During our selfish year abroad, Mrs. Selfish and I made a pit stop to Fukuoka, on our way to idyllic Kurokawa Onsen Town. As Japan’s 7th largest city, Fukuoka is often overlooked in favor of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Most visitors I’ve talked to aren’t even aware it exists!
Fukuoka is a thriving city with a unique food scene, and the birth place of gyoza and tonkatsu style (pork broth) ramen. Having only spent one half day in Fukuoka on our previous go-around, Mrs. Selfish and I decided to stay two days this time, in order to better explore the city (and it’s ramen scene!).
We decided to stay at Grand Hyatt Fukuoka once again, since we had enjoyed it so much our previous time around. On the previous visit, Mrs. Selfish was a diamond member, thanks to a diamond challenge, but this time we were lowly platinum members. Since we had enjoyed the GHF’s lounge so much on the previous go, however, we decided to pay in cash and use one of Mrs. Selfish’s diamond suite certificates!
Check-in and Room
Checking in in pretty much any Japanese hotel usually goes smoothly, in my experience, and the Grand Hyatt Fukuoka was no exception. After arriving in the lobby, we were escorted to the lounge to complete the check-in process. A few minutes later, we were in our suite.
Upon entering, I was immediately struck by the size of the living room. While our previous stay had been pleasant, the standard room was a bit cramped by Western standards. The suite, on the other hand, was large and modern.
There was a thermostat in each room for individual temperature control, motion detector lights in the closet that lit up upon entry, and a classy wall-mounted CD player playing welcoming jazz music.
The living room also had a welcome amenity: a small bottle of wine, some grapes, and green tea flavored cookies.
The room itself was modern and clean though a bit sparse, which I find to be quite typical in Japanese hotels.
The bathroom came with a bathtub and separate shower and a glass sink – a feature I’m still obsessed with.
Only a wide angle camera could capture the majesty of the glass sink.
While we didn’t snap any pictures of them, I should mention that the amenities kits in Japan tend to be pretty slick. Especially the shaving cream, which comes in a miniature can and foams up. Probably not that impressive to some of y’all out there, but typically hotel shaving creams come out of a little tube more like a lotion or cream – it’s always these little differences that I enjoy about traveling.
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The Selfish Years 