Richmond Hotel Kochi — Hotel in Kochi

Kochi was one of three cities we visited in Shikoku, a beautiful island in southern Japan. We arrived at the Richmond Hotel after an afternoon drive from Takamatsu through the interior of Shikoku following a road winding through spectacular valleys, gorges, and profusely lush mountains including a stop at the Shanti restaurant -- a tiny place specializing in Indian cuisine way up the mountain in Otoyo. Really, a drive not to miss if you are planning to visit Shikoku. Maybe we expected too much but the Richmond, and Kochi itself, were not as congenial as we thought. In fact we were downright disappointed. The Richmond hotel catered to tour groups -- probably staying only one night and then moving on, and showed heavy wear and tear. Run down would be a compliment as the atmosphere of the hotel and our room with its over-the-hill decorating and dreary carpet was depressing. Luckily, the staff were professional, friendly and helpful and the Japanese breakfast was excellent although the long line formed by the tour groups early in the morning made access to the buffet (and the coffee and a table) very challenging. We reserved our rooms for three nights, but left after the second (forfeiting the third night) with no regrets, to check in for an extra day in Matsuyama. As far as Kochi is concerned, we found it far less interesting than we hoped and would recommend more time in Takamatsu or Matsuyama as much more impressive and fun cities...

When in Kochi, stay at Richmond!! ||This is how I would like to summarize given my personal experience.||||Room & Amenities:||Compact room with sufficient amenities.||Humidifier was also part of the standard equipment at this hotel.||The bathroom had a shower, a bathtub and a toilet. ||||Restaurant & Bar:||I enjoyed the breakfast at the hotel every morning by following social distancing. Hotels had right measures (alcohol based sanitizers, face shields, partitions, etc.) in place due to COVID.||||Access:||Access to the hotel from Kochi Ryoma Airport was smooth with a bus ride of 45 minutes.||||Service & Staff:||I could note that staff members were dedicated in supporting hotels guests with their requests and needs. I needed taxi couple of times during my stay and staff members helped me with it right away.||||I would particularly like to highlight Ms. Ojima as she was very helpful right from making the reservation until the check out.|| ||I faced no problems during check-in, checkout or requests made from my room. ||||Little bit about the surrounding area:||Hotel is located in a very convenient Obiyamachi Shopping arcade that gives guests an opportunity to explore various shops and local restaurants. Kochi Castle is at a walkable distance of 15 minutes...

This is a well-organised hotel that largely caters for business people, but we were two couples travelling together and enjoyed our stay there. The rooms were spacious, the bed very comfy, and the breakfast is 'cook on demand' plus a buffet selection.||||Car parking is interesting - it's about 2 blocks away in a car park building where you drive your car onto a parking 'tray' in an elevator in the building, and the tray is mechanically whisked away and stored up in the carpark building with your car on it. So you keep your car keys. But you need to get the carpark coupon stamped by the hotel to get the 700yen price, and you need to allow a bit of time for the car to be retrieved for you.||||With regards dinner, if you look highly rated eating places here on TripAdvisor you'll see they're mostly in Hirome Market which is only 5 minutes walk from the hotel up the mall out front of the hotel. It's a wonderful bustling area with common seating, surrounded by restaurants of all sorts. Most serve alcohol. So, if there's more than one of you, each person can order something different from any of the restaurants...