Hotel Claire Higasa

The staff were friendly, and one person spoke English, which helped with my very poor Japanese. The hotel met my needs, and its location is nice, around a 10-minute walk from Himeji Castle with plenty of shops and restaurants nearby. Room prices are decent when there's a special. Breakfast was okay. I'd pick the Japanese option over the "Westerner breakfast": ketchup on hot dogs and eggs wasn't for me, though the coffee and croissants were great.

The breakfast was incredibly good, and the room was neat and very clean. We stayed as a family and booked a plan with breakfast. The location was convenient for both the station and Himeji Castle. Our children, who were 6 and 8, got stickers as welcome gifts, and there were free drinks such as coffee and amenities on the first floor. Front desk and dining staff were all helpful and accommodating. For dinner, most nearby places seemed aimed at adults, so we went to the underground shopping area, where we found family restaurants. The station area also had convenient stores close by. The small bathroom was the disappointing part. Ours was so tiny that we tried the public bath on the 7th floor. We knew it wasn't large, but it was smaller than expected, with room for only 2-3 people at once, so we had to queue. I thought reservations might have worked better. Waiting gave us a chance to chat with other guests, which was fun, and they also felt everything else was great. Some said it was the first time in their lives they'd queued for a hotel and wished the bath were reservation-only. We ended up agreeing that the wait became part of the trip's memories.

The staff service was average, neither especially good nor bad. The hotel is close to the entertainment district, so you can head straight to bed after drinking, and smoking rooms are available for regular cigarettes. The public bath is spacious, but there are only four washing stations and room for up to four people. That could be inconvenient for a larger group, especially since the bathrooms in the rooms are too small. Before going to the bath, I tried using the toilet beside the laundry room. The smell in that toilet area was awful, more like someone's body odor, like a smelly pencil, than a normal toilet smell. I wonder what air freshener they're using. They should change it right away. At least to my nose, it stank.

The staff were wonderful, and breakfast was really satisfying. My room was clean, had a modern Japanese feel, and was comfortable. There were izakayas nearby that stayed open late, and the location also worked well for a visit to Himeji Castle. I'd like to stay here again.