Centro Turistico Città di Bologna

Room

What a change, we went from the biggest room we had, to the smallest, yes, even smaller than Japan. There wasn't really enough room to do anything in this place, especially with our 2 huge suitcase. We were only here for 1 night so we didn't bother unpacking anything. Decor was very very simple of course, but the setting of the Tourist park is quite nice.

The beds were kinda small and short, the bed spread was not very attractive and the pillow was very flat. We could control the temperature differently for the room and the toilet though, so that was great.

Rating - 2.5

Facilities

Again, no kettle, but also no fridge, which was kinda bad 'cos we still had some cheese from Tuscany left - but then again - nobody seem to fridge their hard cheese in Italy, so we weren't too concerned. There was a shared laundry and an Internet terminal with a 10 minutes limit. It was enough so we could do some stuff. The shower had great water pressure though! This was a tourist park so I had very different expectations for its facilities, and what they offer more than met my expectations.

Staff were a bit colder, but they were efficient and effective, with very good English.

Rating - 3.5

Location

Not located in the centre of town, but a few minutes drive away. It's quieter, and there is a bus that connects to the town. It seems to be situated in the middle of a field. The setting is typical tourist park, but unlike before, there is no view.

Rating - 2.5

Value

This was only 44 Euros a night. Since we weren't there for that long and we only used the room for sleep, more than adequate.

Rating - 4.5

Snooze Points - 13

Info

Via Romita 12/4 °A
40127 Bologna
Phone +39 051 325016
Website

Castello Vicchiomaggio

Room

Wow! That's all I can say. From the moment we drove up the dirt track to the cast-iron gate we were blown away by the setting. Perched on a hill, with a huge balcony space overlooking the Tuscan hillside. Incidentally, there was a wedding taking place so the place was decked out with flowers.

We were shown our attic space, up 2 narrow flights of stairs. I thought this was going to be a little space, but it was huge. The main area contained a bed, a huge wardrobe, dining table, a couch and a buffet. There was a separate area for a kitchenette and another for the bathroom. For such a huge space it could be heated up pretty quickly. For an attic it had small windows you could open to look out to the surrounding hills. The view from the bathroom was great! The furnishing was country style wood and very tasteful.

The bed was huge and comfy, with extra pillows :). I think I had the best sleep so far here.

Rating - 5

Facilities

Again, there's a bit of beauty over function here. The kitchen had lots of good wine and coffee making facilities, but not much for cooking and preparing food. I guess you're only supposed to drink wine and eat already prepared food here, but actually whip up any Tuscan cuisine! The bathroom was in blue and white chic, with a bath tub and heated towel rack, but there was no screen (I guess that's not a good look) so when you have a shower you got water all over the floor. There was no internet or laundry but they did offer a cellar and wine room door as well as a Tuscan banquet on a night of the week.

This place is really a self-service apartment. Apart from the initial check in, you're on your own, which was great! The maid who showed us the apartment couldn't speak any English, but we got by by miming. All the staff were much more Italian friendly than the big tourist centres.

Rating - 3

Location

The good news? You're in your own wine estate, a castle set in hectares of vineyards. The atmosphere is absolutely surreal and beautiful. It's quiet and secluded, a hideaway. The price you pay? Even though this place is in Greve in Chianti, it's still about a 10 mins drive into the town centre. (BTW, Greve is a beautiful Tuscan town).Being in the upper part of Tuscany, it's quite far away from some of the must-visit towns. Conclusion, a good place to go if you want to relax and enjoy the surroundings, but if you want to explore Tuscany, base yourself at a more central location, as the roads are windy and it takes awhile to get to the next town.

