Hotel Umine

“View with private onsen”

This hotel is located by the sea. The sunsets were breathtaking, and I had my own private onsen that I thoroughly took advantage of. The room was apartment like with a mixture of old and new styles. Despite the lack of English in room, and by hotel staff...it was still a good experience.

“Beautiful hotel with a great view”

The entrance of this quaint hotel is unassuming and narrow. The reception area gives off a modern vibe, but it is when you arrive at your room that your breath is taken away. A personal onsen coupled with a gorgeous view of the sea. The furnishings are is a mix of modern and traditional that come... more

The entrance of this quaint hotel is unassuming and narrow. The reception area gives off a modern vibe, but it is when you arrive at your room that your breath is taken away. A personal onsen coupled with a gorgeous view of the sea. The furnishings are is a mix of modern and traditional that come together really well.

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“Lovely hotel, a bit expensive”

Walked in room 201 and was immediately underwhelmed as room was more run down vs. in the booking.com pictures. Therefore the downsides first: toilet room lay out strange & basic: You stare straight at a urinal Bath/onsen shower room (separate from toilet for hygiene reasons): shower curtain abso... more

Walked in room 201 and was immediately underwhelmed as room was more run down vs. in the booking.com pictures. Therefore the downsides first: toilet room lay out strange & basic: You stare straight at a urinal Bath/onsen shower room (separate from toilet for hygiene reasons): shower curtain absolutely a must as 2nd floor view faces beach directly, but it was mouldy & the semi open air bathtub/onsen in my room was not attractive (looked rundown) and not much privacy ... but I ended up enjoying it at 5 am in semi darkness looking up at the moonset checkout contrary to info on booking.com was 10 and not 11 am teppanyaki restaurant had no atmo as it was brightly lit like a fast food chain went to the bar post dinner (I was part of the 6 pm seating) and was told the bar opens from 9-11 pm only On the upside: Good food: surprisingly good teppanyaki dinner with seasonal ingredients, and lovely Japanese breakfast, dinner was washed down with shots of yummy local sake Sensational location: Room 201 has an impressive view of the Matogahama beach, there are lots of restaurants around in case you come without a car and stay a few nights Charming and service. Ie: They have staff during check in hours waiting for you in their parking lot (so you don’t end up missing the hotel), several staff speak English, including waiter at dinner that spoke fluent Japanese & English—interesting chap from uzbekistan. Great night sleep as the heater kept the room toasty, peaceful and quiet I rented a car so it was easy to visit the bright blue bubbling “hells” and drive through the town with plumes of smoke At over Usd500 per night (halfboard), not a perfect hotel but would be easy to spruce up, it was lovely for a weekend of peace & with the onsen bath, incredibly relaxing and healing. Rated a 3 because of the price.

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“Not the experience we expected ”

We had high hopes when we booked to stay here given it was #1 on TripAdvisor. Sadly we left underwhelmed and unsure what others had seen. To be fair to the hotel I will highlight a balanced account of the areas so you can be clearer than we were about what to expect before you choose to stay here... more

We had high hopes when we booked to stay here given it was #1 on TripAdvisor. Sadly we left underwhelmed and unsure what others had seen. To be fair to the hotel I will highlight a balanced account of the areas so you can be clearer than we were about what to expect before you choose to stay here. Hotel is on the beach and a 15 min walk from the station. To get to the Beppu Hell Pools you’ll need to take a taxi (JPY 1,400) or the bus which goes from the station every 30 mins. The building from the outside is very underwhelming. There are plenty of bars and restaurants a 10-15 min walk from the hotel, so a great central location. Room is large and had the feel of an apartment Lots of nice touches in the room such as body creams etc however some of the furnishings were dated and the overall finishing of the room felt poor. Bed was comfortable The Onsen area in the room had no view and was contained in a glass room which meant it got very hot and wasn’t particularly pleasant. Shower is also in this area meaning you finish your shower sweating. Looking at photos, we think we were unlucky with the room we were given. The gender separated open air rooftop Onsen is good although the modesty screen means there’s no view from the bath area itself Breakfast was a traditional Japanese one with dry fish, rice porridge and other pickled dishes. No explanation was given on what each item was or how it was supposed to be eaten despite there being an English speaking waiter All information in the room is in Japanese without an English version, we had the same issue in the sister hotel. The walls between rooms are thin and therefore noise travels. We had children running / jumping around upstairs which was incredibly loud and resulted in us complaining, which sadly didn’t resolve the problem and it woke us the next morning Staff were effective (apart from in dealing with the noise issues) and efficient but lacked genuine warmth. We came here with high expectations given the past reviews. The bathroom and poor furnishings were a ‘no’ for us. We subsequently stayed at their Sister hotel (Kannawaen) and had a far superior experience and I would highly recommend staying there ahead of here even if there was a significant price difference for the room.

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