Narita Gateway Hotel — Hotel in Narita

This is probably the review that you are looking for;After reading a lot of reviews here, i was skeptical but went for it anyways because of its airport shuttle. Although i wished that they extend their shuttle bus services throughout the night because my flight got delayed. The service was alright overall. I think I know who is the ‘angry red man’ in one of the negative reviews written and at first, he did seem to be an impatient person but i realised that after communicating with a lot of fast speaking foreigners, he was accustomed to their pace of talking and dont worry, he would adjust to yours.The hotel was filled with foreigners, mainly chinese (based on the lobby) and majority were men, calling on speaker and smoking. It was kinda refreshing given that I’ve been in Japan for 3 months and this is the first time i saw such behaviour in public. But tbh, the environment was inviting and you feel less pressured to societal norms because of them lol. The hotel lobby for my floor did smell like cigarettes but it was faint. I guess someone smoked awhile ago. The soundproofing was average. I could only hear someone when I was close to my room door.The store at the lobby had crazy pricing so i would advice to bring your own snacks from the airport before coming. The koi pond outside was cute tho!The cleanliness was average. It was clean but i did found a strand of hair on the wall in the toilet, but other than that (i checked everything) it was acceptably clean (but do use the slippers). My two main issues with the room are the bed and lighting. The bed was hard. It made me think that this is how it would feel like sleeping on the tatami mat LOL but if you’re staying for a night, it was bearable. The pillows were also so hard. The lighting on the other hand was limited. I had to do my make up near the door because that was the only bright and white light area. Even the toilet was kinda dimmed since it didnt have ceiling lights. Overall; its an OK hotel option to stay for the night to catch another flight the next day. I have never been to a motel but I would compare it to one, an OK motel lol. I hope I covered most of what people tend to look for :) Also! Theres a stamp at the lobby for travellers who likes to collect...

Cleanliness: C- Customer Service: B+ (great lobby, room service not so much) Food: A+ Free Amenities: A

The lobby has a money exchange machine, amenities (toothbrush, razor, tea bags, hairbrush, etc.) luggage weighing scale ( 荷物用はかり ) and wonderful staff that offer great bilingual service in Japanese / English. The room was booked by an airline due to unseen delays, so it was a short notice. I stayed in a twin room that came equipped with everything: a mini fridge, water kettle, towels, free wifi, a tv and mugs for tea. The room cleanliness though was very questionable. You can tell the room is rundown from the scuffs on the toilet and the rust in the overhead above the sink. It is an old hotel I suppose. The body towel I got in my room had a dark stain in it (coffee maybe? 😬) and there were stains on the bed comforter. The beds only had one pillow. The mattress is firm but not hard. I had a comfortable sleep, but the cleanliness was an issue for me personally (I am a germaphobe). Pajama top was provided and it was clean. The breakfast service was extremely great. It is buffet-style with a wide variety: tuna + yellowtail sashimi, ramen station, Chinese food, karaage chicken, coffee / tea machine, miso soup, and more. There was a small dessert station with pudding. There was also a mackerel / squid grilling table but I didn't get to try. There was a great window view of the garden outside with a koi pond. The breakfast service really made up for the whole hotel experience. I would definitely come back for the breakfast and free shuttle service, but because of the room cleanliness I may try other places. By the way, the room is much bigger than your standard Japanese hotel room, so for the price it is good value. I would recommend for families that do not pay mind to cleanliness much. They do not provide complimentary water, but there is water in the breakfast restaurant.

We were given a non-smoking room luckily, which was very good. Although I can back the comments about the unfortunate smoke smell that lingers in the 2F lobby...

We booked a room for two on Expedia after a really long flight in from the US. Grabbed a taxi outside of terminal 1 at the Narita airport and told the driver the name of the hotel. He knew exactly where to go, and even though the hotel is very near the airport, the drive seemed to be longer than necessary. The roads were confusing but the taxi brought us straight here. Upon arriving, we found the hotel itself to have lovely service and we were pleased that it was very clean. The customer service girl did not speak English, but check-in was automated on a computer/passport scanner in front of the front desk. The computer prompts you first to choose your language so check in was easy. There were items for use in the lobby, i.e. toothbrush, tea bags, hairbrush that we were directed to before we got to the elevator. The room did NOT have a strange “motel smell” that is all too common in the US, to which we were pleasantly surprised. I am allergic to many scents normally used in commercial cleaning products, and found that nothing here bothered me at all. The mattresses were too soft, but since that is a personal preference, doesn’t detract from the 5-star rating I believe this place deserves. The room had a mini fridge and a kettle. The shower was normal, as in much like what one would find in the US. The toilet was a typical Japanese toilet, however with instructions not in English… good thing we have Google Translate :) My favorite part was the two pairs of pajamas clean and left in an open drawer. Very comfortable and unexpected. My daughter went out and found vending machines and brought back the best apple juice I’ve ever had. Breakfast doesn’t start until 6 am, so I cannot yet comment on that, but I am sure it will be wonderful as everything else has been so far. I highly recommend the Narita...