Rating - 4

Value

I can't believe this was one of the cheaper places we stayed it, it was far and away the best place ever. We booked through Flight Centre (which I don't recommend at all btw), for 7 night stay, and 9 day car hire of a small manual car for $1291 Australian

Rating - 5

Snooze Points - 17

Info

via Vicchiomaggio, 4
50022 Greve in Chianti (FI)
Phone +39 055 854079
Website

Japan Regional Specialties

Hakone Yumoto

• black sulfur-fumed cooked egg
• mochi cake - yellow outside with red bean

Hiroshima

• okonomiyaki with noodles
• maple leaf cake
• okonomiyaki flavour Pretz

Kobe

• sweets and lollies
• chocolate

Kyoto

• flat mochi sheet wrapped with green tea, red bean
• red bean flavour Pocky

Nara

• deer shaped mochi

Osaka

• okonomiyaki
• tataoki flavour Pretz

Tokyo

• Ningyouaki = 'ank' sweet paste sauce made from red bean coated with light sponge cake
• Tokyo banana
• "Edo" flavour Pretz

Things you see everywhere in England

• pubs
• footy fans
• Irish pubs
• Japanese eateries
• Marks & Spencer
• people
• Indian restaurants
• green paddock with sheep, moo cows and horses
• fields with yellow flowers
• English gardens with flowers
• red telephone and post box
• double decker bus
• rain
• Topshop

Things you see everywhere in Italy

Venice

• water
• gondolas
• tourists
• graffiti
• gelato and pizza
• masks
• bikes

Verona

• designer shops
• graffiti
• gelato

Rome

• crazy drivers
• cars parked at any odd angle
• gelato
• wine bars
• pizzeria
• delis
• beggars
• old buildings
• grand buildings
• rubbish
• tourists holding maps
• police
• ambulance
• smart cars
• sirens

Tuscany

• green hills
• wineries
• churches on top of hills
• old walled towns
• ham, salami, chianti, Pecorinos

Emilia-Romagna

• food stores
• fairs
• palaces
• graffiti
• designer shops
• rain
• ham
• dog poo
• music on the streets

Amalfi Coast

• cliffs
• water
• lemons
• limoncello
• tourists
• coloured houses
• narrow roads
• crazy drivers
• chaos

Liguria

• bread shop
• focacceria
• water, beach, coast
• tunnels
• tanned Italians
• people swimming

Milan

• designer shops
• Leonardo da Vinci shrines
• baby designer shops
• Japanese tourists
• trendy bars
• more designer shops
• designer pubs

Casa Susy

Room

This place is basically just an apartment block of about 12 flats. The owner stay in 1 flat, converting some of their rooms into the B&B. They also have another flat on the floor below, where each room has been fitted with its own ensuite. All the other facilities are shared.

Our room was pretty big, but it was filled with furniture, a big wardrobe, desk and another bed so there wasn't much room to move around. The best thing was probably the little balcony we had with views of the mountains in the distance which was beautiful. There was also a clothes line on the balcony which was handy. Everything was kinda homely and simple though, so no designer furnishing here. The bed was comfortable enough, but not the best. The pillow was very thin but at least there was an extra so I could prop myself up. The walls were really thin so you can hear next door, upstairs, downstairs, basically everything. Luckily we shard our apartment with only 2 other girls - there could be a maximum of 8 people sharing the flat.

Rating - 3.5

Facilities

The best thing about this place was the Internet and laptop that we were basically free to use as we liked. I got a LOT of catchup done. There was also a real big fridge which was great. We really were living in Suzy's house, so we could use her kitchen with all its utensils. So we got to boil our water ok. You could also get Suzy to do your laundry for the inflated price of 10 Euros.

We met Suzy and her brother Nicola who ran the place. They were pretty nice people and quite helpful, but I didn't feel they were interesting or genuine. I think they were seasoned pros so just put on a fake front. Their true colours came out when they tried to rip us off at the end. (See value entry below).

Rating - 3.5

Location

Relatively close to Sant 'Agnello station, a 10 minute walk down some narrow pathway. It was a good base for Sorrento and Pompeii, and also cheaper. The town itself is smaller and cheaper, with a more "authentic" Italian feel which I like. Just note that Sant 'Agnello is a small station so the trains and buses are not very frequent.

