Hotel Metropolitan Kamakura

The Metropolitan, a member of a Japanese chain, consists of the 2d through 5th floors of a long building very centrally located in Kamakura. The building is simply but beautifully decorated, with light-colored wood and elegant detail. The rooms are small and contain a bed, two chairs, a small table, and a narrow built-in, but the furniture and room decor are beautiful, with dimmable recessed lighting, a small glass-front refrigerator, and a number of accessories (tea and coffee, and even a teapot, are provided). The bathroom is surprisingly large, with a deep and almost full-size bathtub. There is a large lobby with an almost Scandinavian feel, comfortable seating, and free coffee. The hotel employees were all nice, and spoke some English.

This was one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed at. Very clean. Lots of cool items in the toiletries tray like steamy eye masks and salon pads for your legs. The staff were super helpful and communicative. They set up the sofa bed for my child, and I appreciated it so much. I booked three rooms for our family, and everyone loved their rooms. Walkable from Kamakura Station. Komachi Street is right outside the door. The path leading to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine starts right outside of the hotel. I used a luggage delivery service to send my luggage to this hotel, and everything arrived without any issues.

This hotel is among the very finest that I have stayed in during my 40 years of traveling the world. By "finest" I do not compare it to a Ritz Carlton or a Mandarin Oriental, which are also very, very fine. The word "finest" here is meant to say that everything, everywhere, and everyone offered an absurd high quality experience worth far, far more than what we paid. In that regard, the value ratio is off the charts. Let me say truthfully: I have never stayed at another Kamakura hotel *BUT* after staying here, I will never stay at another Kamakura Hotel. This is my home the next time that I am in Kamakura. The laundry facility was excellent, the (free) lobby coffee was almost as good as Starbucks, the entryway was modern and sleek, the location is absolutely spot-on, the folks at the check-in were so friendly and sweet, and the entire property is non-smoking. If I could time travel, I would tell the 3-month-ago-me to stop researching Kamakura hotels and just make the reservations at the Hotel "MK" and instead worry about the Kyoto hotel reservations.

1. LOVE the proximity to shops like Muji, pharmaceutical store (just opposite), bookstore, post office, train station, supermarket etc. 2. Lovely room amenities with eye mask and leg patches provided! First time encountering a hotel giving these items as part of their amenity kit. 3. Love that the room also has 6 bottles for 3 pax! Very generous with their water. 4. The staff are very attentive, polite and accommodating, very good! This time around, I messaged the property via booking.com's messaging system for some special requests around Mar 2024. I didn't get a reply from them and was too busy to follow up. As it happens, the hotel missed out on my special request. Interestingly, the staff who checked us in, Ms. Satomaki, read my messages and to make up for it, she gave us a present from the hotel, so sweet of them. 5. Love that Muji is connected to the hotel and served breakfast albeit at a steep price of $30. We didn't have the hotel's Muji breakfast as there are other options nearby. 6. The main shopping street is just across the road

Good mix of local Japanese and Western food for breakfast. Could be a little crowed during early opening hours. A little pricy though too but it still within the range what you typically have to pay for breakfast in a good hotel in Japan. It has been my third visit to this hotel and I am always impressed about the total package offered to guests from great location, typically Japanese hospitality, how super clean and how functional everything is. I can really recommend this hotel when staying in Kamakura.