Hotel Nikko Kansai Airport - Osaka

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We were here April 19, 2024 in preparation for our flight to Bali, Indonesia. Great airport hotel at Terminal 1 of Kansai International airport in Osaka, Japan. Wonderful and convenient for us coming from Kobe. We used the Portliner train from Sannomiya Station in Kobe connecting to the 30 minute Bay Shuttle ferry directly across the bay to the airport. This avoided a much longer route around Osaka Bay avoiding the city of Osaka entirely! Nikko hotel brand is a sister brand with the Okura brand. Both these brands are terrific and go-to hotels for us whenever convenient. Oh, and we shipped our two luggage roller bags from the Okura in Kobe to the Nikko. They were waiting for us at the front desk upon arrival.

Tocen Goshobo - Arima Onsen

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We stayed in a traditional Japanese Onsen (bathhouse) hotel from April 16-19, 2024. It's just what we needed — three nights in the spa retreat village of Arima, Japan! The soothing, rich wooden interior of our accommodations, Tocen Goshoboh, invited us to soak in the healing waters. Three times a day! It's rather famous dating back to the year 1191! Superb staff and a memorable experience!

Below are a few images of the hotel onsen, the public communal baths (separated for men and women). As a matter of policy no photography is requested. We respectfully took just a couple of quick snaps when completely empty. Rule breakers!

Some images around town.

Okura Hotel Kobe

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We were here April 13 - 16, 2024. The Hotel Okura Kobe is a 33 story hotel tower at Harborfront in Kobe offering sweeping views of the harbor and city. There's frequent shuttle service to the hotel from Sannomiya Station and close enough to shops and restaurants. Also, just a short walk to Kobe's Chinatown and the Motomachi Station. Five star expereince! Thoroughly enjoyed our three day experience in mid-April 2024. We paid US$140/night including breakfast. This is our second Okura hotel stay in Japan. (We stayed at their Tokyo hotel in 2018.) Very well managed hotel chain.

It was an easy transfer from nearby Uno. Having shipped our two roller bags directly to the hotel — a great service we used repeatedly! — we stopped halfway, put our carry-on luggage in a train station locker and visited Himeji castle. Easily connected afterwards arriving just in time to check to the Okura. Easy transfer! Below are pics from the hotel. The second carousel of pics are our activites while visiting.

Keirin Hotel 10 - Uno (Naoshima Island)

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We were here From April 10-13 in the penthouse suite ($300/night including breakfast). Definitely a splurge for us. We struggled to find the right spot for our visit to Naoshima Island, finally abandoning our attempt to stay on the island at the Benesse Museum hotel — their website was impossible to secure the reservation we wanted. It turned out to be a good choice. From this two-year old hotel to the Uno train station and the adjacent ferry terminal is a flat 25 minute walk. There’s a hotel shuttle but it was never convenient for us — it’s not designed for early morning tourist use with the first morning shuttle to the train station not until at 10:14 am. We were long gone for the day by then all mornings. It’s a gleaming hotel with an awesome onsen included — and a self-serve laundry included. We did a one-day visit to the island (adequate for us to visit the Benesse and Chiochu museums on bikes and take a soak in the sweet community onsen in the port town). On our second full day we took the train to Takamatsu to the small museum and garden. The train ride over there was awesome. Great fun visiting a new area of Japan for us!

Okayama Plaza Hotel - Okayama

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We were here April 8-10, 2024 ($80/night without breakfast). Great choice! We took the bullet train from Tokyo to Okayama to enjoy the nearby Korakuen Garden and the Okayama Castle, both within walking distance of the hotel. This location positioned us nicely for onward travel to the shores of the nearby Seto Inland Sea and Naoshima Island. It was peak cherry blossom season!

King Skyfront Tokyu REI Hotel - Kawasaki

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We were here from April 5-8, 2024 (Superior Queen Room with Airport and River View for $104 /night without breakfast). It was the perfect location to enjoy the weekend Kanamara Penis Festival being held at the nearby Kanayama Jinja Shrine during this time. It was a big draw for international tourists and locals have a lot of light-hearted fun!

Here are pics of some of our activities including the Shinto Kanamara Matsuri "Festival of the Steel Phallus" — the Penis Festival!

Studio Inn Nishi Shinjuku - Tokyo

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We were here March 28 to April 5, 2024 in a double room ($105 /night not including breakfast). There’s only five rooms in the Inn and ours, room five, overlooked the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. There’s a great self-serve laundry facility in the basement that’s included. It’s like having a little apartment in a sweet neighborhood. We prepared our breakfasts and snacks in the little kitchenette. Nearby are many conveniences, restaurants and shops. There are several metro stations nearby. It’s technically in the Shinjuku district but is on the border of Shibuya City.

From our activities around Tokyo…

More from Shibuya City, Tokyo…

Our Tokyo Toilet Project Grand Tour

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