Rating - 3.5

Food

Befitting a small B&B, the breakfast was all "homemade". There was not very much choices available, but it was quite acceptable. We were served some yummy fresh bread every morning, with a selection of spreads you use out of communal big jars. The spreads weren't very interesting or good quality, but the bread was so good I could eat it plain.

I was most disappointed with the cheese they served. In a country renowned for their fantastic cheeses, which were all reasonably priced, we were served plastic wrapped 'singles' cheese which tasted like nothing at all.

We got stovetop-made cappuccino every morning, allbeit with cheap coffee, but we only got chocolate cakes and hazelnut biscuits on the first morning. We were always the first people at breakfast since we always headed off early, however, on the last day we came back later in the day (around 9.30) to pay the bill, and saw that other people had much BETTER breakfast items served to them, including an Easter cake.

Rating - 2.5

Value

Here is what I don't like about this place. What they advertised on the Internet and their promotional websites is definitely not what you get. The breakfast was described as very elaborate and half the items they promised was missing. They tried to rip us off when we paid the bill, trying to charge us an extra 10 Euros on top of the quoted 60 Euros a night. Luckily I kept all the documentation and was able to prove straightaway that that wasn't our agreed rate. They also said they accept credit card but it turned out they only accepted cash. It was only later, when we talked to the guy we met at the station who worked as a receptionist at a Sant 'Agnello hotel, that he told us we paid too much. If it wasn't for the lies this was quite an acceptable place to stay.

Rating - 1.5

Snooze Points - 14.5

Info

Via Cappuccini 36
Sant'Agnello di Sorrento
80065 Naples
Italy
Phone +39 3389424111
Website

Welcome Residences

Room

It's a case of style of substance. Everything was being renovated here so it was all new. The furnishing is of the Victorian period and very tasteful. The bed was quite spacious and comfortable, with nice doona and pillow that's not paper thin. It was warm enough in Rome to not need any sort of heating. However, the bathroom shower leaked and there weren't any hooks to hang up stuff. The drawers were beautiful antique like but required you to turn a key every time you want to open it, after awhile, it was just tedious.

Rating - 3.5

Facilities

They had a fridge, yeah! But again, no kettle or water. I am confused again, what is it with Italian hotels and inconsistency? The 1st day we were there we got soap and shampoo, after 2 days, they stopped giving us anything. A few days later we got razors. Sometimes they don't line the bins. Alas, no Internet (which we really could've done with) or laundry (also really needed!)

The level of service we received from the staff was also very inconsistent. There were 2 people there who were really nice, and went the extra mile to get you information and other stuff you need, for example they recommended great restaurants, laundry and supermarket for us, but at other times, totally useless. When I told them we had a leak in the shower, they promised it would be fixed the next day. Needless to say, it wasn't so I went to find out why. It turned out that the person we told didn't even bother writing down our problem or passing it on. We then got told it couldn't be fixed for a few days because of the Easter holidays and we'd just missed the last working day opportunity. They didn't offer to move us to another room, and when I complaint they gave us some towels we could put on the floor to absorb the water. This only happened once though, afterwards we couldn't be bothered going specifically to get towels all the time and gave up all hope of the shower ever getting fixed where we were there, and just lived with a damp floor.

Got the useless guy again when we checked out. Luckily we did it early as it took them ages to figure out what was going on.

Rating - 1

Location

It was close to Termini station and the Metro, which was good, but you get "bad" sorts here - homeless, beggars, gangs. It was also quite noisy with road noises. Because our house is next to a highway, the noise didn't really concern us, but if you're not used to it, you might not get a good night's sleep. They seem to do construction work at really odd hours.

