I ended up staying during the week for ¥19,000 (2 guests). Prices are all over the place as there are about 10 different room types. The hotel shows sold out for many dates too. Check-in was immediate, and via the chat they had confirmed an modest upgrade and bed switch from twin to queen. Was given a room on the 14th floor, the Starwood floor (blast from the past). Not particularly large, standard for the floor, but everything seemed in decent shape so I assume there have been some renovations in the past few years. At check-in there was no mention of Thank You for being elite, but they handed me various bits of paper good for onsen, club access and breakfast. At checkout I asked about a gift and they said the gift is 1,000 points, plus the breakfast. I had a quick visit to the lounge at 4pm and there were hardly any people. Views of the city and mountains. Soft drinks and peanuts and cookies were all they had. When Cocktail time kicked in it was packed though. Draft beer, some wine etc. One cold plate of d'oeuvres per person which was so disappointing there was no desire to have more.

The highlights were the pool, onsen and breakfast. I had my own lane in the 25m pool at 4pm and at 7am the next day. The onsen is very nice too, with tea, milk etc served in the relaxation area. Breakfast had a number of local Japanese dishes. Not too crowded and a pleasant area with huge windows.
There is a direct bus to Sannomiya station that takes 15-25 minutes depending on traffic. Only runs once an hour most of the day (but 3x/hr in morning and afternoon). Bus also goes to Shin Kobe.

Overall it wasn't as bad as some TripAdvisor and 2019 FlyerTalk reviews suggest, but the evening lounge experience was a disaster. It is an older property with low ceilings and some rooms are rather small.