Hotel Forza Kanazawa

Breakfast was tasty with adequate daily changes to the menu to provide some variety. The obasan managing the breakfast crowd was very polite and cheerful even when "tossing out" some guests who had tried to sneak into the breakfast area without tickets. The hotel was located right across from Omicho Market, and centrally located for walks to most of the main sights. Great for clocking those steps. Hotel staff helped us complete the luggage forwarding documents, and even took the extra effort to call up our next hotel to verify our booking. Appreciate having a coffee machine in the lobby to provide free caffeine fix any time of the day.

Everything was fine - amenities, location, food services, laundry, service personnel. We would particularly emphasize the excellence of the concierge (‘Emi’) who went far beyond ‘knowledgeable’, ‘proficient’, and ‘considerate’ - things that would be expected of any concierge - to create for us an exceptional Kanazawa experience. She proposed walking itineraries to match our enthusiasm for history, culture, and natural beauty, she suggested authentic local eating spots that were local favourites as opposed to tourist attractions, and took on the making of reservations for us, given our non-existent Japanese language skills, complete with setting navigation directions into our smartphones and printing off hard copies with introductory notes for the restauranteurs. Emi deserves rave reviews (and a big raise!).

We have stayed at this hotel before. While it's a bit of a walk to the station (10 minutes with a wheelchair and a following wind) it's location is superior to being closer to the station. Room was adequately sized, breakfast selection excellent, staff very friendly and helpful, especially one of the breakfast room staff who recognised me from my last stay just over a year ago. The shower is a masterpiece of hydraulic engineering, once you have mastered it!

The hotel is pretty inside, the staff is friendly and the service was impeccable. All the staff who helped me spoke English. I didn't have breakfast at the hotel, but it looked quite complete from the photos, and the restaurant/lounge area is also very nice. There is a hot drinks machine in the lobby, where you can get coffee, latte, and hot chocolate at any time for free. The blended coffee, espresso, and hot chocolate were good. On the second floor, there is a coin laundry, an automatic drinks machine, an ice machine, and a microwave. They give you a welcome drink, and you can choose between wine (red and white), sake, or a coin that is valid in the automatic drinks machine for juice, tea, soda, etc. For alcoholic drinks, they give you a card that you insert into the wine machine in the lounge. The time to get alcoholic drinks is from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Don't forget to leave your glasses in the designated place after drinking. I stayed in a Comfort Double room, which was very spacious and comfortable. The QR code on the dresser gives more details about the hotel's services, including a Google Maps list of recommended restaurants. The blackout curtains in the room are excellent. The lighting in the sink could be better to do makeup, but they have a folding mirror in the drawer below the TV. The built-in air conditioning with several outlets throughout the room is excellent for providing uniform air conditioning without having the wind concentrated in just one place. The shower area is separate from the toilet and also separate from the sink. The sink is very spacious, and the shower is the best I've ever used in my life. Seriously, this shower is now on my wish list. The bath soap smells so good, I almost bought one (I found out that they sell their shampoo, conditioner, and soap at the front desk). The room has an excellent massage pillow that you can use on your back, legs, and feet.

Location is super premium. Omicho Market is basically adjacent and Kanazawa Castle, Kenroku-en, Higashi Chaya District are within comfortable walking distance. Kanazawa Station is also easy to reach. Nearby bus stops make it easy to get elsewhere in the city. My room was immaculate, spacious and quiet. The bed was large, comfortable with pillows to match. The decentralized bathroom (toilet, sink and bath/shower being in separate locations) was unusual but not a bad thing. There were complimentary water bottles in the room and a free vending machine drink that could be claimed at the front desk. Staff was friendly and helpful when I had issues. Breakfast buffet, though a bit more expensive, was worth it. Huge variety of options including Western, Japanese and more local offerings. Last but not least, it didn't break the bank to get all of this.