Rating - 3.5

Food

They serve a buffet style breakfast every morning. The selection is not as good as all the other places we've been to, and we were staying for 7 days, so got sick of all the stuff by the end of it. What's strange is that the selection is pretty different on different days, as in some pastries and cakes are not available sometimes, sometimes there's no bread, sometimes none of a particular jam. I think it's more a matter of inconsistency rather than them changing it for variety.

The offering included cereals, tea, coffee, chocolates, apricot tarts, chocolate marble cake, bread, yoghurt. I really could have done with some fruit. Unfortunately, all the food were of the cheapo variety. They didn't have a real cappuccino machine, and the juice was sugary and cordial like. Also, they never refill the breakfast offering, so once it's gone, that's it. This didn't affect us as we always had an early breakfast so we could head off, but if you're a late sleeper, this could be a problem.

Rating - 2.5

Value

At 85 Euro a night, it was not as bad as the Venice place. There wasn't much cheap accom in Rome so it was passable. I hope the accommodation in the smaller towns will be better from now.

Rating - 3

Snooze Points - 13.5

Info

Via Amendola 7
Roma 00185
Italy
Phone +39 (0)6 48901248
Website

Ramada Fiera Hotel

Room

Hoorah! The room was big, tastefully furnished and decorated. Everything was functional! The beds were extra wide and comfy, but the pillows were quite flat and there was no extra blanket.

Rating - 4

Facilities

The staff were very efficient and very entertaining. When I went to check out, the guy chatted to me about visiting Sydney and surfing at Bondi, as you would. The only gripe I had was that at breakfast we weren't offered cappuccino but everyone else dining there was. It did look like everyone else were regulars though.

They offered the usual facilities befitting a 4 star hotel:toiletries , gym (that I didn't have time to use), internet. They had some great tasting lollies at reception but no kettle either.

Rating - 4.5

Location

I think one reason it was cheaper was that you cannot reach the hotel without a car. To their advantage they have plenty of free parking and they are close to the Verona Fairground - where most of their business seem to stem from.

Rating - 3.5

Food

Absolutely wonderful, they put out a spread of cakes and pastries, breads, cereals and milk, fruits, yoghurts, cold cuts, cheese, eggs, potatoes, bacon. They even had a separate biodynamic section. And the coffee when we got it? Excellent.

Rating - 5

Value

At 80 Euros a night, including that fabulous buffet breakfast, a bargain!

Rating - 4.5

Snooze Points - 21.5

Info

Via Zannoni 26-8
Veneto,
Verona 37136
Italia
Phone +39 458204485
Website

Things you see everywhere in Australia

Gold Coast

• BWS (Beer, wine, spirit for the uninitiated)
• beaches
• surf shops
• people in beach wear
• Baskin Robbins
• Thai restaurants

Things you see everywhere in Germany

Frankfurt

• people smoking
• graffiti
• bikes
• pretzel

Munich

• beer hall
• beer garden
• beer
• bread
• pretzel

Romantic Road

• yellow and green fields
• beer
• beer garden
• castles
• houses with huge roofs
• Italian restaurants
• cafes and bread shop
• cobbled streets with horse-drawn carriage
• churches and high towers
• bikes

Things you see everywhere in Japan

• people
• Hondas
• toilets
• food places
• convenience stores
• cleaners
• people bowing at you
• Japanese tourists
• American tourists holding guide books
• carparks
• bikes
• Starbucks

Toyota Yaris

Trip Summary

Gold Coast

Drive

After 4 days, Slokky still had trouble controlling it, and I'm not sure if that's due to his lack of skills or the sensitivity of the car. Either way, it wasn't a very smooth drive. Our little black Yaris certainly got a lot of looks because of that though. It's not a bad looking car, and its design points are definitely nicer than the Echo and the Corolla.

Rating - 3

Comfort

Besides the bump factor, not bad. There was the standard air-con, CDs, as well as electric windows and central locking. The seat was soft enough, but I probably wouldn't want to sit in the back. There are loads of nooks and crannies for you to store stuff, but the boot is quite small.

