APA Hotel Hiroshima Ekimae Shinkansenguchi

For one night in Hiroshima, this place was decent enough, but I wouldn’t choose it for a longer stay. The self-service machine handles check-in, and there’s very little interaction with staff. The room is so small there’s barely room to walk from the door to the double bed, and nowhere practical for bags. They suggest putting them under the bed, but I can’t see how much would fit. We were lucky to have backpacks and had already forwarded our luggage. The bathroom was tiny too, with my elbows hitting the walls as I moved around. The bed was okay for a night but not very comfortable, so I’m unsure how rested I’d feel after several nights. The room was centrally heated and got quite warm, with no way for us to adjust it.

The service and location were great, but the hotel amenities were disappointing. We couldn't control the room's heating or air conditioning ourselves, since the hotel decides whether rooms get heat or cooling. We ended up suffering in the heat in a terribly small room. Don't bother with the hotel laundry. The machine says it washes and dries, but the drying is just steam drying and the clothes don't actually come out dry. We ran the load twice and waited two hours, and they were still damp. It was a real inconvenience.

The location was great and easy to find. From Hiroshima Station, look for Granvia Hotel, then head toward the Via-Inn Hotel next door. Past Via-Inn you'll see the Apa Hotel across the road. Breakfast was good and had lots of variety. A wonderful stay.

The rooms are extremely small, and the portable fan took up a big chunk of the space. During the cold season the central AC is left on heat, so the rooms get extremely hot. When I asked at reception, they told me to open the windows and offered a fan, but it was large and very loud. With the windows open, it was also noisy, especially because the train is so close.