Review ★★★★★
Henn na Hotel (Strange Hotel in English) is a newish hotel chain that’s modeled after Japanese business hotels. The aim is to offer functional, clean accommodation with little in the way of frills.
The gimmick here is that the hotel is ‘run’ by robots, so there is no human interaction (or at least limited interaction since you can summon human workers if there’s an issue). Not having to deal with living staff is attractive in the age of pandemics, which is why we decided to stay. At the very least it gave us a few standout features that were memorable.
Strange Check-In
Check-in was a breeze, both campy and creepy at the same time. The dinosaur overloads of check-in gave off an unsettling vibe. I just had the feeling that if they were to become sentient they would run amuck killing the human guests and setting the building a blaze. Luckily, that didn’t happen during out stay. One of the benefits of having a digital check-in is that it’s available in a number of languages. The interface was easy to navigate and took less than 2 minutes to do.
The room was small, but that’s to be expected in business style hotels. It’s enough space to function for a few days.
The amenities on offer were what one would expect, with the typical toiletries, etc. There was a buffet style breakfast, but we didn’t venture into it because of Covid fear. There were a few extra nice touches, like free umbrellas. This is a must in Kanazawa, as it rains all too often.
The price was a very reasonable ¥5,000 for double room. Even by business hotel standards, this is on the far end of cheap.
This is a national chain, so branch locations will vary. Our particular stay was in the Katamachi district in Kanazawa, Japan. It’s a great location that is situated near one of the city’s main drinking and eating areas and within walking distance of a number of popular attractions. It is a solid 20-minute walk from the train station though. If you have large/heavy bags you’ll need to grab a taxi.
Would we stay again?
The hotel offered good bang for the buck and some kitsch value as well. The non-human interface was practical, even though it doesn’t look it. It was worthy of a stay and we wouldn’t hesitate to stay again at another branch. This is certainly a hotel chain that has a sense of humor about themselves, which is really refreshing.
Contact & General Information
Price: Cheap to Mid-Ranged
Website: Henn na Hotel
(the website is in a few languages, including English)
Kanazawa Location: Google
Henn na Hotel has a number of hotels throughout Japan, with new branches popping up.
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