Rating - 3

Service

For once we went with Hertz, and I can't fault their service. Unlike those people at Kings Cross when we rented the Corolla (due to the stupid people who did the hit and run). They were available when we arrived on our late flight and we just filled in a form to return the car for our early morning flight.

Rating - 4

Value

Around $30 per day for our troubles. We only needed to fill up one tank too which was a bonus.

Rating - 4

Clean

I think apart from that experience in Venice, all rental cars have been immaculate. This one had a few small scratches on the outside though.

Rating - 3

Zoom Points - 17

Info

Toyota Yaris YR Hatchback
Website

Hotel Watermark

Room

This place was a lot more run down than I expected. The lobby and foyer resembled any other 4.5 star hotels, with a few restaurants and shops. However, when you actually go up to your floor, the carpet is worn, and inside the room, the same. The bathroom was tied and old, and although clean, felt dirty. The room was spacious enough, but had none of the "luxurious" furnishings I was expecting from a high-class hotel. In fact, I've stayed at 3 star hotels with better furnishing, so what's the deal with that? Because we'd paid $30 extra per night for the privilege, we were on a higher floor ($18) and had a view of the lagoon and the highways, no ocean view though). The "Deluxe" room also came with king-sized bed. The bed? I was quite impressed by first impressions. It was big (king sized alright) and tastefully decorated, with five pillows as well as other smaller cushions, decked out in neutral earthy tones. But like they say, don't judge a book by its cover. On sleeping on it, the bed was hard as! This is really really bad for side sleepers. I didn't sleep at all the first night, and for nights after that, I made sure I had extra pillows so I was really elevated and my shoulders weren't as sore after that.

Rating - 2

Facilities

There were the restaurants, bars, gaming room, function room, gym, pool, laundry, hairdressers, spa, the standard facilities for a 4.5 stars hotel really. What was disappointing was that you have to pay to use EVERYTHING. Even Internet was charged. We didn't end up using ANY of the facilities because of the strict opening times. Really, how do you expect anyone to be able to use these.

The most disappointing aspect was the staff. They were all wooden, with a very forced friendliness and impersonal service which I found so different to everyone else I've encountered on the Gold Coast. They delivered what we asked but that was all, nobody befriended you or went above and beyond their call. What annoyed me though was what they did with the toiletries - which, I might add, was cheap and second rate for a 4.5 star hotel. One the first day, there was 1 bottle of shampoo and conditioner, but no soap. We had to go to the conceiage to get some. On the 2nd day, there was 2 bottles of shampoo and conditioner, as well as more soap. On the 3rd day, nothing at all. What on earth is going on? As well, for every extra toweling you ask for, there's a $2 surcharge. Outrageous!

According to the website (which incidentally, is broken. They really should check their links) [Note 20/10/06 - they finally fixed their website, link updated], the "Deluxe" room also came with bathrobes. However, there were none in the room and you have to phone up for it. We phoned up for the 1st night just to see what we paid $30 extra for, and the maid delivered 2 stiff white bathrobes I'd rather not touch, and they sat in our room for 3 whole days.

Rating - 2

Location

The best thing about this hotel, situated at the edge of the main tourist strip. We could walk to the beach (10 mins) and to the shops, and it's also quite close to the Broadbeach and casino end of town. The parking was convenient too.

Rating - 4

Value

Because we went in the dead of winter, all the hotels were doing so-called "special" deals. We paid $340 for 3 nights, which I think was a rip-off, simply because they did not meet my expectations. I tried to use the 3-card which entitled us to a further 10% off, but they gave me some excuse of the reservation system was not controlled by them and they couldn't change the amount - then how do they charge people for mini-bar items and such then? I will not be returning.

Rating - 1

Snooze Points - 9

Info

3032 Gold Coast Blvd
Surfers Paradise,
QLD 4217
Australia
Phone +61 7 5588 8333
Website

Residenza Cà Dario

Room

I didn't know it at the time, but this was to be the worst hotel out of the whole trip, I guess at least it was good that my expectations were lowered. I was quite charmed by the outside, a two storey building. Inside, everything was decorated nicely, but nothing was as I expected.

