amy of Front Desk. The hotel is small with limited facilities but they try their best to create activities with guest engagements such as morning exercise, sake drinking for free, onsen water lab education, music entertainment and some games for guests to enjoy. Highly recommended.

A Deeply Disappointing Stay (July 6–7, 2025) (All communication with KAI Beppu was documented) We traveled with over 20 family members and stayed at KAI Beppu. Given the reputation and premium pricing of Hoshino Resorts, we had high expectations — but the experience was deeply disappointing and completely unacceptable. With service like this, we’ll never return. 🔹 Check-In Chaos: Wrong Guest List, No Prior Confirmation When we arrived, a staff member boarded our bus and handed out a completely incorrect rooming list — five rooms were listed under the same name. One week before our stay, I had submitted the full list of guest names through the official booking system and by email. I even received written confirmation that everything was in order. And yet, this very basic error happened, forcing our entire group to wait on the bus for nearly 45 minutes while staff tried to fix it. According to the hotel staff, the booking system and front desk weren’t properly connected — and even worse, they casually told us, “This has happened before.” Seriously? That’s your excuse? If this is a known issue, why hasn’t it been fixed? Why should guests continue to suffer because of your internal communication problems? 🔹 No Cultural or Health Consideration for Meals Before our stay, we submitted a full list of allergies and dietary restrictions. The hotel replied, saying: "We can accommodate allergies, but not personal preferences." We respected that, and we didn’t expect them to customize every dish. But when it comes to health and cultural needs, the handling was unacceptable. For example: some of our elderly family were advised by doctors to avoid raw food, but the hotel offered no alternatives. Several people of my family do not eat beef due to Taiwanese cultural beliefs. We’ve stayed at many other hotels and restaurants in Japan that were happy to make substitutions — why was that impossible here? Even worse: One of our family members has a severe milk allergy. He sat in his assigned seat, and everything seemed fine — until one dish was served with dairy. Only after he ate it did staff come over to say they had made a mistake. That is completely unacceptable. Thankfully, he had medication on hand — if he hadn’t, this could have ended very badly. What’s most frustrating is that all of this was clearly communicated before our arrival and confirmed by the hotel. These weren’t last-minute requests. This shows a serious lack of sensitivity to guest health and cultural needs — and poor risk management for a hotel that welcomes international travelers. 🔹 No Manager Ever Apologized Despite everything that happened, no manager ever came to speak with us, explain, or apologize. There was a clear lack of responsibility or sincerity — and none of the “OMOTENASHI” (Japanese hospitality) that Hoshino Resorts constantly advertises. Honestly, it was ridiculous. 🔹 Huge Gap Between Brand and Reality I’ve stayed at many hotels all over Japan — even small local inns — and they’ve consistently provided better service than what we experienced here. For a brand as well-known and expensive as Hoshino Resorts, this was shockingly poor service. ⚠️ I would not recommend KAI Beppu or Hoshino Resorts to anyone. I sincerely hope this feedback is taken seriously and leads to real changes — because no other guest should have to go through what we did.

2nd time I stayed at KAI Beppu...and this time it was as memorable as 2023, my family really enjoyed the views, food and hospitality! We loved seeing the sunrise and being in proximity of LofT, Muji, Don Quijote and bus services to the Hells of Beppu. Forgot to get the names of crew who tended to us during dinnertime (one was a young man from Hong Kong and another a Japanese lady who had to rush off to perform the evening water drumming). The food for breakfast and dinner was tasty, and super filling. Albeit, there was a kataifi wrapper fried fish dish that was later seen at KAI Kirishima too.. so tad repetitive. Nonetheless, I will highly recommend this lodging to anyone who visits Beppu.. and will also stay here again when I visit. Thank you KAI Beppu crew!

We had a wonderful stay at Kai Beppu. This Kai appears to be more geared for family stays but the rooms are still wonderfully decorated and with magnificent views of the sea. We booked a room with a private onsen. The private onsen is excellent for foreigners like my wife and I not comfortable with public onsen. The food provided is excellent which is typical Hoshino Kai flare if you are aware of the brand. We were lucky and caught both days of the Christmas fireworks by Beppu City. We drove and found that from the hotel, the access to the jigokus and even Yufuin is fairly accessible with reasonable drive time. The hotel provides fun activities if you have children with you on your stay.