The “Hotel Nikko”:http://www.hnkanazawa.jp/english/, the tallest building in Kanazawa was a few minutes walk from the bus and train station – at 30 floors it was easy to find. It was a modern building with the large, grand lobby on the ground floor. A florist wearing waders was refreshing a large floral display in the centre of a pool.
At check in, we heard those magic words, ‘we’ve upgraded you’ – from a 22 square meter room to one double in size. The lift service was efficient and our room was on the 26th floor (all rooms are on floors 17 and above). On entering, I realised how big 44 square metres was. We had a large entrance with sensor light, wardrobe with slippers, robes and kimonos, mini bar and safe. In the main room was a 6 foot wide bed, humidifier, desk and chair area, chaise longue and coffee table, TV with excellent BBC World, and tea and coffee making facilities with fancy coffee machine. Lighting and air conditioning were excellent, as were the views over Kanazawa from the window. There was an ice machine in the hall to cool our duty free G&T.
The bathroom was all black marble with double sinks, eight towels, L’Occitane products and everything else you might need. The bath was not the usual small, deep variety but oval and large and at one end there was a small TV so you could watch your favourite programme as you soaked. The loo had an inbuilt sensor which meant the lid and seat came up and down automatically, but it did take me a while to work out how to flush it as there were so many gizmos and buttons to press. The huge stone shower had a rain shower head 18 inches in diameter and there was plenty of steaming hot water. Although it was one of the most impressive bathrooms I’ve been in, unfortunately the shaving mirror had been fitted by a Japanese man and wouldn’t adjust for someone of 6’2”.
Our upgraded status also provided a complimentary drink in the bar on the 29th floor where we watched the city’s lights come on over a margarita (and then another one). There were a number of restaurants in the hotel, but on checking out the menus (helpfully laid out at reception), they were all expensive and so we ate out.
After such a great room, breakfast in the 2nd floor Garden Restaurant was slightly disappointing mainly because it was quite small and the tables were nipped in and so it all felt a bit chaotic. However, the range of food (both Japanese and western styles) were exception and there was also an option to take coffee out.
We were just sorry we were only staying one night.