Grids Premium Hotel Kumamoto — Hotel in Kumamoto

We chose this hotel as it’s brand new, but there are still some teething problems and it was designed without thinking of convenience to its customers: Car park - do not book this hotel if you drive. The parking facilities are only for small cars. Our Nissan Sereno hired car was too tall so we had to park in the multi storey car park. There was also no drop off area for us to unload / load luggage so in the end we had to park on the side road adjacent to the hotel. It also rained so totally inconvenient. Front desk would not even let us park the car temporarily in the small car park lobby area for this purpose. Room - dim lighting at night and coupled with dark furnishing it was not good at all and gave off a sense of eeriness. Don’t get double room as bed is against the wall and you end up sleeping with the net curtain. My friend had a twin room and it was 2 x 3ft beds put together which was way roomier than the double bed. Bathroom configuration was also better as the sink was in the bathroom while the sink in the double room was in the main room. No hanging space in the room except 2 metal hooks with 4 hangers. Mirror above the sink was framed too low. I’m 5ft 5 inches and had to stoop a bit to do my make up and hair. No USB outlet to charge phones. The light switch above the sink is on the counter next to the sink. We couldn’t locate it when we went to sleep the first evening as the room lighting was so dinghy so the light ended up on all night. Needless to say we didn’t get a good night sleep. Front desk - only gave us breakfast covers for one day by mistake even though we were staying 2 days. We found out in the evening of day 1 and front desk were quick to give us another set of breakfast vouchers with no questions asked. We had trouble with accessing our room with the room key on two occasions as it malfunctioned and we had to go to the front desk to get the card registered again. Breakfast - this was sufficient with a respectable variety of Japanese dishes. There were also some western dishes such as salads, croissants, white bread, chocolate Danish, Japanese bacon and scrambled egg, but no cereal. While it was edible, it did not leave...

When I booked a hotel, I didn’t read the reviews, so I just picked one. I didn’t expect to step on one that was discriminatory.When I arrived at the hotel in the afternoon, there were no other customers at the front desk, and I was about to check in with my passport. A * at the front desk saw me holding my passport and coldly told me to get it at the self-service machine. I originally wanted to do it myself, but I scanned my passport and had to register my address, so I chose any prefecture. If I have an address in Japan, do I need to get a passport to register? Another young staff member next to me saw something wrong with my expression and hurriedly ran over to help. As a result, even the staff member didn’t know how to operate this self-service check-in.Then the climax came. This was a Japanese guest. The ** immediately went up to complete the formalities with a diligent look on his face.Of course I got angry and asked loudly in Japanese, why do I have to go to the self-service service? I thought you couldn’t do it manually! The younger guy next to me immediately took me to the counter to check in. The ** didn't say a word during the whole process and pretended I didn't exist. I just said to you, please explain to me, what exactly do you want to do, and after a while, I reluctantly apologized, with a look on my face that said I was right, I will dare you next time.Can Ctrip please check carefully when choosing partner hotels abroad? Why would you allow a hotel like this to make money in China and engage in discrimination on this platform?I will continue to write emails to its headquarters to complain, and will also inform Ctrip on Xiaohongshu and other platforms that it chooses to cooperate with hotels that discriminate against...

The lobby is bright and spacious but once you get to your room, the hallways are dark and poorly lit. The hallways are painted in a very dark grey color that I almost felt claustrophobic. Also, the lighting in the room was not enough and the layout was not functional. The trash bin was next to the bed. Would have made more sense to place it next to the sink instead. There is also a small bench that was literally next to the bed that you could just jump into it right from your bed. It is disappointing that this hotel was designed more for looks and not for function. On the other hand, staff was very friendly and helpful. We drove into Kumamoto and used their paid on-site parking facility. There is a shopping street with many restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. Generally, the hotel is quiet but on one occasion, we encountered some roudy guests hanging around the lobby while on our way to the laundry room located across the front desk. While all cultures have their own nuances, when you travel you need to be respectful to other travellers. I think the hotel staff should have at least managed the situation better rather than do nothing and let these guest spoiled other guests’ stay. Lastly, the self-serve laundry room should be located in a less transited area. We had to carry our dirty clothes across the lobby in front of other guest to do our laundry. That’s not a very comfortable...