Kobe Plaza Hotel

Checking in, we became a little nervous, as the receptionist was very apologetic in advance, as they only had available rooms on the 3rd floor. This due to the close proximity to the (self service) Lounge area. They were afraid that this meant some noise to our room. But upon perusal we found that we had been given a quiet and very private room right at the end of the corridor. No noise – no possible disturbances. As usual in Japan it proves to be the staff taking all precautions, so as not to disappoint the guests. They gave us excellent advice in regards to what we should do and where we should eat (we said we wanted Japanese food – preferably Kobe beef). The next day we had an excellent breakfast (very reasonable through hotels.com. The breakfast here proved to be much better than the one we had at Hilton Hiroshima a couple of days earlier. A great selection of tasty Japanese breakfast, as well as the typical European choices. We even tried the DIY-Laundrette service (self-service laundry machines) on the 9th floor – amazing with $3.5 for a wash including detergent and drying! Upon departure we tested the “luggage forwarding service” Yamato Transport, and we forwarded one of our suitcases to our Tokyo hotel for approximately $13. The staff was super-helpful – both organizing this, and then moments later ordering a taxi for us. To sum it up: we’re coming back to Kobe – and this place is unbeatable in regards to price, service and excellent breakfast. Great value for money! Four stars because it's a little too basic for five stars, but it deserved the four stars as we were pleasantly surprised, and the hospiltality was excellent!

As it is an SUV, it is 161 cm tall, so I had trouble parking with the 155 cm height limit. Flat parking is slightly further away

(+) We stayed in their renewal superior double room for 3 nights. Decent room size, modern and clean. Very good location close to the station, convenient stores, china town, shopping mall and restaurants. There is a cozy lounge area with power outlets and free coffee & tea. Easy check in & check out with machine. Good wifi connection. (-) Need to provide English manual for AC and TV