Anyone been to Kobe recently?
 

We are thinking to hit Kobe for a night and a mornin/lunch g on our way to Arima onsen and are having a bear of a time finding a hotel. I know we can do a Toyoko but I kind of want something with more atmosphere but still affordable. The B unfortunately has been booked solid for months on the day we want to go. We were thinking to be near Sannomiya station as we are coming from Itami airport at 9 PM (ugh) and don't want to waste too much precious time in transit Saturday morning. We need to head over to Arima in the afternoon.

Any suggestions on where to stay/what to do, where to eat? I have read the Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, and (gulp) Fodor's and am still not sure.

Came home from Kobe today. I now always stay at the Crowne Plaza Kobe (formerly Shinkobe Oriental Hotel). It's adjacent to the Shinkobe shinkansen station.

15 min walk downhill to Sannomiya.

I always eat at Kobe beef at Sakamoto. (078) 231-1678. Closed Monday. If interested, I Have directions with photos and some price information. Only 10 seats so reservations are usually required.

Update. Sakamoto closed over a year ago due to Sakamoto-san's health. I've been searching for a worthy replacement and haven't found one yet.

Well, good luck to Sakamoto-san and to you in your search.

There was a very recent poster asking about Kobe. The poster's interest was in saka in Nada-Ku and, of course, Kobe beef. Have you seen it and can you help?

We cancelled our booking in the end, as we switched our itinerary around on the fly and stayed longer in Kyoto but I did have Hotel Piena booked, which I chose after quite a lot of research. The rooms looked very nice, the reviews were very positive, the rate good. I used booking.com which gave me a good price and the 3-days-before cancellation terms...

too bad about Sakamoto, been looking for a good restaurant that won't drain the coffers. Any experience eating at a place called Wakkoqu?