8 hours ago
This Hakata hotel is worth a little extra thanks to its all-you-can-eat steak breakfast buffet
Bargains are getting harder to find, but this Fukuoka hotel still feels (and tastes) like a good deal.
When looking for budget-friendly hotels while traveling in Japan, a lot of people set 'less than 10,000 yen (US$69) a night' as their target. We're no different, but with hotel prices continuing to creep upwards, it's getting harder and harder to find a room that limbo-slides under that price, especially in convenient neighborhoods of big cities with a lot of things for travelers to see and do.
So when we were looking for a hotel near Hakata Station, the major rail hub in downtown Fukuoka, we were braced to have to spend a little more than 10,000 yen for a Sunday-night stay. Sure enough, we ended up paying 10,640 yen for a night in the Hotel WBF Grande Hakata, but our package included something that made us willing to roll the dice on the extra expense: all-you-can-eat steak.
The hotel is about a 10-minute walk from the Tsukushi Gate exit of Hakata Station, so there's a bit of legwork involved. Considering how this still puts you in the heart of the city, and how just about any sightseeing excursions in or around the city will have you routing yourself through Hakata Station, though, this is still a pretty great location.
We were a bit worried that the lower price would mean that the room is dirty or rundown, but that didn't turn out to be the case at all.
Though not palatially large, our Standard Double-class room was spotless and tidy. With a shower/tub, bidet-equipped washlet toilet, midi fridge, hairdryer, and roomwear, it had everything we needed to get clean and cozy.
If you're looking to stretch out a little more in the bath, there're also Japanese-style communal bath facilities up on the 14th floor, the same floor where you'll find the for-guests Sky Lounge with free drink dispensers and a sweeping view of the city.
All of this combined for a great way to unwind and get some solid sleep that night…
…but like we said above, the thing that really convinced us to stay here was the breakfast that came included with the 'Sakiraku 28' accommodation plan, which required us to book our room at least 28 days in advance.
The buffet breakfast is served from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m., though you have to get there by 9. Perhaps we'd been just a little too relaxed the night before, because we ended up sleeping in and getting to the buffet just a few minutes before 9, when most of the other diners were already done and gone…
…but we were still in time for steak!
In Japanese restaurant parlance, the fare is what's called 'cut steak,' meaning that the steak is cut into pieces before serving. This saved us the hassle of having to cut our own meat, and also allowed us to take the exact amount of steak that we wanted to eat. Or, to put it more accurately, it allowed us to take the exact amount of steak that we wanted to eat for our first plate, because obviously we went back for more, again getting the exact amount that we desired.
Aside from the steak, a highlight of the buffet was the mentaiko (spicy cod roe), a local specialty of Fukuoka that was available to scoop onto white rice.
There was also an extensive variety of salad components and nimono (simmered vegetables) to choose from and a baked goods corner with not only toast, rolls, and croissants, but an awesome basket of little pancakes to grab.
And finally, if you want both steak and karaage (Japanese-style fried chicken) for breakfast, that combo is totally doable at the hotel's buffet.
So while we weren't quite able to get on the inexpensive side of the 10,000-yen-a-night line, we've got no complaints about our stay at the Hotel WBF Grande Hakata, and along with the Tokyo hotel with a custom onigiri rice ball bar, it's one of the best travel breakfasts we've had so far this year.
Hotel information Hotel WBF Grande Hakata / ホテルWBFグランデ博多 Address: Fukuoka-ken, Fukuoka-shi, Hakata-ku, Hakataeki Minami 2-2-5 福岡県福岡市博多区博多駅南２丁目２−５
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Communal bath and Sky Lounge photos: Hotel WBF Grande Hakata
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