Kobe Kitano Hotel

The food was great, and every dish tasted delicious, though the portions were small. Still, the table was plastic and wobbly, which seemed below the standard for such a fancy place. I'd like to give the food another try in the future. I came for a breakfast I'd reserved after hearing for years about its reputation as the No.1 breakfast in the whole word. The Christmas lobby decorations were cute and gave the place a warm, cheerful feel. A young woman welcomed me and kindly showed me the restroom. I returned about 10 minutes before my booking time, not realizing I was early, and went into the dining area to look for a staff member. An older woman came over without greeting me. I told her about my reservation, she checked the list, then showed me where to wait. That was fine, but soon afterward she went to the lobby staff member and firmly told her not to let guests go straight into the dining area. I was only a few feet away taking photos, and we'd been speaking Japanese, so she must have known I understood. It embarrassed both me and the lobby staff member. The younger woman just smiled and said she would follow the instruction, which made it seem like this may have happened before. Staff shouldn't be corrected in front of guests. It spoiled the mood from the start.

I never wanted to leave the room, it felt like a fairy tale. The whole place had incomparable style, and the restaurant's food was so delicate and delicious it could knock you off your chair. The setting was incredible, and there's an auxiliary establishment at the top of the mountain that I hope you'll visit one day.

The room had twin beds even though we'd requested a double and stated in the booking that we didn't want twins. When we asked whether they could change the mattresses if another room wasn't available, they refused to help. We were very disappointed by the service, which didn't feel like a Relais & Chateaux experience. At arrival, the bellboy watched us struggle to get our luggage from the taxi to the porch, then walked away while we pushed the door open and carried the heavy bags to reception. Later, I saw an elderly woman come in and helped her open the door and climb the stairs myself, as nobody was at the entrance. At reception, we waited 10 minutes while staff looked at their screens, despite there being no other guests, and nobody explained the delay. We told them we were members of the R&C 5C club and explained the card and its benefits, including a room upgrade and personalized welcome. The staff whispered to each other in Japanese without explaining anything to us in English, then said nothing about the card as they took us to the room.

We paid extra for a room with a double bed and absolutely loved it. The bedroom was cozy and comfortable, and the bathroom was large. Hospitality was really good, and breakfast was amazing and luxurious.