I stayed there with my wife for 1 night as part of a weekend break. A stylish hotel that offered many diversions during our brief stay. Our room wasn't cheap and that is certainly the biggest disadvantage of any stay, we paid 16,000 yen for the 1 night. The room was comfortable with a pleasant view of the Merikin Park / harbour. It is a gentle 10 minute stroll into downtown Kobe from the hotel. The staff were extremely polite and helpful. I used the gym whilst I was there and that was resonably priced and perfectly adequate, although if you are a runner there is quite a nice loop to be run around the park. We will stay there again on our next visit to Kobe.

Okay, Okura is a major hotel brand in Japan, so I was looking forward to a nice experience... wrong!
We weren't impressed. Everything seemed to be outdated, the hotel was a bit far from the train stations (they do offer shuttle bus), and the worst part was, that there may have been some kind of bugs in the bed (the husband got some itches from sleeping in it).

There are good hotels in Kobe, so I don't think I will give Okura another try.

Hotel Okura Kobe is a luxury hotel, overlooking the water on Kobe harborfront, directly next to Port Tower, the symbol of Kobe. The hotel facilities at Hotel Okura Kobe include an extensive Health Club as well as a shopping arcade located on the Lobby level, a wedding chapel, photo studio, dressing room and beauty salon on the 3rd floor, and a children's day care center on the 6th floor.

This had been billed as the top rated place in my Lonely Planet guidebook. I was well pleased with my stay - the biggest fault was that there was a significant accumulation of dust under the bed. ( This was one of the few times during my 6 weeks in Japan that I actually checked this. ) The lobby area is rather blah and conventional looking. I was up on the 27th floor and enjoyhed the view of Kobe, which is quite a nice city. A shuttle is provided from the hotel to the train stations for a good portion of the day. The highlight of my stay there was at the teppanyaki restaurant where I ordered Kobe beef. It was delicious, indeed, but by the time I was through with dinner, having ordered more wine than was necessary, it turned out to be my most expensive restaurant meal in history - I am embarrassed to say what it totalled. Serive in all respects was great.