First, pay the extra for the room with a view. The castle is right there! There was a terrible lightning storm the day I checked in, but it was pretty amazing to watch once I was safely back indoors. Location is also great, a brisk 10-min (or less) walk from major transit lines, shopping, parks, the castle, you name it. Also, front desk staff! Really really helpful, went above and beyond to assist me with putting together a plan for one of my days. I wanted to visit the craters at Aso Kuju- particularly Izumi at reception was so so helpful with navigating local transit and timetables, and was overall supremely competent, friendly, and willing to help me with all sorts of things. As a woman traveling alone (particularly with very limited Japanese on my first trip to Japan) it is really reassuring to stay at places with such understanding and good-natured staff.

This hotel has more of a 4-star feel to it than the 3 stars it is rated at. Everything is very spacious, including the room, which also had an exceptional view of the castle. Rate for me was no higher than a „normal“ business hotel.

The Chinese restaurant is not open to the general public in the evenings. You can only order something to take away to your room. Maybe worthwhile to note that this hotel seems to make much of its business with weddings.

We had an enjoyable stay at KKR hotel Kumamoto. Spacious, clean and large room with a magnificent view of the Kumamoto castle. This stay was one of the highlights of our Kyushu road trip. The hotel is easy to reach by public transport or your own car and it is 5-min walk from the castle north entrance. The staff was extremely helpful, especially when they assisted us on sending our baggage to Osaka with Yamato takkyubin.

The hotel location is amazing and we had a stunning view of the castle 🏰 The whole hotel, including our room was very elegant and attractive. We were very comfortable and staff responded quickly to any requests. The breakfast in the lovely dining area wirh more castle views was very nice. We also enjoyed afternoon tea in hotel Cafe. I recommend KKR hotel Kumamoto and would definitely choose to stay again.

Nothing I can think of.

Bedroom is superb & spacious with separate toilet & bathroom. Car park is directly within the hotel & spacious for loading & unloading of luggages. Very clean environment and overlooking at the Castle.

Limited to only Japanese breakfast and should include more international tastes such as better cereal condiments, muffins. May want to include pay-wave facility as we used e-wallet instead of only using physical card to pay.

We had the most amazing view of the castle - you couldn’t get any closer. The hotel is close to the castle which was our ideal location but there didn’t appear to be much else around. We only stayed one night as an overnight stop so I can’t comment on how close it was to restaurants or public transport but staying this close to the castle in a beautiful hotel and in an incredibly spacious room was totally worth it.

Nothing

Fantastic location right behind Kumamoto Castle. Conveniently situated not in the heaviest of Kumamoto traffic for trips out of the city.

The airconditioner was quite loud, but possible to get used to. After the first cleaning we did also only get a single set of towels and pajamas, so had to go down to the lobby to get a second set.

The staff was friendly and helpful. Kumamoto Castle was across the street from the hotel. Hotel lobby was big and impressive. The bus stop was right outside of the hotel and easy to catch. The breakfast dining room had the most impressive and fantastic view of Kumamoto Castle perched on top of the hill. Of all of our travel, this dining room view was the nicest of all.

Not any restaurants nearby that we were aware of.

Perfect location to visit the main tourist attraction: The Kumamoto Castle. During the stay, there were some irregularities that I had to deal with such as losing my belongings, but the staff were being really kind and helpful and solved the problem.

A bit on the expensive side for what it’s worth. The hotel needs to take out fake flower ornaments near the fountain in the main lobby: it makes things look unnecessarily cheaper. The carpets needs replacing in the corridor and the elevator halls: could choose better ones to make the hotel grandeur.

Our spacious and comfortable room afforded us suberb views of the castle, which is lit up at night, albeit it will be under repair for some time yet following earthquake damage. The hotel is quite far away from the train station, but trams bring you nearby and there's also a (public) bus that runs between the two. The busy city centre, with its shops and restaurants, is a short walk away. Staff are English-speaking, efficient and helpful.