Gen Hotel Kamakaura

It was a bit dusty, but otherwise, the facilities and services were great. In the morning, you can grab a coffee at Verve, just across the street; both their iced Americano and iced latte are excellent. Kamakura is such a relaxing place, perfect for spending a night and soaking in the chill atmosphere.

My check-in experience was really bad. When I arrived at the hotel, I found out it was self-service with no front desk. The iPad on the self-check-in machine was broken, making it impossible to operate. I contacted Ctrip customer service to help communicate with the hotel, and they sent a video tutorial. But what good is a video if the machine is broken? I had a reservation, and after asking Ctrip to contact them multiple times, I waited for almost an hour and a half, and there was still no solution. Later, a Japanese couple arrived and called the hotel directly on the spot, and the hotel immediately gave them the key box code. Hotel staff never appeared throughout the entire process. This wasted a full two hours; I arrived at 3 PM and didn't get checked in until it was almost dark, effectively ruining half my day's itinerary. The hotel is also about a 15-minute walk from Kamakura subway station. On the map, it looks close to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, but from the third-floor window, you can only see a small corner of it. The overall room layout was okay, but the mattress was incredibly uncomfortable. You could clearly feel the individual springs, making it very lumpy to lie on. If possible, I'd definitely choose a different hotel.

I booked through Trip.com, so I didn't receive a confirmation email from the hotel. It said the check-in instructions would be there, but after waiting a few days with nothing, I sent an email to the address listed on Trip.com saying, 'My name is [Your Name], staying on [Date] for [Number] nights. Please provide check-in instructions.' I received a reply and my check-in code that same day! If you pre-register your guest information via the URL in the email, it'll be reflected at check-in, making the process quick! Don't forget to enter the age for all guests!! To check in, select the check-in code and confirm your guest information. (I forgot to enter ages, so I couldn't proceed for a while 😭). After a video call with the call center, I entered the password to get the key 🔑! One key is already in the room! The room is clean, and everything is perfectly fine, except for the bathroom's poor ventilation, which leads to some odor and mold. Even if your room number doesn't appear for Wi-Fi, the password is the same for all networks, so you can choose any. You can take the key with you! To return it, just drop it in the mailbox, and you're done! The complimentary drink service I read about in reviews is probably no longer available! The Sanrio Cafe? was no longer on the first floor!

The air conditioning smelled, but the room itself was clean. When checking in, they asked for some kind of verification code which I hadn't received via email or anything, so it was unclear and I had to call them multiple times.

This was a really clean hotel! It's a shame they don't offer baggage storage for just carry-on items. There were lockers available for 500 yen though!