Conveniently located hotel near Sakuragichi JR Station with good access to Yokohama's many waterfront shopping, dining and leisure attractions.
The BreezeBay Hotel has a striking exterior and is quite easy to spot from the elevated walkways that carry you over the busy highway that runs behind Sakuragicho JR Station. Located on the edge of Noge-cho, the Breeze Bay sits on the line between the modern Yokohama of Minato Mirai and Landmark Tower, with its waterfront shopping malls and ferris wheels, and narrow streets filled with hole-in-the-wall eateries, bars and live houses that hug the base of the hills in which you can find Noge-yama Park and Zoo.
The hotel itself, while clean and well looked after, does seem to be getting on a little. It is wearing well though, and the rooms are spacious and well appointed. On checking in, I was tickled to receive a real room key, one that you actually turn in a lock, rather than a card - gold in color and with a little heft to it that brought to mind a miniature Harry Potter movie prop.
My room had a nice big bed with a firm, but comfortable mattress. It is not uncommon to find in Japan, even in quite ritzy hotels, that the pillows are stuffed with tiny beans. The pillows here, however, were some of the most comfortable I've used in Japan. Even my standard room had a good amount of space and felt in no way cramped. There was lots of closet space and a large widescreen TV with access to movies at extra cost and a DVD player.
All rooms are equipped with LAN cables for free Internet access. There are wireless services available, but they are aimed at Japan residents who are already registered.
Large windows added to the sense of space. I was on the 9th floor and could get glimpses of the harbor between the tall buildings and over the highway and railway line and could just about see the Landmark Tower if I squeezed my face against the window. I could hear a low hum of traffic through my window, but it didn’t affect my sleep at all. The bath was western style and while I love Japanese baths, it was nice to stretch out in a longer tub. There were also plenty of towels.
Breakfast was included and consisted of a buffet in the restaurant on the 14th floor. The selection wasn’t particularly great and although there were reasonable views from the windows, on the whole, I found it a little dark and cramped.
The hotel does have a small pool in the basement which can be used for ¥1575 a time. It is, however, used by children's swimming schools at certain times, so it's advisable to check on times it is open to guests in advance.
One final nice thing about the Breezbay is that checkout is at a very civilized 12pm.
