My husband, adult son & I stayed at the Hotel Piena Kobe for one night in May 2019. It is very convenient to Shin-Kobe station as well as to all the action around the Sannomiya JR station. The front desk staff were very helpful, making a dinner reservation for us when we couldn't get the phone in our room to work. [Not sure how good their English was, but it didn't matter to us as my son is conversational in Japanese.] The cafe in the downstairs lobby had delicious (though rather expensive) cakes, and seemed to be popular with the local "ladies who lunch" crowd. Because of this cafe, the small hotel lobby had an elegant vibe. ||||The upstairs was not as elegant. The hallway was dark, and although it was probably perfectly clean it was hard to tell as it was dark. Our 9th floor room was large by Japanese standards, so that was nice, but it wasn't very attractive--the furniture seemed somehow mismatched, and the little stucco (?) balcony overlooking the street was too small to serve any real purpose. There was no view except for the nondescript buildings across the street.||||But no big deal. The main problem we had was with the bathroom area. There was a separate room for the toilet--which can be nice when 3 people are sharing a room--but the step up to it was awkward and it was so small that my husband had to sit on the toilet at an angle in order to close the door. So, bad. Another step up to the small sink area, which had no place to put anything and not a lot of room in which to turn around (we are not large people). Again, bad, particularly if you're looking for a spot in which to change your clothes in privacy. Finally, another small step up connected you to an entirely separate room that contained the shower and tub. This room was set up Japanese-style such that you soap up and rinse off first, and then step into the bath. It was quite spacious, but not usefully so for people who only take showers. The showerhead was located in the middle of the room (and didn't reach to the tub) so the floor got soaked as you showered. Wet floor, no place to put your clothes while showering, so not useful for changing. Bad for the third time.||||In sum, we thought the Hotel Piena Kobe was okay but not great. The next time we're in Kobe -- and there definitely will be a next time as the city of Kobe is great -- we will choose to stay somewhere else.