the b hachioji

Don't book a smoking room. I accidentally did and it smelled horrible, so I couldn't sleep. I asked for an air cleaner, but the machine they brought was really old, with filters that looked like they might date back to the 80s. When I turned it on, it smelled moldy, so I immediately asked them to take it away. I asked for another room on a non-smoking floor, but was told there weren't any. I gave up and went sightseeing. When I returned, a staff member ran over with a new key card for a room on a non-smoking floor. The hotel is okay if all you need is somewhere to sleep, and it's about a three-minute walk from the main Hachjoji train station. Staff were polite, but spoke very little English, so I had to use Google Translate. The rooms are dated, and the air conditioner hadn't been cleaned in a long time. My room was near the coin laundry, and the machine noise kept me awake. Breakfast had very few choices, and it was hard to find anything to eat. I'd skip it rather than pay extra.

During our stay, several staff were at the front desk, and my wife was the only guest in the lobby. So unless they were helping invisible guests 👻, the explanation in the hotel's response is hard to understand. It said that when staff are busy, they may stand by while guests struggle with luggage. That kind of policy is baffling. My wife and I arrived around 7 PM. She went to check in while I parked the car with help from a staff member who spoke only Japanese. After parking in the hotel's designated 3D space, I unloaded one large suitcase and two carry-ons. The staff member watched coldly without offering help. I understand service differs from hotel to hotel, and perhaps luggage assistance isn't offered here, but the indifference stood out. He pointed toward the lobby rather than guiding me. There were about 10 steps down, and he followed behind without helping. I carried everything in two trips while he stayed at the top of the stairs, watching like a spectator. I was speechless. Later, my wife told me she'd overheard what seemed to be a more senior front desk staff member tell the parking attendant in Japanese, "There’s no need to help them with their luggage." They apparently didn't know that although my wife can't speak Japanese, she understands it. Then the whole situation made sense. Even an ordinary passerby might offer help to someone struggling with luggage. This hotel's indifference and disdain toward guests were shocking. If The B Hotel management reads this, I strongly recommend making clear that foreign guests aren't welcome, so non-Japanese travelers can avoid this treatment and staff won't have the "trouble" of dealing with visitors who don't speak Japanese. This experience was disappointing, but it hasn't changed my overall impression of traveling in Japan. This hotel is an outlier, one of the rare bad apples in an otherwise exceptional hospitality industry. In the past few days, I stayed at several other smaller hotels that weren't four or five stars. Despite the language barrier, their staff showed warmth and genuine service. Non-Japanese-speaking travelers should avoid this hotel. It has ratings of 3.8 on Rakuten Travel and 3.7 on Google, but the staff showed discriminatory behavior and seemed to lack basic decency. We arrived at about 7 PM, and my wife handled check-in while I parked with assistance from a Japanese-only-speaking staff member.

The location is really convenient, within walking distance of keio hachioji and hachioji station. Ms Maito could speak English and made everything much smoother, so I'm very grateful. Worth considering if you're planning a visit here.

I enjoyed staying here. It was really convenient for the train and for 7 - Eleven, Lawson's, Family Mart, McDonald's, and Starbucks. The rooms were clean and a good size for one person. They served breakfast, though I didn't try it. I'd recommend this place if you don't mind staying a little deeper in Tokyo.