Smile Hotel Okayama

We had a lovely sunset view, and you can leave your luggage before check-in. The hotel and room felt clean, modern, and fairly new.

We've stayed here every year for business trips because of the service and cleanliness, but the service has dropped sharply lately. The front desk attendant, a short-haired woman with dark purple eye makeup and an expressionless face, was extremely unprofessional and treated certain customers terribly.

I had a great one-night stay in Okayama. The hotel feels very new, with a refreshing lobby and friendly staff. My room was a decent size by Japanese standards, clean and well kept, with comfortable bedding. Breakfast was fine, mainly Japanese dishes, and the neighborhood felt quiet and safe. It's about a kilometer on foot from Okayama Station, though taxis are cheap if you don't want to walk. Highly recommended.

We used Okayama as a base for trips to Kurashiki, Hiroshima, Takamatsu, and elsewhere, and it worked out very conveniently. The hotel is about 10 minutes from the station, between it and Okayama castle, with a konbini right across the road and coin laundry in the hotel. The room was very clean and large by Japanese standards, big enough to open a large suitcase. The bed was comfortable and the chair was good. Housekeeping and bed changes happen every three days, but towels are fresh daily. The staff were very nice and spoke enough English to get by. Breakfast was varied and very good, with plenty of options and a long serving window from 6:30-10:00. There was coffee, tea, hot dishes, croissants, salads, rice, and soup. Great place, highly recommend.