Hotel Richmond di Kagoshima

For tourists, you will like the hotel. It’s centrally-located and reasonably priced. But for me, this is my 2nd Richmond Hotel this week, and like Yokohama four days ago, the check in experience at the Kagoshima Richmond Kinseicho was just as bad. I arrived at the hotel at 1 and asked in Japanese for them to hold my bag until checkin. No problem and I left. I came back about 3:30 to check in. I claimed my bag and gave my name in Japanese. She found my reservation then immediately asked for my passport. I simply said “No”. She looked at me like I didn’t hear her then went to the back room to get another woman who I guess can speak English. Before the second one could say anything I explained in Japanese that I am not a tourist and if she would just check my reservation on the computer in front of her she would have known that. It is insulting to ask permanent residents (I am one.) for identification when checking in, especially our passport, which we do not carry around inside Japan (any more than a Japanese person would traveling Japan). The law specifies we are to be checked in as residents just as Japanese people are. And this, again, is the 2nd time this week I have explained the Japanese hotel law to Richmond hotel staff who should know better. And when this happens, no matter how good your hotel is the stay will not be pleasant because I won’t forget the insult. I’m speaking to you in Japanese and you still assume I am a tourist? How many fluent middle-aged white guys do you see in a year who are tourists? Come on Richmond, use some common sense and stop lumping residents and tourists in the same pile. It’s disrespectful to those of us for whom Japan is home. We are not the same as tourists. I like Richmond Hotels, but I have plenty of hotel choices available to me, and have stayed at Richmond at least four times this past year. Until you stop othering foreign residents as the same as visiting tourists I won’t be staying at this Richmond or any other going forward.

Older hotel, but kept clean. Bed felt old (slight misformed), but still had a good night sleep.