Preface: I am in Japan on a mini holiday and have a 7 day JR Green Car pass. Making the most of it. See my report under the Intercontinental/Priority Club forum for a interesting report on Sendai. A one night return stay at the Nagoya Castle Hotel.

Rate: Prepaid for a single, economy room on the town side. 9000 yen all in.

Transportation: Arrived into Nagoya Station from Sendai via Tokyo on JR. The shuttle bus to the Hotel is very easy to get to. Just head towards the JR Highway Bus "terminal" at Nagoya Station. The information counters will direct you in the correct way to reach. Very easy. Nice versus 1000 yen for the taxi. The shuttle runs from the Station at the top of the hour and from the Hotel at the bottom. That makes it every hour from each location. First leave from Station at 10:00 AM and last from Hotel to Station at 8:30 PM.

Check-in: I will tell you straight I did have reservations about checking in. I checked my reservations at spg.com before leaving Sendai this morning. No upgrade showing. I checked in downstairs and was very pleased to find I had a non-smoke room the the 8th floor (Executive Floor with Lounge on same floor) facing the Castle full on. Now the last time I was here I did get a Castle Suite but that had a offset view of the Castle.

Offered a P amenity which I picked the points. You can also have a 600 yen mini bar credit, half bottle of wine or a towel. Given a voucher for breakfast. Now here goes the memory. If you just want continental you can have that at the Lounge. The Lounge BTW does NOT have a view of the Castle. You can have a buffet which features American (so to speak) and Japanese offerings on 1 or Japanese only on B1. You also get admit to the Fitness Club. The Lounge does have a notebook computer with I assume HSIA.

Perks: As noted above.

Room: This is a nice size regular room with a Exceptional view. I can tell you it feels a little cramped but cramped the way you like it. Pluses galore. Highlights- a comfy chair with a table to view the Castle (with a cold beer), king size heavenly bed, a huge bathroom with shoji screens which open so you can view the Castle from the tub, bathroom amenities (lots) and free HSIA. One of the most comfortable rooms for its size.

Communications: I am on it. All rooms have internet access. The key here is access. The access is wi-fi. According to what I am reading only the Executive Floor rooms have HSIA via wire. A port is near the desk on a wall in my room.

Location: Excellent for the Castle. OK for everything else. A FYI. The Castle will host a special exhibit- The "New Century"- Nagoya Castle Exhibition. Now what I was after was being able to touch the Kinshachi or golden dolphins which are the symbols of Nagoya. The dolphins were brought down off the top of the Castle for the exhibitions. The Exhibition runs 19 March 2005 to 19 June 2005 with a goal of 1 million people. So I am early.

Closing: The Hotel is a bargain with a excellent reputation of taking care of SPG members and especially Ps. I am under no doubt it will be different with the Expo 2005 in full swing. So temper your expectations during that period. A excellent Hotel and great value for the yen. I am pleased. Regards from Nagoya. I will be at the Osaka Hilton tomorrow night so see my report on a visit to Himeji Castle and the largest underground shopping complex in Japan.