Kobe Hotels with Pools

I booked this hotel because it was touted as one of Asia's top 100 onsen hotels for 2025. However, apart from the hot springs being decent, every other aspect of the service was a massive letdown. To begin with, both the kaiseki dinner and the breakfast the following day were truly subpar. The room was dreadfully small. Furthermore, despite inquiring about kimonos (as there were none in the room) with both the front desk manager and a server, who assured us they would send them up shortly and even took our sizes, not a single kimono materialized by the time we checked out the next day. We paid over 7,000 RMB for a family tatami room for four, including breakfast and dinner. At this price point, anyone staying here is simply getting ripped off. There will absolutely not be a second visit, and I also sensed a certain unfriendliness towards Chinese guests.

This is an older Japanese five-star hotel. While the decor and facilities are a bit dated, they're well-maintained and quite clean. Although the hotel is built into the side of a mountain, the underground transportation is excellent; you can reach Sannomiya in just a few minutes, and there's a direct shuttle to Sanda just a five-minute walk away. I booked this hotel specifically for the direct bus to Kansai Airport at 2 PM, which is super convenient and a lifesaver if you have a lot of luggage. I don't recommend visiting the Ijinkan Street, which is about a 10-minute walk from the hotel.

The hotel is located in a somewhat remote area on a mountain, but they offer a shuttle service. We called the hotel from the visitor center, and a car arrived within minutes. Since we had stayed at another onsen hotel the previous night with luggage storage, we asked the driver if he could take us to collect our luggage before checking into Arima Princess Hotel. He readily agreed. The service was excellent. The hotel has indoor red bath (lighter) and silver bath, but unfortunately, there's no open-air bath. They also took us to the station when we left.