Hotel Big Marine Amami in Amami

This place is really awful.

I've stayed at various cheap hotels in Japan and abroad, but this is the first time I've had such an unbelievable experience.

I'll summarize it briefly below, but it's going to be quite long.

① Underwear theft at the laundromat

My underwear was stolen at the laundromat on the hotel premises.

There was a sign saying, "The hotel is not responsible for any troubles, please report any troubles to the police yourself." I think this is a normal response for a hotel, but the way the sign was written suggests that there have been many underwear thefts like this in the past.

It's my fault for being careless and returning to my room because it's on the hotel premises, but there is not a single surveillance camera, even though there have been many underwear thefts. The only crime deterrent is the ALSOK sticker. What does it mean that the hotel knows that underwear thefts have occurred many times, but they don't even install surveillance cameras?

Of course I looked everywhere and checked with the front desk, but my underwear has still not been found. The front desk just gave me a wry smile and that was the end of it.

I have also filed a police report. The Amami Police Station was within walking distance of the hotel, and they were very accommodating and rushed over to investigate the scene. The culprit has not been caught, but if you have any trouble, please consult the Amami Police Station immediately.

② I was yelled at by an elderly female staff member at the front desk

This hotel also operates a rental car business, and one of its selling points is that you can rent a car immediately at the hotel front desk 24 hours a day.

So, when I called the front desk to rent a car on the morning of the day, the elderly female staff member's face quickly became tense and she yelled at me, "I told you to make a reservation the day before, didn't I?! I have to prepare the paperwork and so on!!! We don't have any light cars left?!"

First of all, I didn't hear anything like that. This female staff member was also noticeable for missing explanations in other interactions, and there were many times when I first learned about things from other staff members, so I think she probably thought she had said something. And I never said a word that I wanted a light car.

Also, she seemed to be in a position of authority in this small organization, and she seemed to be the kind of person who "is in a position where no one will reprimand her in a small organization = thinks she is important = behaves with disrespectful towards customers."
And what was shocking was that this woman was the front desk staff member I consulted when my underwear was stolen.
I thought maybe they were disrespecting me because I didn't get angry or make a fuss at the front desk even though my underwear was stolen, so at first I thought I would just let it go, but because of this female staff member's unbelievable response, I ended up filing a police report.
I didn't want to do anything wrong as a person, so of course I didn't raise my voice at the front desk or the police, and dealt with them calmly. It was funny to see this female staff member behave so demurely and pleasantly towards the police.
The reason this female staff member was angry was probably something like "You can't listen to what I say?! (It wasn't explained to me in the first place)" or "I'm annoyed that I've suddenly been given more work!"
Also, if reservations are required the day before, I think it would be better to change the sign in the hotel to "Available for immediate rental at any time."

③ Unscrupulous attitude towards foreign staff

There are several young staff members at this hotel who are probably from Southeast Asia.

They have no problem with Japanese, but no matter what I ask them, they don't know anything. I wondered if they were new, but one day I witnessed a foreign staff member asking a question in a quandary, but the senior staff member ignored him and didn't give him any proper explanation. Of course they didn't know anything.

I can imagine that working with people from different cultures can be stressful, but their unscrupulous attitude made me sad.

Just remembering this hotel, it was a series of unbelievable things like this.

I liked Amami Oshima itself, so I moved to another hotel and extended my stay, but even though it was cheaper than this hotel, there were security cameras in public places, I didn't get my underwear stolen at the laundromat, and of course there were no rude staff, so I was able to stay comfortably.

I think I made a big mistake in choosing the first hotel.

Honestly, the security and staff attitudes of cheap hotels in Southeast Asia were better.

I hope this will be helpful for you when choosing a hotel.