Hotel Alegria Gardens Amakusa

The hotel's atmosphere will give you a taste of what it might have been during the bubble era of Japan. The decorations, painting, chandelier, furnitures, and the view definitely are things that would have been luxurious. That being said, the hotel has had better days. Not sure if its because of Covid or just saving money but when we arrived at the front to check-in, there was no-one there to greet us or help us with our bags. There was also no welcome drink, but we were presented with a coupon to use during breakfast for a special drink (I think because of the room we booked, 501). If you have difficulties with stairs, DO NOT book rooms 501 or 502 as there are about 5 steps after the elevator to get to the room. The rooms however have the floor to themselves and the view is pretty nice. I believe both rooms have their own private jacuzzi but I think 501 has a bigger patio space. The room was nicely appointed with comfy beds, a CD player with radio antenna, TV, sofa, and arm chair with ottoman. The curtains were electronically opened and closed via the bedside controls. there is also a set of curtains for the bed for more privacy if someone decides to watch TV while the other is trying to sleep. The patio and jacuzzi is connected via sliding door through the living room or bathroom. Dinner was served on the 1st floor. It was pretty but sadly not too tasty. The fish courses were not properly cooked so they came out on the dry side. I think the best dishes were the appetizers and the chocolate cake for dessert. Breakfast was served on B1 floor and it was buffet style with western dishes and Japanese dishes on offer. The stand out for breakfast were the french toast and fresh fruit. Oh, be careful, what looks like hard boiled eggs in shell are actually soft boiled (onsen tamago) but sadly these and the scrambled eggs were cold. There is also a shuttle service that would take you to the public bath up the hill. The bath was also free and they will even give you the 10 yen to operate the locker. If your room does not have the dinner plan, you can go here and have the bento boxes, which seemed very popular. There is also a small gift shop, vending machines, and snacks for purchase here.Since it is a public bath it can be crowed at times but it does have a few bathtubs on offer so give it a try. Overall, I would say its not a bad hotel for a day or two as a get-away from the city. And there is a park/beach in front that you could explore if the weather is warm enough that can be easily accessed from the hotel. BUT again, the hotel is NOT completely barrier free.