Seaside Hotel Maiko Villa Kobe

Location is good, either you walk to train station or take a shuttle bus provided by hotel. Staffs are friendly and helpful.

Background: Prior to staying at the Maiko Villa, we stayed at four other hotels, accommodations having beds, during our 14-day Japan trip. These hotel rooms were of a typical Japanese standard, meaning smaller room, comparison to an average US hotel room. We booked this place to get a Japanese style feel, as you can get a tatami-mat style room rather than room with bed(s). Rooms with beds are also available. These tatami type room will accommodate four futon-style sleeping on the tatami mats; housekeeping will put the futons away in the morning when they come to clean, and in the evening set up the futons. Having this format gave us more room space when the futons were placed away. Upon entering, there is a place to take your shoes off/away, followed by a small foyer where you can place some luggage. This configuration gives you more space and mobility in the room. If you get a room facing the Straits of Akashi, you’ll get a nice view of Awaji Island and bridge leading to the island. The hotel location is slightly away from the mainstream tourist spots, so it’s in a quiet residential neighborhood. Breakfast buffet was good with many choices of Western and Japanese varieties: there is a chef that will make omelets and similar made-to-order. It even had a soft swirl ice cream machine available during breakfast hours. The hotel is approximately a quarter of a mile from the Maiko JR Station. There is a free shuttle service to and from the hotel to the Maiko JR station, if walking is under 10 minutes. Adjacent to the JR station, connected by a train-track overpass is a building that has a market, several eateries, PO, bookstore, laundry /dry cleaners, 100 yen store and a few other stores.

Comment and opinion only, not "did not like": The staff had good command of English. They are very business mannered and are a bit stiff. Most of the guest are Japanese and I felt that the staff slants towards the Japanese business formality environment. They rarely smile but express their graciousness of you being the guest and bowing. If you are a foreign tourist, you may get the impression that they are not friendly but it’s their “Japanese business style” culture, per my observation, as much of their guest are, as stated earlier, are Japanese. During our stay, the hotel was almost at capacity and I think my wife was the only “green-eyed blonde-haired” person there. There are restaurants on-site, and pricy. The hotel does not provide any free bottled water unlike the other prior hotels we stayed at; vending machines are some distance away from room(s). If you want bottled water or snacks, get them at the store at the Maiko JR station. We also chose this hotel as we stayed here 15 years ago. It looked the same, hardly any noticeable room and site facility upgrades, but we still like this place, as we stayed 6 nights, and will patronize here if given another return opportunity.