ANA Crowne Plaza Okayama by IHG — Hotel in Okayama

This might be a COVID matter to some extent: great location, friendly staff but awkward pricing and much reduced service during ongoing COVID restrictions (2022-MAR)

This seems to be one of the few if not the only global brand properties in Okayama and with that probably your safest bet if you like to confirm a king size bed instead of the tiny two singles or tatami that most Japanese brands often offer as their standard room. That being said, while rooms currently start at the 6000JPY per night level, you have to dive very deep down the list of all kinds of options until you get to that guaranteed non-smoke king bed, which takes you to double the base. If you lost all of your IHG perks (or never had them in the first place) you'll have to shell out another 2500JPY per person for breakfast and by surprised that the breakfast is two fixed choices of Western style or Japanese style all presented on a tray - no buffet, no seconds, no other choices. The 20th floor dining room has wonderful views, but the furniture has the charm of a Mitropa rest stop in former East Germany with no attempt to "cover" things up such as table cloth or linen napkins etc, bare tables with COVID plastic separators placed even between people dining together.

As others have commented, the rooms are good sized by Japanese standards, the bed is a good compromise between Asian cement firmness and Western softness and the pillows are good. The bathroom is functional but not fancy and at least the standard rooms are a bit dated, which shows on the carpet and upholstery as well as by the absence of outlets. A USB charger has been added but otherwise outlets are rare. The truly spectacular feature of the hotel is the underground parking - super clean and spacious - but the elevator to get to it is a pain as it is a single elevator that also serves all guest room levels - be patient! As usual in Japan, the staff is very friendly and the location is superb with breezeway access to the train station and a taxi stand right in front of the entrance. For those who prefer to rough it: a Lawson combini is right next to said taxi stand, which means you can get food, booze, toiletries etc 24/7 whenever you fancy. For an IHG brand, I personally do not like that ANA cobranded hotels adopted the Japanese pricing model of essentially having nothing but one person's stay in the base price and then charge extra for the second person, for breakfast, for check out after 11:00 am etc etc. The cure to that in the queen and king bed segment at the low end: Comfort Hotels and at the higher end Hilton (though not the former Nikko...

I am Taiwanese,usually stay CP Okayama 3-4 times per year and just checked out in ANA CP Okayama yesterday (6th,Sep.),as IHG Diamond AMB, always spent more than 70 nights in IHG hotels world wide, especially 2/3 in Japan IHG hotels, 22ana Crowne Plaza have been stayed, including debranded ana CP Wakknai and Harbor View Okinawa, this trip, I also stayed in Crowne Plaza Osaka, enjoyed pleasant experience in their club lounge, and met their general manager Shiraki who is so nice and so quickly responded to my complaints with a reasonable feedback to Diamond AMB, but in your hotel your restaurant senior staff gave me a bad impression, because I just asked the restaurant staff to cut a pear 🍐 for me, finally he cut the pear 🍐 and brought it to my table with a unfriendly attitude and words, saying it was not a regular service, kitchen was busy, only this time service, no smiles, cold face to me, why I'm so really taking advantage of the restaurant? If he felt so busy that he could not provide the cutting fruit services to me, he could reject my request and say he could lend me a knife to cut, why did he need to express his reluctant attitude to me? GENERAL Manager, tell me why? I am so loyal and supportive to your hotel and Japan IHG hotels, I'm not worth your hotel's basic feedback? Your front manager Ms Quang is so nice, I appreciate, next time when I stay in your hotel, maybe I can meet GM and give...

We stayed at the Ana Crowne Plaza in Okayama for one night in August on a short family vacation to the Kansai area.

Booking - Booked through the Priority Club/IHG website

Location - very convenient as it is right next to the railway station - both JR and Shinkansen

Check-in - quick and friendly. Recognized for being an IHG Rewards member. We were lucky enough to be upgraded to the Executive Floor and received complimentary drinks in the Sky Bar!

Rooms - Very clean and nicely air-conditioned - we had a nice city view with lots to see, especially the Shinkansen trains. There bathrooms were clean and came with many bathrooom supplies.

Breakfast - included in the booking. There were many western and Japanese choices. The eggs were exceptionally delicious, and we liked seeing the picture of the farmer who supplied them to the hotel!

Check-out - accurate and very quick and courteous

The area - as stated, very accessible to the railway station and an easy afternoon trip to Kurashiki. If you go through the station, there is the large AEON Mall which has many restaurant and shopping options (and is air conditioned!)

The Ana Crowne Plaza certainly maintains high standards, and I would definitely recommend it and stay here again! I would also like to acknowledge the wonderful customer service and quick email response as I had made a mistake in my initial room booking - Thank you for...