Dormy Inn Kagoshima

The location is fantastic, with incredibly convenient transportation; it's just steps from Takadanobaba Station, and the planetarium is a mere 2-minute walk. They offer a generous breakfast spread and even complimentary late-night ramen. The highlight is the large rooftop public bath, complete with free popsicles. Although the room facilities are a bit dated, they were spotlessly clean and well-maintained.

I often travel to Japan, and Dormy Inn rooms always seem to be in high demand. The 20+ sqm twin rooms, perfect for two adults and one child, are usually impossible to book. So, when I saw this room type available in Kagoshima, I decided to book it for one night. Overall, my experience fell short of expectations. Unfortunately, neither adult could enjoy the onsen (hot springs) for personal reasons, which is arguably the hotel's main highlight – a real shame. The room itself was a bit small, and while cleanliness was decent, the toilet emitted a persistent garlic-like odor. On the positive side, the dining options were excellent. Breakfast featured Kagoshima's special black pork shabu-shabu and a type of sashimi. Complimentary ice cream and Yakult were available all day in the lounge on the hot spring floor, and free soy sauce ramen was served after 9:30 PM. Given these amenities, I'd say it's best suited for adults who plan to fully utilize the onsen facilities. What truly made the stay less than ideal wasn't just my inability to use the onsen. More significantly, during check-in, the front desk informed me that my reservation did not include a 3-year-old child, resulting in an additional charge for the child's accommodation and meals. This wasn't the hotel's fault, and honestly, I'm not sure who to blame. I distinctly remember booking for two adults and one child, so I'm puzzled about what went wrong in the process. Perhaps Dormy Inn and I simply weren't a good match this time. I'm well aware that Japanese hotels charge per person, so I always meticulously enter the correct number of guests and compare prices across different platforms when booking in Japan. Having visited Japan over a dozen times, this was the first instance where I was charged extra at check-in due to a discrepancy in the number of guests. I was quite surprised when informed about the booking error. Checking my Trip.com confirmation on my phone at the front desk, I saw it indeed only listed two adults. I can only fault myself for never reviewing the confirmation after booking; moving forward, I'll be sure to check them carefully to catch and correct any issues promptly. After reporting this to Trip.com customer service, they responded quickly and later reimbursed me half of the additional cost. During this trip, both hotels I booked through Trip.com had unexpected additional charges at check-in. Besides the Dormy Inn incident, another hotel in Fukuoka charged a separate accommodation tax. Interestingly, I booked a different hotel in Fukuoka on another platform, and its price already included this tax, so I didn't pay anything extra upon arrival. Moving forward, when booking hotels in Japan, I'll have to carefully consider if the lowest price offered on certain platforms might be due to hidden fees.