Prince Smart Inn Miyazaki

The luggage lockers made it easy to store our bags before check-in, much smoother than leaving them at reception. We booked two nights and, although I hesitated because “Inn” was in the name, the stay was absolutely lovely. The pillows were excellent and the bed wasn't hard like those at other places we'd stayed over the past month. The price was just right, and this place is hard to beat. Book it, just do it.

We were left stranded for the night, so my friend and I stayed here after I'd recommended this hotel franchise in Kyoto to friends and family. Although we speak Japanese and have Japanese residence, staff insisted on our ID cards. When we tried to explain they didn't need to photocopy them, the receptionist walked away mid-sentence. I sent a complaint through the hotel's feedback form and asked how our data was handled, but two months have passed with no response. I'm not sure whether this is true of all Smart Inn hotels now, but our room had an annoying ChatGPT-driven speaker and alarm clock that sometimes went off even when only the TV was on. I'm incredibly disappointed by how we were treated and by the lack of follow-up.

Being close to local shops, restaurants, and bus stops made it easy to get around, and the room had everything I needed. I especially liked being able to check live updates for the coin laundry and log into apps like Amazon Prime and Netflix. It was a comfortable, convenient stay for a really good price, and I'd stay again.

The only suggested workaround was to buy something from the vending machine, which felt pretty ridiculous. The laundry machines take 100 yen coins, but there’s no change machine and reception didn’t have any coins either. Payment by QR code was limited to PRC and Japanese apps, so the machines only really work for guests from certain countries.