APA Hotel Nagoya Ekimae

My regular place in Nagoya was closed for Christmas and New Year's, but I still wanted to visit my favorite area, so I stayed at APA Hotel Nagoya Ekimae. It's only a 5-10 minute walk from the station, and downtown, restaurants, and shops are very close. Matsunoya is just up the street for a quick bite, and Torikizoku is across the road for reasonably priced food and drinks. Great hotel, really good service, and an easy location for getting around downtown Nagoya. Win-win! 👏🏾🤗

I had good stays at APA Hotels in Ueno and Shinjuku, but Nagoya was disappointing. The self check-in machines were hard to use, with unclear and inconsistent instructions. We entered everything it asked for and still couldn't move ahead, and there wasn't a clear explanation of how to operate it. Check-in dragged on because the staff member nearest us didn't offer help, even though they didn't seem busy. Someone from the other side eventually came over to assist.

I've spent five weeks in Japan over the last year and have been a frequent visitor for 50 years, including living in hotels for work. This APA by Nagoya railway station is the worst hotel I've stayed in here. Checkout is at 10:00, while the dozens of other hotels I've used in Japan over the years have had an 11:00 checkout. The bathroom was tiny, and the toilet sat so close to the wall that neither my wife nor I could sit normally. The shower temperature control also points to a plumbing problem: the anti-scald device worked, but the hot and cold water pressure kept varying so much that the water was either hot or freezing. The room layout was poor. There's almost no proper hanging space, just four hangers on a hook, and a huge desk that seems useless with only one outlet. Two chairs make the space beneath it hard to use, and sitting down is awkward because there's so little room between your thighs and the drawer. The 35 cm between the beds isn't enough, either. The HVAC was off more often than it was on. After coming back on a hot day, it took a long time to cool the room to a reasonable temperature. My wife and I were in a room off a short air-conditioned corridor, while most rooms opened onto the open-air atrium, so I imagine those rooms were even less comfortable temperature-wise. APA, never again!

Construction was going on all around the hotel. In the lobby, the currency exchange machine took my USD but gave me nothing back, and the hotel wouldn't take responsibility for it. I asked the front desk to contact support, but after a long, stressful discussion they only offered to take my email and have someone get in touch someday, then make the transaction another day, with my money still stuck in the machine. I got angry because they were wasting my time and weren't trying to solve the problem or return my money. Then, suddenly, the exchange company found a team in Nagoya who could come to the hotel and return my money the same day, instead of someday after I'd already left Japan. Ridiculous way to handle a problem like this. 🤦🏼‍♂️