This time, for a stay during a trip to Okayama, I stayed at Hotel Gran Cocoe Kurashiki, which had its grand opening in October 2021, just a 3-minute walk from Kurashiki Station.
In this post, I’ll share my honest impressions and review of staying at Hotel Gran Cocoe Kurashiki.
If you’re curious about Hotel Gran Cocoe Kurashiki since it only just opened, you’re looking for a good hotel near Kurashiki Station, or you want a hotel with a sauna, this post should be exactly what you need — hope you’ll read to the end.
Who Is Hotel Gran Cocoe Kurashiki a Good Fit For?
There are over 30 hotels around Kurashiki Station.
Picking the right one for a trip or business travel, without any regrets, can be a real challenge.
I chose a hotel around Kurashiki with sightseeing in the Bikan Historical Quarter in mind, and having actually stayed there, here’s who I think Hotel Gran Cocoe Kurashiki suits best:
- You want to stay somewhere with easy access to the Bikan Historical Quarter.
- You’re looking for a hotel close to Kurashiki Station.
- You want to soak in a sauna and reach that “totonou” state.
Let’s go through each point.
First, if you want to visit Kurashiki’s Bikan Historical Quarter, Hotel Gran Cocoe Kurashiki is just a 4-minute walk away — easy to visit either before or after check-in.
Second, if you’re looking for a hotel close to Kurashiki Station, it’s also just a 4-minute walk from the station.
It’s also an easy trip to Okayama Castle and Okayama Korakuen, one of Japan’s three great gardens. Sitting close to the Bikan Historical Quarter too, it’s a well-located hotel for sightseeing.
Third, if you want to soak in a sauna and reach that “totonou” state, the large communal bath comes with a sauna and cold bath, making it appealing if you’re looking to recover from fatigue.
Getting to Hotel Gran Cocoe Kurashiki
Hotel Gran Cocoe Kurashiki is a 4-minute walk from Kurashiki Station, located within “Achiterasu Kurashiki,” a redevelopment project completed in 2021.
Having just opened in October 2021, both the exterior and interior still look fresh and clean.
Within walking distance of the hotel there are several convenience stores, izakaya, ramen shops, and a small nightlife district, so you’ll never have trouble finding somewhere to eat.
Plans and Pricing
The plan I actually booked and stayed on was Rakuten Travel’s “Opening Commemoration! [Standard Plan / Room Only],” a single room with a 115cm-wide bed, no dinner, no breakfast, at the weekday rate of 8,000 yen per person.
Since this is an opening-commemoration plan, the price will likely go up later, so now might be the best time to stay.
When I asked about the breakfast menu at check-in, they said it was a Japanese-Western buffet, so I added breakfast for an extra 2,000 yen.
Hotel Overview
Now let’s take a look at the details of Hotel Gran Cocoe Kurashiki, where I stayed.
I walked from Kurashiki Station to the hotel. Exiting the south-exit roundabout and heading straight down the main street, the sleek black-and-white building came into view on the right almost immediately — no trouble finding it.
The whole area looked freshly redeveloped, with a clean, well-organized streetscape.
The entrance is a little hard to spot — it’s around to the right.
Given the scale of the building, the entrance itself felt almost too modest, like any ordinary office building’s front door.
The hotel’s name was clearly displayed, though, so there was no mistaking it.
Check-In
The front desk is on the 3rd floor, up the elevator.
Stepping off on the 3rd floor, there’s a lobby lined with colorful chairs. Nothing particularly hotel-like about the decor — it felt more like the entrance to a high-rise condo building.
The front desk is minimal, with no unnecessary decoration. It can handle two groups at once.
Check-in is handled by machine rather than a staff member — you enter your reservation details, the system verifies the booking, and if everything checks out, your room key is dispensed automatically from the bottom right.
Once the room key is issued, you get a quick explanation of the large bath and breakfast, plus a 1,000-yen voucher usable only at Mitsui Outlet Park Kurashiki.
Checkout is at 11 AM, which is nice and relaxed.
Facility Map
Hotel Gran Cocoe Kurashiki has 7 floors above ground: the 1st floor is dining (Kurashiki Shirakabe), the 3rd floor has the front desk and the large bath/sauna, and floors 4–7 are guest rooms.
Since the 2nd floor houses a separate office tenant, you need your room key to use the elevator.
Guest Room
The guest-room hallway has a clean, white-and-beige look that feels pleasant just walking through it.
Here’s the single room. On the left, a wood-grain desk is built in with the TV stand, which feels a little tight, but everything was spotless, with no stains or scratches.
On the desk there’s a hair dryer, a tissue box (with a spare), and a desk lamp, so it’s set up well enough for getting some work done.
