  
 We
arrived at the
hotel
about 7:30 p.m. local time. This was 5:30 a.m. Mobile time and 3:30 a.m. in San
Francisco, where we had gotten up at 6:30 a.m. the previous day. We’d been
traveling through the day and an all-too-short night, and by the time our
luggage was finally delivered (over an hour later), we were too tired to care
what the room was like.
I suspect that during our stay in Osaka we did not
appreciate how nice the room was. It was only by comparison with our much
smaller room in Kyoto that we realized how large the room was for Japan. From
our window on the 19th floor (#2001), we had a splendid
view. Central to that view was an unusual
structure that Glenn referred to as the “Tootsie Roll Building.” We later
learned that it is the Osaka Daiichi Hotel, also known as
Osaka Maru-Biru (“round building”). It is
the first structure of its type in Osaka, perhaps in Japan, and, as you might
expect, the guest rooms are pie-shaped.
 Although
we quite enjoyed our stay in Kyoto, this was our least favorite hotel. The room
(#929) was quite small (much smaller than the one shown in the
photo at the hotel's
Web site), and the two beds
were really twins rather than even “hotel doubles.” This became an issue because
Barney and I had to share one the first night. There was so little space in the
room for luggage that we had had to open one or our large suitcases on one of
the beds. Later we moved it to a chair (I think we ended up with both chairs
full of suitcases), but after splitting a twin bed lengthwise the first night, I
opted to split it the other way the second night, pushing the suitcase to the
foot and curling up as best I could at the head of the bed!
We had no view to speak of (tennis courts and trash cans)
and again were grateful for the shoji screens. Storage space of any kind was
severely limited, as half of the closet was taken up by the mini-bar and
tea-making apparatus. It was in the bathroom of this room, however, that we
first experienced a Washlet with a blow dryer!
Hotel Kowakien, Hakone
 This
hotel was the most
“Japanese” of any we stayed in. I wondered briefly about the
small vestibule through which we entered, but it wasn’t until one of the
housekeeping staff, summoned to replace a burnt-out light bulb, meticulously
removed his shoes before entering the room that I realized it was meant as a
genkan. Mortified, I quickly removed my shoes and left them there!
The bathroom was also quasi-Japanese style, with the
(handheld) shower outside the large, deep tub (in a separate room). I am sure
one could learn to master this, but I had only one shot at it, and I don’t
believe I’ve ever had quite so unsatisfactory a shower! The toilet was also in a
separate room, and there was such an abundance of light switches for all these
compartments that I never did manage to get the right one first.
The room itself (#830) was
quite spacious and, unusually, had windows that opened. It had been raining when
we arrived and soon started up again, but for as long as we could, we left the
windows open and the welcome cool breeze billowing the curtains.
Kyoko provided the following written information about the
hotel:
-
We go to HAKONE today. HAKONE is a hot spring resort. At
the Hotel we stay at HAKONE there are two public bathes besides private
bathrooms in our rooms. One is free of charge (we take bath in naked) The
other needs admission fee (about $20 per person) This pay public bath is
called Yunessan. In Yunessan there an indoor swimming pool and other unique
bathes. (we have to wear swimming suit) So if you’d
like to go to Yunessan, please take swimming suits with you to HAKONE.
 This
hotel was amazing. Our room there (#2408) was easily
twice the size of the one in Kyoto, and very well appointed. The lower level of
the hotel had numerous restaurants (a couple of which we tried for breakfast),
and the lobby was so vast that I got turned around every time I tried to enter
or leave the hotel. Because the rooms were in two entirely separate towers, we
had to pay attention to which bank of elevators to use.
The hotel was situated in the area of Tokyo called Shinjuku
and was across the street from the Tokyo
Metropolitan Government Office Building, as can be seen in
this aerial photo. It was also within
easy walking distance of many electronics and department stores, parks, and the
Shinjuku JR (Japan Rail) station.
 This
was probably our favorite hotel in some ways. Certainly it was the only one in
which we really spent much time. Because we were pretty much on our own in
Yokohama, we returned to the hotel often. Although the
room was not much larger than the one in Kyoto,
it somehow didn’t seem as cramped. Perhaps the spectacular view over Yokohama
Bay made the difference. And it probably also helped that we stayed in Yokohama
long enough to unpack our clothes and stow our suitcases (and that the closet
was more spacious).
The Novotel (formerly the Hotel Yokohama) is Glenn and
Chie's “guest room,” where they have traditionally put up visitors, and its
restaurant and
bar are where they customarily entertain
(their “living room”).
The hotel was built on the site of the nineteenth-century Consulate General of
the United States, and the lobby
contains a photo of the original building, flanked by the two lampposts that
stood in front of its entrance.
As of 2007, the Novotel has changed hands again and is now
the
Monterey Hotel Yokohama
(or Hotel Monterey Yokohama). | 
