The Five Yen of Happiness! Time in Hiroshima with ANA Crowne Plaza

The Five Yen of Happiness! Time in Hiroshima (featuring the ANA Crowne Plaza Hiroshima)

With me in Hiroshima, it was time to work out how to get to the hotel. With me accessing the free Wi-Fi provided by W2, 7-11, and Hiroshima Free Wi-Fi (there’s an amazing amount of free Wi-Fi out there).

It became obvious the easiest way to get to the hotel would be on the Hiroshima Electric Railway. Or the tram as its better known as.

Now, whilst IC Cards are rampant in Japan there is also the small matter of which IC card works with which network. Those of you who have a year to work out where you can use what, please refer to the image below:

“ICCard Connection en” by ButuCC – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons. Or as I call it – Does your Smartcard work with company X in Japan?

For those of us who can’t be bothered, it’s easier to pay the ¥160 when you exit the tram (yes, you pay on exit as opposed to pay on boarding).

Thankfully, Tram Number 1 deposits you near the ANA Crowne Plaza – which is helpful.

Ah yes. Engrish strikes again.

Hotel: The ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel
Price: £40 a night.

Yes, I couldn’t believe a Crown Plaza hotel could price that low. I headed in, and was welcomed.

With the formalities completed along with the benefits I get (two bottles of water from the minibar a day), it was time to head up to the room

Reception

Gotta have a Grand Piano

On-site restaurant.

Ok, a word about these. Japanese people love their fake chapels according to Texan In Tokyo (and if you’re not reading her blog, go there after you’ve read this). As a result, you’ll find chapels and such in hotels in Japan.

Going up to the room, I guess I didn’t know what to expect from a Japanese Crowne Plaza. The answer was something like other Crowne Plaza’s in the world… but different.

Firstly, the beds. And I’m not surprised in the least I got two singles for the price I paid.

Two singles… hmm.

The beds weren’t too bad in terms of comfort – I would had preferred them together though for more spare to lounge around in.

The room space was reasonable – definitely large by Japanese standards.

A portal to the world…

Looking down Condensation can be quiet bad in the morning. Especially when the unit in your room is cranked up.

From the room at night.

Moving onto my one disappointment with this property was the use of shared soap, conditioner and lotion. I would had expected these to be individual bottles.

Still – it be worse. The products seemed to the job when I was needing them. Moving onto the rest of the bathroom, there were all the usual niceties.

Another Washlet. Wonderful…

Internet speeds were more than acceptable as I managed to get a lot done whilst at the hotel.

But whilst a hotel room is nice, it’s also good to explore.

As well as Peace Park and the A-Bomb Dome not being far away, the hotel is a short walk from the SOGO department store (which contains a Pokémon Centre) and the more local Hondori Shopping Street.

Hon-dori Shopping Street

Let’s have a wander.

Gotta have a McDonalds. (Well, not me. I went to another chain).

Powered Pocari Sweat? Check (I was drinking enough of the stuff whilst out there after sweating many buckets).

Isn’t that the name of a sled?

There was even a chance to catch up with local drinks…

Pepsi Strong Zero? It’s got extra carbonation and extra caffeine. Allegedly.

And of course a school uniform shop for those who want to go to school… or want to cosplay.

Now, I’ll be honest – I enjoy eating Rice Balls (Onigiri) or Instant Ramen… but sometimes, I do like something more filling. Thankfully I spotted a curry house chain – CoCo Ichibanya!

One of my co-workers has a slight obsession about this curry house chain. He’s not wrong.

Sample menu – helpful as it’s in multiple languages. If you’re pre-disposed, the menu is available for download too

Chicken cutlet curry sounds a good idea!

A few language issues later, lots of bowing and pointing – and I was on my way!

Chopsticks and a spoon? You spoil me with this spoon concept in Japan!

Feedback forms, sauces…

CURRY!

Japanese Curry is not like Indian curries – it is much more a stew based curry than anything else. As a result, it’s a lot thicker. Which is pretty good to me! The sauce didn’t dampen the chicken cutlet – which was nice to see (again, put that down to the thickness of the sauce).

And the taste was rich and flavourful – these are things I like. And it was a mere ¥732 for a plateful.

I could get used to this.

There’s another adventure in Hiroshima area I want to share with you, and that’s the time a deer at my luggage tag.

What am I talking about?

NEXT: Visiting Itsukushima – Miyajima Island

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