Hotel Monterey Nagasaki

What a charming a delightful place - it felt like we were walking into a grand old Portuguese home, but were were in Nagasaki! The location was perfect for us - we had walking access to Glover Garden, Chinatown, the main tram line to the Atomic Museum and Peace Garden, as well as the Gunkanjima Museum (which was FABULOUS). Although we had initially not been able to book a family room, I called them in advance of our stay, and asked if we could have one should it become vacant, and we were happy that when we arrived, they were able to accommodate us in a large family room with comfortable beds, just before the busy New Year period. The rooms have tiled floors, in the classic mediterranean style, and are furnished in a fairly basic manner, but the beds were extremely comfortable, and so were the pillows (which can often be a problem in Japan). The heating worked well, and we were able to open the window and shutters onto the very pretty cobbled street below to get fresh air. There was a generous time allowed for breakfast (again, unusual in many hotels in Japan), but if you got down just before the end of the session, then many items had been eaten. Best to aim early or for the middle of the allocated time. Breakfast was buffet style, with Western, Japanese and Chinese options. All very tasty and great variety. Definitely a great option to start the day with. The only issue we had was that if the dining room was full, we had to pile up your tray and take it to a side room, which didn't have access to food. A little awkward, but the only solution at this busy time of year. We booked (paid) parking for the 3 nights we stayed, and it all worked very well. You need to press a buzzer at the side road to the hotel to be allowed in, but there was no wait, and getting out was easy too. The staff were professional and charming, and very patient even when dealing with customers whose language they did not speak. We were very impressed with everyone on the team.

Not much.... We could have done with some wall hooks near the entrance to the room/bathroom or in the bedroom to hang our towels, clothes and coats - there was only one small wardrobe, which was not really sufficient for 4 of us. The room normally housed 3 good sized beds, so was a little squishy with 4, but we were happy to have been able to have this option. Our main issue was that there was a smoking cubicle on the floor we were on (2nd), and whenever a smoker walked out of there, the smell of cigarettes would escape from that cubicle and drift into our room under the door. We asked for extra towels to block the gap under the door, which worked well, but perhaps the hotel could find a solution with an extractor fan, or locating the smoking room elsewhere....