Mitsui Garden Hotel Kumamoto

The city location was great, and the staff were friendly. We booked at the last minute and may have ended up with a smoking room because of that, though it didn't smell, so the hotel must clean it thoroughly. The hallway made it clear we were on a smokers' floor. Our room was clean and had a fridge and instant coffee. The lobby also had lots of cute kumombear.

I left my phone at my previous hotel in Yufuin and was worried about how to get it back. While I was checking in, Nishimura, who was working in the lobby, quickly understood what had happened and made several calls to both my previous and next hotels. She arranged for the phone to be couriered to the next hotel, where I could collect it when I arrived two days later. Her English was very good, and she was eager to help even though she was nearly off duty. I'm especially grateful for her quick response. She's a real treasure to the hotel.

The hotel itself was fine, but the crows made the stay hard to enjoy. Hundreds of them start screaming at 3:30 AM, and I could hear them until around 10 pm every night. Maybe other hotels in Kumamoto have the same problem, since the whole city seems full of thousands of crows and their droppings are all over the streets. It's a nice city, but I won't come back until the crow problem is addressed.

Our Kumamon themed room was really cute. The parking garage was a first for me: a vertical car elevator with a turntable that spins the car around.