The Kobe Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers is a luxury hotel that was renovated in 2013, so rooms of the same type are about 40% more expensive than those at the Plaza Hotel. This time, we stayed in an 8th-floor city view room, overlooking the Rokko Liner and River Mall, where there's a Daiei supermarket that I highly recommend.
The reception is on the third floor, with a dedicated entrance on the Sheraton Plaza side (strangely, the vents are also located here, so there's an unpleasant cooking smell when you pass by). This entrance leads directly to Island Center Station on the Rokko Liner, making transportation very convenient. There are four front desk teams; their English is generally basic, though an older male supervisor speaks better English. There's also a dedicated concierge desk. Toiletries are provided in the room (including two extra face masks), and a special children's toiletry set is offered if you're traveling with kids.
Upon entering, you change into slippers, and there are special slippers provided for the hotel's onsen (hot spring) area. There were welcome sweets. The bathroom is spacious with a separate wet and dry area, and a children's step stool is provided. The room also had a Bible and Mormon scriptures, which I won't comment on.
The room's Wi-Fi doesn't require a password, but the signal was poor and kept switching to my roaming signal. The lobby signal wasn't great either, which was a drawback. [embarrassed emoji]
The hotel provides two complimentary bottles of water daily; additional bottles cost 100 JPY each. I bought water daily from the Daiei supermarket I mentioned earlier.
There's a self-service laundry area on the second floor, which is reasonably priced.
The buffet breakfast is served at the Garden Cafe on the first floor. The front desk records your approximate dining time upon check-in. It's recommended to go at your designated time, as you might have to wait for a table if you arrive too early. After being seated, a yellow standing card is placed on your table; simply hand it to the staff when you're finished.
The hotel has many guests, including quite a few Chinese visitors, so the breakfast area can be crowded, and there's often a short queue for food. The three-story high ceiling and large floor-to-ceiling windows create a nice environment. The breakfast offers Japanese, Western, and Chinese options, with a decent variety, though the dishes rarely change daily. There are four flavors of ice cream, and their coffee is quite good. Children under 6 years old are not counted in the guest total, which is a nice perk. The buffet dinner, at 5692 JPY per person, is also quite good value.
The staff's attitude was acceptable, but a bit mechanical; they weren't as friendly or personable as the staff at the Plaza Hotel.
Original TextTranslation provided by AI
