Sheraton Kagoshima

The hotel opened on May 16, and we stayed here for two nights in the latter part of June. We arrived by car and parked underground in the hotel parking lot for 1,500 yen/night.

At check-in, we were upgraded to a club room with a Sakurajima view, which I had really wanted. The check-in staff were very pleasant and took their time to ensure that all of our questions were answered and that we had everything we needed at check-in. 

The hotel is 19 stories high, and our room was on the 16th floor. The size of our room was 377 sqft (35 sqm), not so spacious but sufficient for our short stay. The beds and pajamas were very comfortable, the bath and shower are very nice, and the Sakurajima view was great. A 55-inch LCD TV hangs on the wall. 

I thought the service was very solid and actively focused on keeping the facilities clean. Everyone seemed to smile and carry out their work energetically and with a sense of purpose. When we went sightseeing on the second day, a rainy day, we were loaned umbrellas, which were handy since we brought none of our own. 

Two of the hotels’ restaurants are on the top 19th floor, but we did not eat lunch or dinner there, only breakfast (7:00-10:30 am) at the 4th floor Daily Social restaurant. For Bonvoy Elite members, an extensive buffet breakfast is provided for free in this bright and attractively designed restaurant. The restaurant is well-staffed, and the staff is very active and courteous, quickly removing empty dishes from tables and replenishing food. 

The lounge (open from 7:00 am to 23:30 pm) is on the 18th floor and is spacious with many windows affording excellent views of Sakurajima and Kagoshima City. This is actually one of the nicest non-luxury hotel club lounges I’ve been to in Japan, along with the club lounge at the Sheraton Grande Ocean Resort in Miyazaki. There is even sufficient food to make a meal out of, though I thought the cooked dishes were of uneven quality, for example, the lasagna. That said, the food presented was different each night. There are two large refrigerators from which guests can freely take their choice of non-alcoholic beverages and beer (Asahi and Heineken), while white and sparkling wines are contained in a large ice-filled bowl on the counter, next to which are lined up numerous bottles of hard alcohol (tequila, whiskey, bourbon, etc.) that guests can use to mix their own drinks. Cocktail hour lasts from 5:00 to 7:00 pm and is quite lively with everyone drinking and talking with Sakurajima in view. Lounge staff are active here too and keep the place clean and ship shape. 

The hotel provides a real onsen on the 5th floor containing natural onsen water as well as an onsen foot bath surrounded by reclining chairs located between the men’s and women’s baths. There’s both an indoor and outdoor bath (without a view), a dry sauna, and a cold bath along with several washing stalls. It never got very crowded on either day and on the morning of the second day, I was the only person there most of the time. 

Onsen footbath between men's and women's baths

Men's locker room

Men's locker room

The gym is also located on the 5th floor and is well equipped with fairly standard machinery including treadmills, elliptical machines, and free weights.

During the hotel’s construction, it was reported that the hotel would include a swimming pool, but this was inaccurate and there is no pool.

There is a tram stop in front of the hotel, which makes it easy to get around town. We took the tram to Kagoshima’s arcade shopping area and there are plenty of other places it can take you to. There is also a shuttle bus that transports guests between Kagoshima Station and the hotel every 30 minutes from 8:30 am to 9:30 pm. The Kagoshima waterfront is within walking distance where you can catch a boat to Sakurajima (Japan’s most active volcano), but we canceled that plan due to the rain.

English sign in shop

The Sheraton Kagoshima has numerous amenities including an excellent club lounge, an onsen/spa, a gym, three restaurants, and wonderful views that make for a very enjoyable and comfortable stay at a reasonable price. The rate for a stay on points is only 25k points per night. There are other Western-style hotels and Ryokan with onsen facilities with excellent Sakurajima views (Sheraton’s onsen has no such view) but there are few in Kagoshima as well equipped with these various amenities. I consider the Sheraton an excellent option for short-term visitors.