Hotels met Pools in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

对不是日本人完全不友善的酒店 Not foreigner ( Western & Asian) friendly. We travelled around 70 Roykan in the last 3 years and this is the wrost service we ever had. Japanese get to seat and offered juices when they checked in while we have to stand at the front desk and no juice offered. We asked for the yukata rental (free rental) and the young staff just ignore us twice. We asked for sizes a few times then he just said it’s all here. Then when we picking the only two small sizes he grabbed and give it to the Japanese girl and ignore us or never ask us before he took it as he knows we are looking into those. Very rude. Most of ryokan will bring you to the room or assist to bring luggage or already put in the room for you. This one you do everything yourself after check in. When we get into the hotel room it’s hot as no aircon is on. Then air con is broken so we called reception. With their broken English they insisted I don’t know how to turn on the aircon which I told them the air con is broken, after 15mins on the phone showing me how to on I keep telling them to send the staff up as we are so hot in the room as it’s summer and no window open and no fan was on after moving luggage. They came up and fix the air con for 45mins then told us it’s broken and need to change room. The whole hour we were sweating but no offer of water / drinks or anything and we just stand in the room while they fixing. When they decided the room need to be changed, they asked us to wait downstairs but leave the luggage in the room so we thought they will move luggage to the new room but they did not. Staff see us so hot at lobby didn’t tell us there is free drinking machine that we can get ice juices , they just watch us hot and sweat and not saying a word. When the new room is finished, they gave us the new room key and asked us to move the luggage ourself and return the old key. No help at all and wasted 1.5 hours of our onsen time. No apologies as well. I feel like being treated like a trash. Not enjoyable at all. I paid extra for the sea view room which when they change my room they offered a slightly bigger room but my sea view was mostly blocked (in the pic )which I am not so happy. There is amenities corner at the lobby, at night after the onsen we come back and want to take the lotion as early on it was gone and they didn’t replenish, the female staff have a bad attitude and flip her eyes ask us which room we stayed, we showed her the key and she said the cream is already in the room which her broken English. There is one set in the room but those are small one time pack which we finish after we had the onsen so we want to take another one. She was rude and insist we can’t take. Her attitude was so bad seems like we are stealing. There is an amenities cornor, if you not allowing guest to take please do not have this setup. Food is okay with the buffet. Wagyu beef is nice but they is a normal standard for Japanese onsen buffet nothing too special. Overall, with the price paying compare to other roykan in Japan, this hotel have very bad service to non Japanese. There is also nothing special for this onsen. Probably best to try somewhere else.

This is an older, classic hotel with an old-money vibe. Compared to other Japanese hotels, the room is quite spacious. When you open the curtains, you can see Meriken Park and the Ferris wheel. There's also a FamilyMart convenience store inside the hotel.

My mother and I stayed here for our trip. The sunset view from the hotel was beautiful! The food, made with local ingredients, was also delicious. The live kitchen was a fun experience. My absolute favorite was the soft-serve ice cream and milk made from Awaji Island milk – they were so good I had a lot of them! Being able to customize them was a big plus. The hot springs were spacious and relaxing. The lounge also offered drinks and snacks, allowing us to unwind and shake off the fatigue of everyday life. I'd love to stay here again.

The hotel service and environment are excellent, offering a free shuttle service from the station to the hotel. The meals and private hot springs are highlights, making for a perfect overnight stay with two meals. The entire hot spring town also has six public hot spring pools, each with its own unique features. There are many charming little shops along the street to explore, offering a tranquil escape from the city's hustle and bustle, allowing you to relax and rejuvenate!

If shopping convenience isn't a top priority, I highly recommend staying at the ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel. It's right next to Shin-Kobe Station, just one subway stop from Sannomiya Station. The rooms offer unbeatable panoramic views of Kobe, and the Nunobiki Herb Garden ropeway station is right nearby. Kitano Ijinkan is also a short walk away, and it's downhill so it's not tiring. Arima Onsen is only 30 minutes away too. Plus, there's a large supermarket downstairs that's open until 11 PM, making it easy to stock up on supplies. The value for money is incredibly high. I'll definitely be staying here again.

Overall, it was quite good. The only downside was that the lighting was really dim. I called the front desk to ask why two lights weren't working and they said they were emergency lights. This isn't very friendly for people who want to study/work a bit or handle some things in the evening. The cleanliness was excellent. Although the hotel is old, the details were handled spotlessly. The environment was also quite good. From our east-facing room, we could see the BE KOBE landmark in Meriken Park ^ ^ The hotel lobby offers self-service welcome drinks, and it was pleasant to grab a drink when leaving or returning to the hotel. The breakfast was also good, with a variety of Western and Japanese options. We had a sea-view table on the first day, but unfortunately, we weren't assigned a window seat on the second day (╥﹏╥) In terms of location, it's natural that beautiful views and shopping can't be had at the same time, but it's only a twenty-minute walk to the shopping district, which is fine. If you want more comfort, you can take a taxi directly; there are plenty of taxis in front of the hotel. It's very friendly and convenient for tourists! One of the days during our stay happened to be my birthday. I emailed to ask about birthday decorations and was told they didn't offer that service, but when I entered the room, I saw a small card and a flower on the table, which made me very happy!

The hot spring is really big, and you can enjoy both the upstairs and downstairs pools for free. There's a shuttle bus to Sannomiya Station. The room views are absolutely stunning, perfect for couples. Breakfast was just okay, but overall, it's a great stay.

The hotel is not located near bus station and transportation is required to the hotel. If you cannot contact the hotel for the transfer (like our case) head on to the tourist information centre and they will help you to contact them for the transportation. Check in is strictly after 2pm, but they will offer to take your luggages to the hotel first while you explore around the Arima Onsen vicinity. Contact them again via information centre when you are ready to check in to the hotel. We were greeted by a lady that dressed up in kimono and guided us to the check in counter. The room is spacious and clean. The view is spectacular and you can hear the birds chirping here and there. The environment is totally pleasant and peaceful. The onsen is very therapeutic and our body feel rejuvenated after soaking. As we opt for room-in Kaiseki dinner, we are able to enjoy full privacy while eating the sumptuous course of dinner that serves by a friendly lady attending to us. In all, it is a great experience.

Location is not hard to find with clear signages and correct Google Navi - winding on the mountain road but manageable (on the way down though Google led us to a private road but it's not relevant here). The building is gorgeous - a little inconvenient dragging the luggage from the car to the room if you have lots of stuff. We kept the large suitcase in the car and only brought in what we needed for the night. Front desk lady's attitude was a little cold. There's no Futon service though - it shocked us a little that we had to lay out the futon in the Tatami room ourselves. All the Ryokans/Jhalf board hotels we went to would have Futon service during dinner time. Also the room was cold and we couldn't get the A/C to heat up properly; there might not be a heating function at all? There was also loud banging noise at some points (it was windy that day), but thanks goodness someone fixed it before we went to bed. Breakfast and dinner are OK, and meal service is good.

This hotel really had everything. All the amenities, a lot of boutique shops inside and even a 24/7 familymart in the ground floor! An Amazing 360-view bar on the top is definitely worth visiting at just 1000¥ with a small bottle of wine or fizzy drink included. The city view was amazing (see pic). The rooms were very big, fairly priced and generally modern and tasteful.