Our room was on the first floor. Seeing this was one of the most expensive places we were staying at, imagine my dismay when we could hardly fit both our suitcases in there. (I had a peak at the other rooms though, and the one next door to us was heaps bigger, so maybe we were just unlucky. When I went to check the website, I realised they actually put us up in their "single" room as our exact room showed up in the "single" room photo, but they charged us the double room rate). The bed was also tiny, the pillows were FLAT, which were already bad signs... The blankets was thin and you could only turn the heat up a little bit. I had to sleep with a jumper on.

Rating - 0.5

Facilities

This was our first and only hotel where we had to share bathrooms, and I don't think I ever want that experience again. The bathroom itself was nicely decorated, but there was a lot of waiting around to use it. It was also very inconvenient if you wanted to use it at night because it was so far away. The shower didn't drain properly and after one person had a shower, the whole bathroom floor would be wet and filled with soap suds. The cloth hand drying dispenser ran out and wasn't replaced.

There was a cappuccino machine and tea and coffee making facilities (with a dirty kettle!) out in the hallway, but the cappuccino machine didn't work and wasn't fixed, and they gave you small plastic cups to make your coffee in, so whenever you poured anything into it, you got the melted plastic taste.

Apart from getting no toiletries items or even a cup to use for the bathroom, the towels were just cloths, and weren't replaced either.

At this stage, we weren't used to the Italian way yet, so I didn't know that when the office said it was opened at 8.30, they actually mean 9.00. We waited around for 2 days waiting for them to open, but when nobody showed after 9.00 on both days, we decided to take off. On the last day we had no choice but to wait, and the office ladies didn't come in under 9.10. When we finally got to meet her, she was pretty friendly, but not nearly as nice as the Japanese.

Rating - 1

Location

Venice is funny to judge on location 'cos it depends on your needs. For us, pushing our luggage over the least amount of bridges was the priority, so crossing only 2 bridges to reach this place was an advantage. However, this place is far away from the main tourist area around San Marco, which didn't bother us at all but other people might find inconvenient.

Rating - 4

Value

80 Euros per night, what a complete rip-off! As well as having a small room and shared bathroom, the supposed "breakfast" was a basket that kept diminishing every day.

Rating - 0

Food

The price was supposed to include "breakfast", but what we got was a basket filled with (on the first day anyway):

• two packets of cappuccino mix
• two packets of coffee and milk
• two mini chocolate donuts
• two mini apricot tarts
• two lemon tea

The second day there was no lemon tea, and the third day, as well as the lemon tea, the cappuccino packs were also gone. If they were trying to impress us the first day, it didn't work. The food was of low quality and not substantial at all.

Rating - 0

Snooze Points - 5.5

Info

Sestiere Di Santa Croce 642
30125,Venezia,
Italia
Phone: +39 0415242719
Website

Hotel Garni Diplomat

Room

After Japan, this room seemed absolutely enormous! The room actually reflected the characteristics of Germany. The room was sparsely decorated, but very functional. The beds were very long and narrow, catering to the Germans. All the switches and drawers were very high up, and I couldn't use the mirror at all! The European pillows and blankets were great too. Everything was basic, but you have everything you need.

Rating - 4

Facilities

The bathroom was very funny, in that there's no shower cabinet as such, you just get the whole floor wet. I was quite surprised that we had plenty of clean towels and soap surprised. This room didn't have a fridge, and as we found out later, no hotels in Europe provide kettles because of some sort of health regulations, so there are never any kettles in the room. The owner was extra nice though, as we didn't know about the kettle, he did manage to bring us a pot of boiling water so we had our water for the day.

checking in and out was easy, and the breakfast ladies were great. They were very busy making sure the food was always filled, and worked tirelessly making everything special, we really noticed the difference once we got to Italy...

