Crowne Plaza Hotel Kobe - 神户

Situated at the Shin-Kobe train and subway station, this hotel is in the best location for getting around Kobe.

View is the best and the location of this hotel really is lovely.

View is the best and the hotel's hillside location at the foot of the Rokko Mountain is lovely.

The heart of Kobe's is the shopping and dining mecca of Sannomiya, which is about 25 minutes by foot from Crowne Plaza (or 2-3minutes by subway).

Subway station under the hotel makes for easy travel.

Bathroom consisted of full bath/shower and toilet, the sink was outside the bathroom in an area separated from the bedroom by a 6 foot tall divider.

The room was small, but the beds were comfortable, good linens and pillows - although the bed was close the ground (as all beds in japan).

Our room was "Superior Double", which is essentially a mid-price range room with a king-size bed.

The bed was comfortable with crisp sheet.

On the other hand, the bed wasn't the most comfortable.

It's next to Shin-Kobe Shinkansen station, close to subway, shops and restaurants.

It's expensive at the restaurant at the top but worth the splurge - when in Kobe, eat the beef!

We also ate at the restaurants located below - which were good too.

The mall is called "Oriental Avenue" and it has, among other things, a dozen or so restaurants (including Wendy's), a small supermarket and a 100yen store.

Also went to Yume-Kitchen restaurant, which served great salads and pastas and other light-fare Western dishes with Japanese twist.

Plenty of Western guests at this hotel, so most of the front desk staff appear to be okay communicating in English.

Hotel was extremely clean and the staff was friendly.

Excellent Shabu-shabu place next door in building and very polite staff.

When asked, the reception did not understand, thinking I was only asking about a late check-out.

Take a left out of the elevator and you'll be boarding the Ropeway up to the Herb Garden.

When you reach the ropeway station, you take the elevator up to the boarding/ticket area.

Coming out of the elevator, if you take a right, it'll take you onto a footpath that takes you straight to the lovely Kitano district where you'll find a number of quaint little shops and buildings and cafes and bakeries.

Our room had a great view of the city and the hotel lobby was clean.

Hotel was extremely clean, provided free in-room Internet Access, slippers and even 100% cotton pyjamas.

The room, again, was small but very clean, and well appointed with toiletries, yukatas and slippers.

The bathroom was clean and the shower was nice and powerful.