AMANO HOME Apartments

This is my third time staying at this hotel. Rooms are absolutely amazing and have everything that you need, especially if you're staying for a longer period. The location is great. Only downsides are that checking in gets tricky if you are arriving late as reception works only until 5pm and after you need to contact another hotel nearby to let you in and give you a key code. Also, the appliances available depend on which room you get - as I've stayed here multiple times I already count on some things to be provided, but turns out the new room doesn't have them (i.e body lotion, big mugs, dish sponge, electric water boiler). Of course, you can ask for those things if you see a cleaner or reception, but most people wouldn't know those things are available if they haven't been here before.

Amano has very recently introduced a new digital check-in & out system, with the idea of eliminating a person at their front desk. A day before our check-in, we received an email informing us to digitally check-in, at that point their digital system was still unusable and buggy. In a panic, we called the hotel less than 24 hrs before our check-in. Grateful that there was someone who assured us that there would still be someone at the front desk when we arrive so long as it was still within working hours (till 4 or 5 pm). Already the unprofessionalism of sending out a system to guests while the system was still unusable was a bit of a turn off before arrival. We had to digitally check-out, and not a soul was even at the front desk even during working hours when we left. Amano Home is created to be a service apartment than an actual hotel. What is provided in the rooms are useful and essentially self-contained. Although do not expect to find bottles of water, as they will not be provided. Upon check in, we were anything but wowed by the room. The room assigned to us was a room dedicated to guests with pets (we had a dog), or handicap guests with wheelchair access. We did not receive an extraordinary room like you'd see on their website . The room's wood flooring was scratched up and stained in some areas, at least 1 wall plug wasn't working, stains and damages on the walls were visible, and the layout of the room was completely different from any of the pictures seen on the website. However, we were very upset by housekeeping during the entire stay. We booked a 5 night stay with our dog. During the booking process, we requested for our room to not be cleaned as our dog could be in the room. For the safety of our dog and the housekeeping team, it was better that our room was not cleaned. Upon check-in, we again digitally reminded Amano through their room tablet to not clean our room. In addition, we placed the physical door reminder on the door to NOT clean our room. In the 6 days we were there, housekeeping came into our room twice WHILE we were in the room. Whether she also came in while we were out, I do not know. Not informed by the front office, nor housekeeping in advance, and she did not knock upon entering. The 1st time she entered was on the 2nd day. Thank goodness we were dressed. When the door opened, she saw my husband and I including our dog straight away, but without any apology or reason for entering our room, she took more steps into our room and peered at the sofa, asking if there were two pillows. Confused by what she meant, she went ahead to look for whatever it was for herself. She then nonchalantly left without a word, once again with no apology and without a thank you, just left like she stayed in the room with us. The 2nd time housekeeping entered, I was in bed while my husband was in the toilet (thank goodness with the toilet door closed). Once again, without knocking (even though the physical door label still hung on the door to not clean the room) she opened the door anyway. Our dog began barking. When I turned to look at the door, housekeeping was peering at me. This time she did not step in as our dog was barking at her. Again, without an apology or reason for entering our room, she closed the door and left. Has business ethics flown out the window within Amano? Without wanting to pull out the "we are customers card", the actions of housekeeping were simply unacceptable, in any hospitality industry. We did not live in Amano for free and were paying customers who paid over a hundred euros per night, excl. the extras of having a dog and parking. This behavior is simply not acceptable in any reputable hotel anywhere in the world. And we are highly dissatisfied with this aspect of our stay. Even though Amano Home has a wonderful location. I would not be too excited to recommend this place to anyone. Our experience here was average, nothing exciting to rave about and we'd try other places before considering a return to Amano again.