Hotel Japanesque Fukuoka

The location was quiet and lovely, with plenty of shops around, and the hotel felt like good value. Parking onsite cost 1400Yen overnight. The reception staff were friendly, and the room was clean and spacious. I had worried after reading negative reviews, but the hotel was in better condition than they suggested.

The restaurant and bar stayed closed throughout our visit, despite the website, and there was no happy hour as advertised. The elevators smelled of cigarettes. Our first room had no lock and the door wouldn't close all the way, leaving it unsafe and making the air conditioning useless. Staff quickly moved us to a lockable room without any fuss. They were friendly, and check-in was quick and simple, but the stay was still a major disappointment. We skipped the pool on the first night because it had a lot of green algae, though it looked better on day two and we swam a little. The pool deck was rotted in several places, and ants and mosquitoes were terrible. There were tins for mosquito coils, but every one was empty. One area was covered with plastic and had old rainwater in it, along with a terrible smell, worms, dead critters and more. The website gave a very misleading impression. We won't stay here again.

Getting to the hotel meant a long walk from the subway station through a quiet, dark route, and inside, we could hear both hallway noise and planes. Our room request was ignored: we asked for non-smoking and twin beds, but got a smoking room with a small single bed. Cleaning wasn’t provided, and we had to pay $3000 once. We also had to take out our own rubbish, with fixed amounts of toilet paper and body towels. There was no tap or sink in the toilet, so we had to go outside and wash our hands by the door. The door only had one physical lock, which didn’t feel safe.

The room was spacious, with a good shower and fast Wi-Fi, and breakfast was good too. The hotel has a gym, spa and pool, and there’s a small station nearby, though it isn’t close to the city center. Donki and 7-11 are about a five-minute walk away, but there aren’t many food shops around. We enjoyed the stay, but the weekend price was four times the usual rate, so it didn’t feel worth the money.