ANA Crowne Plaza KOBE by IHG

This hotel is grand and impressive, even feeling a bit like a shopping mall from the outside. Its location is fantastic, right next to Shin-Kobe Station, with direct access via subway exit B3. Plus, you can easily walk to the Nunobiki Falls, which offers a lovely, fresh atmosphere. It's perfect for a vacation. As for dining, the hotel has everything, from wagyu BBQ to Chinese cuisine. They also offer borrowing services and luggage storage. Overall, it's highly recommended!

The hotel management is excellent, and the service is superb. Special shoutout to the concierge team! They handled luggage storage, weighing, and guided us with the airport shuttle baggage recording flawlessly. ❤️❤️ The Kansai Airport shuttle offers direct service (though infrequent). Alternatively, you can take a bus to Sannomiya, which is just one subway stop or a 1600 JPY taxi ride from the hotel. The hotel lobby is on the fourth floor. Take the escalator down on the north side, and you'll be on the second floor of JR Shin-Kobe Station. The first floor hosts express bus stations for Arima Onsen, Mount Rokko, and Tokushima, as well as the city sightseeing buses (the 230-yen elongated bus and the 300-yen retro trolley) which go directly to Kobe Port Tower, IOIO, and vintage trend stores. On the west side, the elevator on the first floor leads to Nunobiki Herb Gardens and Kitano Ijinkan. B3 has a large supermarket, a 100-yen shop, and the Shin-Kobe subway station. Even though the hotel shows its age, it's well-maintained. I stayed on the 23rd floor this time, and the room was spacious. 😓 During Typhoon Rosing (6.2), the hotel creaked all night, which was a bit scary. 😂 Breakfast on the fourth floor is a rich buffet with many Kobe-exclusive delicacies, and it's absolutely delicious. You can also opt for a Japanese set meal on the fifth floor.

I initially thought that for around 300 a night, it would just be a basic stay, but it turned out to be surprisingly good. The downstairs area was under renovation, but the entrance wasn't hard to find. The reception is on the 4th floor, and if you're coming by subway, there's a direct elevator from the station exit to the hotel. The room was quite spacious, with plenty of room around the bed, more than enough space for luggage. The window offered a view of the mountain where the Nunobiki Herb Gardens are located. If you want to go there, you can buy cable car tickets just a short walk from the hotel's ground floor, which is very convenient. The subway station is Shin-Kobe, and there's also the Shinkansen. It's very convenient to get to Sannomiya, either one subway stop away or by taking bus route 2. The only issue was that the hotel's Wi-Fi was really slow.

Although this is an older five-star hotel, the lobby is spacious and features the traditional five-star amenities, which are well-maintained and appear very clean. The hotel is conveniently located right next to the Shinkansen line. It was raining on the day we arrived, but there's a covered walkway directly from the Shinkansen to the hotel, so we didn't get wet, which was very handy. Check-in was quick, and the staff were friendly. They even informed us about ongoing exterior renovations, mentioning that workers might be passing by at certain times. It turned out to be work on an annex, quite far from our room, but I appreciated the heads-up. We booked a twin-bedded city view room, which was very large and even had a capsule coffee machine, though I couldn't use it as I don't drink coffee. The staff cleaned our room thoroughly every day. For breakfast, you can go to the buffet restaurant on the 4th floor, which offers a good variety of Japanese and Western dishes. The staff there were also very attentive, reminding guests around 10:00 AM that the last seating was at 10:30 AM. Alternatively, you can opt for a set menu on the 5th floor. This is served in a restaurant where the staff wear kimonos and are equally friendly. We had three breakfasts in total and chose the set menu one day; it was simple but tasty. Right next to the hotel is the Herb Garden, which is easily accessible by cable car. A short walk down from there, there's a glass house resembling an indoor rainforest. We enjoyed afternoon tea in a café inside while listening to a piano and violin performance. The hotel is just one subway stop from Sannomiya. It's also easy to walk to the Kitano-cho (Ijinkan Street) area and then to Sannomiya. My only minor complaint was that our room was quite close to the elevator; I would have preferred a room further away. The hotel also offers a direct bus service to Kansai Airport, but it only runs twice a day, at 11:00 AM and 2:30 PM. Since we missed the 11:00 AM bus, we took the subway one stop to the Sannomiya Bus Terminal, which is diagonally opposite Hankyu, where buses run every 20 minutes – also quite convenient.

The location is fantastic, right above JR, and surprisingly quiet. It's about a 20-minute walk to the Sannomiya transportation hub, and a bit further to Meriken Park, which is perfect for enjoying the sea breeze and night views. The hotel itself also offers great night views. While the facilities are a bit dated, the room is spacious and clean.