The Orient in Kobe

The “sea view” was very disappointing and honestly not what I expected at all when booking this room.

What made the experience worse was the pricing issue. After my booking became non-refundable, the hotel price dropped by around 30%, which was shocking. I’ve never had this happen before. The explanation that the lower price was a different non-refundable rate doesn’t fully justify such a big drop. On top of that, trip.com customer service only gave me an update after I followed up four times, which was frustrating.

Check-in was also a poor experience. We arrived around 9pm with a child, and there was no staff at the ground floor to help with luggage at all, even though the reception is on the 17th floor. After check-in, there was again no assistance with luggage, which was very inconvenient when travelling with a child. Despite my booking clearly stating one adult and one child, there were no kids’ amenities provided, not even a child’s toothbrush.

The facilities are outdated, the hotel is tiny, and the breakfast was terrible. We had to wait for a table even though there were empty seats inside, and getting a coffee took forever. There was virtually no service. The price definitely doesn't match the experience.