Checking In: Hakata

[kevin_standlee]

We had to be up at 5 AM this morning -- after not getting to bed until after midnight packing -- in order to be out of Yokohama in time to make all of the connections to get to Hiroshima by Noon. We spent about five hours there, then took another train to Hakata, at the south end of the Shinkansen line. We're being extravagant, I'm afraid, staying at the Miyaka hotel, which is right across the street from the station.

I feel like I've walked into a time warp. I don't think I've ever stayed in a hotel where you leave your room key at the front desk when you go out for any reason. The room isn't huge, and the bathroom a little cramped (except the bathtub), but it's not a postage stamp, either, and the beds look to be hard enough to actually please Lisa, which is saying something.

We have a wired internet connection here, so I don't have to worry as much about the wireless not working. I had a yellow "something available" signal, so maybe the thing will work down the road, but there are no guarantees.

After checking in, Lisa and I popped down the road to a 7-Eleven and bought a bunch of bad junk food, which, combined with the bento box from the train station, will suit us for dinner. We are very tired, and all we really want to do is cool the room down to something comfortable, have a quiet dinner in the room, and get some sleep.

In case it isn't obvious, I'm not keeping up with anyone else's LJ's right now, and barely scanning mail even when I can see it, which isn't often.

Comments

[redneckotaku.livejournal.com]

Get some sleep, you have deserved it with all that travel.

[darrelx.livejournal.com]

Well... lucky you.

You're going to be far enough to the west to miss riding out Typhoon Fitow, which is due to hit here (Tokyo area, including Narita) as a Category 2 tomorrow.

Blech.

The Narita Hilton passed a note under my door warning guests about making any plans to leave the hotel over the next 24 hours.

Well, so much for wanting to ride a Shinkansen train tomorrow... or even going into Tokyo, for that matter.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

How many languages was the note in?

[darrelx.livejournal.com]

It was in English... and only one sentence had poor grammar ;)

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've ever stayed in a hotel where you leave your room key at the front desk when you go out for any reason.

You haven't???

I don't believe I've stayed at a non-chain hotel in Britain that had any other policy. And I've found it in older non-chain hotels in the US, too.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Leaving the key at the desk was the norm pretty much throughout Britain and Europe in the 1960s. And seemed to still be popular in Britain more recently. It always bothered me; I consider the hotel staff the primary people the key is protecting my stuff from, so this policy of making sure they know when I'm away and have my key seems to be appalling security practice.

Keys

[davidshallcross.livejournal.com]

In the 2000's, the British and mainland European hotels I've stayed at either had mechanical keys, which I was supposed to turn in when leaving the building, or had electronic card keys, which I could take with me. This was pretty much the pattern I saw in Japan this time, where, of the five hotels at which I stayed, two hotels had card keys, two hotels asked that I turn in the mechanical keys, and one hotel had mechanical keys, but didn't say anything. Given the language barrier, they might also have preferred that I turn in the key.

On the other hand, I don't think I've ever been asked to turn in my key at a hotel in the US, except when checking out.

I think you always have to assume that the hotel staff can get in, maybe unless you have shot a dead bolt from the inside. I agree that there is some additional risk because they know when you are out.

David S.

[marahsk.livejournal.com]

But the hotel staff can still get into your room even if you keep your copy of the key. The maids all have keys, and the front desk either has copies if it's an actual key, or can make copies if it's a card.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Sure, but knowing whether I'm there can affect the equation.

And a thief can generally kick my door open, or pick the lock (essentially *no* actual thieves seem to bother with picking locks, but it's not very hard to learn), and yet I think it's important to lock my door anyway.

[marahsk.livejournal.com]

Sure, but knowing whether I'm there can affect the equation.

True, but every time I stay in a hotel, I know that maids are going to be in my room when I'm not there.

And a thief can generally kick my door open, or pick the lock (essentially *no* actual thieves seem to bother with picking locks, but it's not very hard to learn), and yet I think it's important to lock my door anyway.

I don't lock my door to be inpenetrable to thieves, I lock my door to be more of an inconvenience than the next door. The hotel staff having everyone's key doesn't target me in particular.

[marahsk.livejournal.com]

We didn't stay anywhere where we were expected to turn in our key when we went out, but we stayed in two places where you had to leave your key in a slot by the door to get anything electrical to work.