Rating - 4

Location

This place was great, very close to transportation, pretty convenient to get to the airport, and we could actually walk to the city centre! It was in a suburban St, which had some wide kids running around though, and they were making a lot of noise. However, noise doesn't bother me so I slept through it.

Rating - 4

Value

We paid 46 Euros a night, the cheapest hotel in our EU stay.

Rating -5

Food

I was surprised, but the breakfast buffet was absolutely excellent. We didn't know it at that stage, but it was to become one of the best breakfast we were going to have. Buffet style, with loads of choices, including cold cuts, loads of cheeses, heaps of different breads, and best of all, fruit! It was all tasty!!!

Rating - 5

Snooze Points - 22

Info

Ostendstr. 24-26, 60314
Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Phone 069 4304040

Oak Hotel

Room

Well, the rooms are getting smaller and smaller, the bed was small, but comfortable enough. The pillow was good. Given that we were only here for a few hours to sleep, I wasn't really fussed. It did feel a bit claustrophobic in the room, 'cos it didn't have a window, but it was night and you couldn't see outside anyway.

Rating - 3

Facilities

This was a hostel, so as expected, there was a share kitchen, internet, laundry, vending machines. This place had no fridge and a small kettle. It was much better than I expected for a hostel, all the equipment were in good working order, and there was no rude guests or anything. We spent hours on the net and doing our laundry before we had to held off for Germany.

The staff had great English and were very helpful with our enquiries. We were able to check out very early in the morning without any problems.

Rating - 4.5

Location

10 mins walk from JR Ueno station, we chose it so we could get to the airport quickly. Otherwise, close to the attractions of Ueno.

Rating - 4

Value

At 7560 yen, I can't complain. You pay for what you get, and they exceeded my expectations.

Rating - 4.5

Snooze Points - 16

Info

6-1-2, HigashiUeno,
Taito-ku,
Tokyo, 103-0013 Japan
Phone +81-3-5828-0551
Website

Kyoto Garden Hotel

Room

Well, this was more what we expected from Japanese hotels. The room was small after we've moved in our huge suitcases, the double bed also very small. The bathroom continued the theme. The decor was very westernised and had no Japanese touch. However, we had everything we needed. The bed was comfy but the blanket was not big enough for both of us though.

Rating - 3.5

Facilities

By this time, we were very used to the politeness of the Japanese, so we were somewhat taken aback by the staff at this hotel. Oh, they were nice enough, it's just that we expected more by now.

Goodies wise, they provided everything we needed too, but nothing more. There was no laundry. The kettle could've been bigger. However, they did have 2 Internet terminals available at the lobby so we were able to blog.

Rating - 3.5

Location

Great location close to the station (15 mins to JR station) and metro (Karasuma-Oike) (1 min). There were also some cool shops nearby.

Rating - 4

Value

8050 Yen per night is ok value, but of course can't compare to Kitcho or Taiseikan.

Rating - 3.5

Snooze Points - 14.5

Info

Muromachi-dori,
Oike minamiiru, Nakagyo-ku,
Kyoto 604-8175, Japan
Phone +81-75-255-2000
Website

Vietnam 2007

Simple Plan:
Oz - Vietnam - Oz

Expaneded Plan:
Sydney - Ho Chi Minh City - Sydney

Date:
19/6/07 - 28/6/07

Flying:
JetStar

Cost:
$$

Thailand 2007

Simple Plan:
Oz - Thailand - Oz

Expaneded Plan:
Sydney - Phuket - Sydney

Date:
28/2/07 - 12/3/07

Flying:
JetStar

Cost:
$$

Gold Coast 2006

Simple Plan:
Oz

Expaneded Plan:
Sydney - Gold Coast - Sydney

Date:
5/8/06 - 8/8/06

Flying:
JetStar - Virgin Blue

Cost:
$$$$