Just completed a return stay at Asaba and a first time stay at Arcana Izu.

Asaba was fantastic as usual, though a few small mishaps this time. 1) They forgot to load a bag at check out into our vehicle (thankfully we caught it before leaving Shuzenji), 2) we asked the staff for the name of the artist who made one of the beautiful bowls at the boutique which they promised to find out, but we never received the answer and we forgot to follow up before leaving, 3) we continue to be impressed by how well they maintain the facilities in general, but there were so many mosquitoes this time. We also found a few dusty air vents in the room. We had a wonderful stay nonetheless and the food was even better than our last visit. We stayed at Ugetsu and enjoyed the room. We are returning in December and trying Hagoromo.

Arcana was a letdown unfortunately. The room was tired and service felt very transactional. The food was excellent but we were very disappointed by the service at the restaurant. There were spider webs all over the wooden sculptural plate they used to present the amuse bouche. After we pointed that out, the waitstaff simply said sorry and we didn’t hear anything from the manager or chef. It certainly wasn’t a language issue, as my partner is Japanese and I also speak the language fluently. For 170k a night, I would have preferred to stay an extra night at Asaba even in the smallest room.