Umito the Salon Izu

Nice and clean, quiet and comfortable, are the good features of the "salon" - what's missing is the sense of hospitality and convenience for customors. Check in and check out timing are imposingly narrow (there is no one to process your check in afer 6pm and check out before 9am). These policies have not been communicated to us neither before reservation nor after the reservation. We had to change our plan - and had to pay extra cost for transportation for these limitatioins. We had to check out 8:50am and since there was "no one" in the reception area -we had a good breakfast, fully served, so there was a few hotel staff at the time. We called reception number and hotel number a few times, but no one picked up the phone. We left the room key and message that we are ready to settle the accound either credit card or bank transfer, and please bill us, at 8:55 or 9:00 am. The repeated telephone calls annoyed us at around 9:30 am for about half an hour though we could not picked them up as we are driving 100 km/h in highways, relatively congested, and we were in a hurry. Later that day, we received an email message, stating with a stressful wording: "Dear Customer, you have left the room without proper check out process, and you did not pick up our telephone calls. Here is the bill. Please pay it immediately, and you are supposed to pay the bank transfer fee as well." There was no further explanation, apology, or a sense of gratitude. No explanation about how we can receive the itemized bill or receipt by email or mail. Simply, unprofessional. In reply, I summarized the above situation and refer to my private lawyer to further negotiate the issue if any, including the bank transfer fee we are not sure if we are "supposed to cover" given the circumstances. For facility, overall fine, but the bathtub (in photo) was totally different in the room. The pool was full of mud, and was no use. No one allowed in the garden. I have had overall excellent experience with other "Umito" hotel resorts - but this place simply does not deserve its name. What a shame.