Business Hotel Okazaki in Okayama

I prefer this hotel when I am on business trips in Okayama. It is closely convenient to the main train station, rooms have more space and better amenities compared to other typical Japanese business hotels.

This might be a COVID matter to some extent: great location, friendly staff but awkward pricing and much reduced service during ongoing COVID restrictions (2022-MAR)This seems to be one of the few if not the only global brand properties in Okayama and with that probably your safest bet if you like to confirm a king size bed instead of the tiny two singles or tatami that most Japanese brands often offer as their standard room. That being said, while rooms currently start at the 6000JPY per night level, you have to dive very deep down the list of all kinds of options until you get to that guaranteed non-smoke king bed, which takes you to double the base. If you lost all of your IHG perks (or never had them in the first placeyoull have to shell out another 2500JPY per person for breakfast and by surprised that the breakfast is two fixed choices of Western style or Japanese style all presented on a tray - no buffet, no seconds, no other choices. The 20th floor dining room has wonderful views, but the furniture has the charm of a Mitropa rest stop in former East Germany with no attempt to "cover" things up such as table cloth or linen napkins etc, bare tables with COVID plastic separators placed even between people dining together.As others have commented, the rooms are good sized by Japanese standards, the bed is a good compromise between Asian cement firmness and Western softness and the pillows are good. The bathroom is functional but not fancy and at least the standard rooms are a bit dated, which shows on the carpet and upholstery as well as by the absence of outlets. A USB charger has been added but otherwise outlets are rare. The truly spectacular feature of the hotel is the underground parking - super clean and spacious - but the elevator to get to it is a pain as it is a single elevator that also serves all guest room levels - be patient! As usual in Japan, the staff is very friendly and the location is superb with breezeway access to the train station and a taxi stand right in front of the entrance. For those who prefer to rough it: a Lawson combini is right next to said taxi stand, which means you can get food, booze, toiletries etc 24/7 whenever you fancy. For an IHG brand, I personally do not like that ANA cobranded hotels adopted the Japanese pricing model of essentially having nothing but one persons stay in the base price and then charge extra for the second person, for breakfast, for check out after 11:00 am etc etc. The cure to that in the queen and king bed segment at the low end: Comfort Hotels and at the higher end Hilton (though not the former Nikko properties).