New Otani Harborland Hotel, Kobe

If you have a harborside room, the view is out over the harbor. Although the staff thought the view was not good, because other buildings in the area block a bit of it, we were on the 5th floor (of 16 guest room floors) and pleased to look out and see the cranes and activity of the Kobe harbor. The room was a little larger than others and it was nice to have a little more space to spread out in. We ate in the hotel restaurant on the 17th floor one night and had a beautiful view and delicious food. The hotel is shown on the map as within the Kobe JR Station complex. (It is, and that's wonderfully convenient for shopping and there was wifi access in the shopping area.) But that's the local train station, not the Shinkansen Station! This was my wake-up call to the fact that not all JR Stations are both local and Shinkansen stations. Since we arrived on the Shinkansen, we had to take the subway from that station to a local JR station and ride to the station where the hotel was located. That was an unexpected minor inconvenience. The breakfast buffet was generous, regardless of the time we arrived at breakfast!