hello. Today, I’m going to share with you my review of my 3-night stay at the Hotel Oriental Express Fukuoka Nakasu Kawabata (ホテル オリエンタル エクスプレス 福岡中洲川端), a hotel in Fukuoka that I highly recommend. This hotel is quite affordable, but it has a lot to offer, so if you’re looking for a value-for-money hotel in Fukuoka, it’s worth taking a closer look.
About Fukuoka Oriental Express Nakasu Kawabata Hotel
Due to our flight schedule, we would be checking in late at night and checking out early in the morning, so we focused our search on value-for-money hotels and booked a three-night stay at the Fukuoka Oriental Express Nakasu Kawabata. The Hotel Oriental brand is famous for its luxurious image in Japan, and Oriental Express is their business hotel brand. Since it is a famous hotel brand, I chose it partly because I trusted it.
The hotel is a small to medium-sized hotel with 183 rooms in a total of 11 floors. The exterior is plain, but it was built in 2021, so you can see that it is quite clean and stylish.
Upon entering the entrance, I was impressed by the display of a human model that is supposedly used for the Gion Yamakasa, a major festival in Fukuoka. Up front, there are elevators, a check-in counter, and a space that doubles as a lounge and restaurant. Due to the large number of facilities, it can get a bit hectic in the morning or later in the evening.
You can check in unattended or you can check in with a staff member, but it was late at night when I arrived, so the staff took care of it. You can also register your passport and other information in advance to get a faster check-in, but I think it would be helpful to register in advance when self-checking in 😊.
There is an amenity bar area where you can take your own amenities, and there are coffee machines, white wine, and selfie machines that you can use for free. It’s not available 24 hours a day, but coffee is available most of the time from 6:30am to 11pm, which is quite convenient👍 It’s a business hotel, but it’s a big plus that it has so many free services.
There were always people in the lobby on the 1st floor, so I couldn’t take a good picture, so I attached a picture from the hotel reservation site. The interior is calm and warm with wood tones as a new hotel. For more information and pictures, please check the link below : )
[Read more about the hotel on Agoda]
The hotel has a total of 11 floors, with rooms on floors 2 through 11, with an additional workout facility, vending machines, and coin-operated laundry on the 11th floor. There are three elevators, but one was occupied most of the time for cleaning, so the other two were mostly operational, which was convenient because there wasn’t much of a wait. Inside the elevator, you have to swipe your card key to press the button, which is a good security measure.
Rooms at Fukuoka Oriental Express Nakasu Kawabata Hotel
I booked a superior twin room at the Fukuoka Oriental Express Nakasu Kawabata Hotel. This room can accommodate up to 3 people if you add a sofa bed, and the room size is about 21.12㎡, so it’s relatively spacious for a Japanese hotel👍 We stayed with 2 adults, but I was personally satisfied with the room size and the bedding was fine.
The windows are also large and can be opened and closed, so there is a big advantage that natural ventilation is possible👍 I thought the view would be bad because it was a 7th floor room, but it was okay because there was not much blocking in front of me lol Especially, the blackout blinds fit the windows perfectly, so even when the sun rose in the morning, there was no light at all, so I could sleep well without even knowing that it was bright outside. I’ve been to many hotels, but I’ve never been to a place with such good blackout.
There are three magnets on the room door. The white one allows you to voice your opinion on room cleaning, the green one allows you to enter, clean the room, and take out the trash, the green one allows you to not enter, change towels, and take out the trash (which you have to take out the door), and the black one only takes out the trash.
Simply put the preferred method on the door. Full cleaning (including bedding changes) is done every 3 days, so you only get it if you stay 4 nights or more. We stayed with white, and even though they don’t change the bedding, they do a good job of cleaning and tidying up, so we didn’t have any complaints😊
The room was well-equipped with most of the necessities for a stay, including an air purifier with humidifier, slippers, safe, fridge, pajamas, and a large TV. The TV in particular was smart, so you could watch YouTube and more.
As a new hotel, it was convenient to use the separate toilet, bathroom, and washbasin, which Japanese people prefer, and most new hotels seem to have this structure. However, I was a little disappointed that the hotel did not have a large bathtub.
Hotel Facilities
Fukuoka Oriental Express Nakasu Kawabata Hotel has a BAGGAGE ROOM on the 1st floor where you can store your own luggage. You can store your luggage for free before or after check-in or check-out.
The 11th floor, the highest floor, is also home to a variety of facilities, including exercise equipment, coin-operated laundry machines, and vending machines. There’s also an outdoor area, like a terrace, but it was too hot to go outside lol.
Hotel Breakfast
Breakfast is served in the dining room on the ground floor. When I booked, I included breakfast for all three nights, but there are no breakfast tickets, just give them your room number. Breakfast is from 7am to 10am and is a simple buffet.
The dining room is not well separated from the lobby, so it can be a bit busier than some of the other outside dining areas, but I found it to be quieter and less crowded when I ate later in the day.
The breakfast doesn’t have a lot of food options, but there are enough items to fill you up in the morning. I especially liked the sashimi served in the morning. I love sashimi, so I included breakfast for all 3 nights, and I enjoyed it. The quality is not high, but it is recommended for those who want a simple breakfast.
Hotel location
The hotel is about a 5-7 minute walk from Fukuoka Airport by subway to Nakasu Kawabata Station, or you can take a taxi from the airport for around ¥2-3,000. If you take the subway, exit 5 is the closest, but there are only stairs to exit 5, so if you have heavy luggage like suitcases, we recommend taking the exit 6 towards the mall.
Despite having traveled to Fukuoka many times, Nakasu Kawabata Station was somewhat new to me, and while the location is not exactly mainstream, the city itself is relatively small, so the location didn’t bother me too much. There is a large 24-hour Don Quijote right in front of the station, and it’s nice to have quick access to the Canal City via the Kawabata shopping district.
Overall review
The Fukuoka Oriental Express Nakasu Kawabata Hotel is a new hotel that opened in 2021, so the interior was quite clean and stylish. The superior twin room I stayed in was spacious for a Japanese hotel, and it was well-equipped with various facilities and amenities, so I was able to stay without any major shortcomings. The price was reasonable, so it was a good value for money hotel in Fukuoka. However, I was disappointed that there was no bathtub or large public bath, and I think it would be better if the staff was a little more friendly : )