On the bed there was a pillow, one cushion, and loungewear for the spa.
Next to the bed, there’s one outlet and one USB port. All the room’s lighting is controlled from a single dial, which is convenient.
It’s always a hassle hunting around for light switches in a hotel room.
The lower shelf of the desk has an electric kettle and a cup.
Bathroom, Sink & Toilet
The bath, sink, and toilet follow the typical business-hotel layout, but the unit bath and sink area feel spacious rather than cramped.
A body towel, hairbrush, and toothbrush set are placed above the sink, but that’s it for in-room amenities — anything else you need, you pick up yourself from the amenity bar next to the front desk.
The amenity bar also has body soap, shampoo and conditioner, hair ties, razors, tea, coffee, and powdered tea sticks.
Large Communal Bath
To reach the large bath, you need to take the dedicated bath elevator from the guest-room floors.
The 3rd floor also has a coin laundry and a rest area with vending machines, besides the large bath.
Face towels are stacked right before the changing area.
You’ll need to bring your own towel from your room, but a call to the front desk gets a bath towel set brought up to your room — towel exchanges are essentially free.
The changing area felt a bit small given the number of rooms. The floor is regular flooring rather than the bamboo or rattan tile you often see at hot-spring ryokan.
I’m not a big fan of flooring in a changing area — it looks unhygienic the moment it gets wet.
On the men’s side, walking into the bath area you’re faced with a rinse-off bucket area, a clear indoor bath on the left, and a vibra-bath further back.
There’s also a semi-outdoor bath. Unfortunately there are no cool-down chairs, so I didn’t linger long. The water temperature was pleasant, not too hot.
Sauna
The sauna room is wide, with a three-tier layout and three small METOS sauna stoves at the back.
It runs at 86°C, a slightly mild dry sauna. There are blue sauna mats at the entrance — rinse them with water before going in.
There’s no TV, just quiet healing music playing. There’s a 12-minute timer facing you.
Day-use access is available for 1,000 yen, but it’s relatively uncrowded.
Cold Bath
Right next to the sauna is the cold bath. It can just barely fit two people. There’s no thermometer, but it feels like around 17°C. It seems the water used to run a bit colder.
Rest Area
Next to the 3rd-floor elevator there’s a rest area with vending machines and a coin laundry.
Further in, there are 8 chairs — a space you can use while waiting for laundry or a turn in the bath.
The coin laundry runs 300 yen per wash and 100 yen per 30 minutes of drying.
Being able to check the laundry machine status right from the in-room TV is incredibly convenient.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served at Kurashiki Shirakabe, right near the main entrance after taking the elevator down to the 1st floor.
Seating splits between regular tables and private rooms — I got seated in a private room this time, lucky me! There’s even a small fish tank in the middle, a nice touch.
Breakfast is a Japanese-Western buffet with around 50 dishes. There’s no burner or warming setup, so unfortunately, once a dish was made, it tended to go cold rather quickly.
The dessert corner is tucked away on the opposite side, which made for a bit of a walk back and forth.
Even dining alone, I had an entire 4-person table in the private room to myself. Being able to eat in peace made for a great overall experience.
My Impressions of Staying at Hotel Gran Cocoe Kurashiki
This is a new hotel with a sauna, part of the “Achiterasu Kurashiki” redevelopment area completed in 2021.
The room-only rate of 8,000 yen runs a bit higher than the typical business hotel around Kurashiki Station, but everything felt clean and pleasant to stay in, and having a sauna on-site is a real plus.
Personally, I’d have liked the sauna a touch hotter with a dedicated cool-down space, but the Japanese-Western breakfast buffet had plenty of variety and left me satisfied.
Sitting roughly midway between the Bikan Historical Quarter and Kurashiki Station, it’s a well-balanced location with good access to both.
There’s no dedicated parking, so you’ll need to use a nearby paid lot if you’re driving — worth keeping in mind.
A brand-new hotel with its own sauna, right between Kurashiki Station and the Bikan Historical Quarter — a solid pick if good location and a post-sightseeing sauna session both matter to you!
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About the author
Joe
I love hotels, hot springs, and saunas across the whole country!!
I’ve made it to 40 prefectures so far.
Around 100 hotel stays and 50+ saunas visited, and the count keeps climbing.
My hobbies are travel, golf, snowboarding, saunas, and the gym.
Getting good information is essential to living a rich life.
I’ll keep sharing useful info for wherever your next trip takes you! For work inquiries (venue PR, advertising, hotel article requests), please reach out through this blog’s contact form.
Happy to work flexibly with your needs.
Certified Sauna & Spa Health Advisor
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