Review of APA Hotel Kagoshima Eki Mae

We spent our first night in Kyushu at APA Hotel Kagoshima Eki Mae. It was a no brainer choosing this hotel due to its close proximity to Kagoshima Chuo Station. From the station, it was a breeze to locate the hotel. It is barely a 2-minute walk from 'West Gate' of JR Train Station – Exit 2. The West Gate exit by right next to a huge Bic Camera.

We booked a Small Double Non-Smoking Room and paid 4,800 yen for it - less than SGD60 (without breakfast). As with many Japanese business hotels, the room was small and compact - 14 sq.m. to be exact with the bed pushed right against the wall.

Small Double Room

Hotel Rian - Review of our Seoul Hotel stay

After four wonderful days in Busan, it's time to return back to Seoul! Our "home" for the next five nights is a small boutique hotel called Hotel Rian, located in the Jongno district.

We booked a Standard Twin room and typical of Korean room sizes, it was small-ish but manageable for two persons with huge pieces of luggage (size is about 23 sqm). Our rooms were exactly the same as the pictures on the hotel's website! Average price per night was $95.

Photo Credit: Hotel Rian website 

Photo Credit: Hotel Rian website

Hotel Almond Busan - Review of our Busan Hotel Stay

During our Busan trip, we stayed four nights at a pretty new hotel called Hotel Almond. The hotel location is simply superb especially if you are coming into the city by the KTX. Exiting the main entrance of Busan station, you will see a huge open-air plaza (see picture below). On the left hand side of the plaza where the taxi stands are, you will see several hotels such as Toyoko Inn and Arirang Hotel as well as a convenience store CU. Hotel Almond is located just 5 metres down the small alley between Toyoko Inn and CU. In fact, even with our huge luggage, it only took us 5 minutes to get from the station to the hotel.

Busan Station

The hotel entrance is quite small, so pay attention to the large signboards above the hotel and you should have no problem finding it.

Check-in was a tad challenging for the front-desk folks and they seemed initially flummoxed at the Agoda confirmation slip which was printed in English. To make things easier for the staff in the future, I think it would be wise to circle or highlight your name so that they can find it more easily! After the check-in was finally completed, the front desk staff also handed us a small packet of amenities for us ladies such as moisturizers, hair ties, facial wipes etc.