And so I shall!

Stayed here during a weekday last week, first time in over five years, and my first time as an HHonors Gold. Using the 50% off suite rate (that is good for all rooms at this hotel) we get the cheapest twin room for about $130 tax and resort fee inclusive. As every room type was available, we got to choose whatever we wanted. Although I really liked to cottages the last time we stayed, we wanted something closer to the spa and onsen that you could get to without a long cold walk outside, so we settled on the Japanese Western Deluxe Suite. Despite the fancy name, this was just like a regular twin room with a extra tatami mat room tacked on. Both rooms had their own balconies with a beautiful view of the ocean, and if you step out onto the balcony at nighttime, you can also see the sparkling lights of the distant downtown Odawara. A pretty decent value for the money.

Unfortunately, Odawara Hilton does not classify any of their rooms as "Executive", so none of the rooms come with access to the brand new Ocean Lounge, which opened last month and replaced the former library area. Ocean Lounge access is free for Diamonds, but everybody else that doesn't have it included in a special room plan must pay 6000 yen per night. The manager wouldn't budge on this, not even to discount the value of the Gold free breakfast, so I wouldn't pay for it as a matter of principle. He did however give us a tour of the room, which is now easily the most stylish place within the entire resort. We went during the early evening period when drinks and light snacks were offered...they did not seem substantial enough to make a meal out of. The highlights of the new room were the stylish furniture, free computer with internet access (which before was free to everyone in the library), and a high-tech massage chair that was a grade higher than the ones available in the Relaxation Room. Though it was prime time and the room comfortably accommodates at least 30 people, there was only one couple in the room enjoying the refreshments.

Although we enjoyed our night at the hotel, it did give off the aura of a place in decline...and perhaps in trouble. There is only one restaurant open during the week, as the poolside restaurant is only open for lunch during the weekends, and the barbeque restaurant in the separate building is only open on special occasions. Rather inconvenient, given that you are a couple of miles away from the nearest outside restaurant, and the shuttle bus to Odawara stops at 5:40pm. A sign noted that the walking trails were closed "due to the recent inclement weather", despite the fact that there had not been any bad weather in nearly two weeks. The downstairs entertainment (bowling, darts, karaoke, etc.) was only open for three hours, from 6 to 9pm. While the Bade Spa area was still nice, there is a lot of rust (literal rust) to be seen within the complex. There is nobody manning the onsen entrance, and many times even the Bade entrance is devoid of staff. These are all areas that are free to paying guests, but I would guess that anybody can probably walk in and use the facilities for free. The Relaxation Room is still free for all guests, but with only about a third of the massage chairs that used to be available. Regular room service runs only until 9pm, and is extremely expensive (the spaghetti bolognese is more expensive than room service at the Park Hyatt!), and after 9pm there are only things like microwave rice balls. The only items in the refrigerator are two waters at 315 yen apiece; we had to call to get the two free bottles of water alloted to Gold members. Past Christmases saw things like giant Gingerbread houses and daily present giveaways; this Christmas features lots of tacky plastic and felt Santas and a temporary store in the middle of the lobby selling Christmas knick-knacks. The last time I stayed I thought that there was a lot of fat that could be trimmed, but it seems that now they have started cutting into the muscle.

But, as I said, despite the previous paragraph, we enjoyed our stay. It was a great deal for the rate, the breakfast buffet was large and tasty, and it was a relaxing change of pace from the chaos of Tokyo. You will especially enjoy it if you are a Diamond. But I think that two days is about the maximum amount of time that you will want to stay...any more than that and you'll start getting stir crazy.