Henn na Hotel Lagunatenbosch

The rooms are nice, though the price feels higher than what you get for it. The hotel backs onto a theme park, and reception is staffed by three mannequin dinosaurs. My automated check-in failed, so it took half an hour to get into my room. Families with young kids might get enough fun out of a couple of days here to make the cost worthwhile.

Robot dinosaurs run this hotel, which alone makes it somewhere worth visiting. You can also borrow a small smartphone for free during your stay, with guide features for getting around the local area. Order something from the gift shop and a robot dinosaur will bring it right to your door.

Opened in July 2017, this is a new hotel with a quirky feel. Animated dinosaurs staff the lobby and help with check-in and check-out, while room service comes by a small, factory-like robot. It works, though nothing about the technology is especially sophisticated. The rooms are comfortable, as you'd expect in Japan, and roomier than usual. There's a direct connection to the neighboring Lagunasia amusement park.

The dinosaur greeting is a nice touch, and breakfast had plenty of choices and tasted great. The room was another story: it's close to the kids' area, so children were walking around, and the cheap construction let through a lot of noise.