To be perfectly honest, we booked this hotel out of sheer desperation. We arrived in Japan not realizing it was Golden Week and it was my intention to go to Kobe to try out Kobe beef! In hindsight, we should have stayed closer to the city or just done a day trip to Kobe.

The Holiday Inn Express is about 5 minute walk from the Shin Kobe station. However, there is not much around the immediete area except for the ShinKobe Station. Most of the action is in the Sannomiya or Motomachi area. The price we paid, though it was Golden week, was extortion! About USD 200 per night for a very small room, one of the most uncomfortable bed I have ever slept in, very poor sound proofing and tiny bathroom. The staff are exceptionally helpful and friendly. The rooms may be small but it was clean. In contrast, we paid about USD 150 for Crowne Plaza in Osaka which was a much better establishment.

We have given our feedback to Holiday Inn when we departed.

Navigating my way to this hotel was a little difficult. I arrived at shin kobe and found myself asking numerous people about the location of this hotel. Even the police pointed me in the wrong direction. It is very remotely located. Not that this is a bad point, it is very quiet around this area and a convienience store is located just 1 minuet walk away.
If you are a smoker it will be difficult for you to purchase cigarettes as the convienience store does not sell them. Unless you own a Taspo card you will need to walk a good 20 minuets to the next store.
Shin-Kobe station (subway) is around 5 minuets walk, for 200 yen you can get to Sannomiya (price as of feb 2009) or you could take the Shinkansen (bullet train) to numerous locations around japan.
Located just oposite the hotel is a rather good yaki-tori restraunt (skewered chicken). If you don'f feel like walking or taking the train to sannomiya then this is a good option.
The staff are friendly enough at reception. Although I did feel it was rather over staffed at times. Upon arriving at the hotel there were 3 staff members, stuffed into a rather cramped space behind the reception desk. At the time it had been raining and I was drenched , carrying a large suitcase, a laptop and several other bags. It was intimidating to say the least. The cleaning staff were nice enough also. However, I had left my girlfriend in the room as I went out buy some soft drinks, the cleaning staff then enetered the room after I had left and interrupted my girl friend as she was in the shower.
The room I stayed in was a single regular. The bed was a semi-double and I was provided with two pillows per person. It was resonably sized and had wireless access. You will need to obtain a wireless access key from reception. The wireless router was useless however, I found that it powered off every 4 or 5 hours. Forcing you to go outside the room and reset it.
There is a regular TV which is rather old (CRT) and a pay per day movie card reader in each room. You also get all the other ammeneties such as an alarm clock, radio and central control unit for lights etc. located on the headboard for your bed. There was plenty of space to use a laptop in comfort without enduring neck pain. You are also given a digital combination safe.
The bathroom is as many hotels are in Japan. You do get a seperate shampoo and conditioner and a body soap. The bath tub is big enough for 2 people. I did find that the hot water was a little irregular, I found myself turning the cold water up and down to compensate for these irregularities. The toilet had a washlet (bidet and shower) but it was a little old.
As for the overall location; Pretty good. Easy to get to sannomiya (good shopping and food) even by foot. Nothing much around the hotel it's self.
In conclusion: I would say this was your run of the mill hotel for Japan. it is clean enough but not spectacular. Suitable mainly for business people.

Stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel Kobe for one night.

Arriving at Shin-Kobe Shinkansen Station, the hotel is a 10 minute walk away, situated behind the Art Centre of Kobe.

No problems at check-in, we were given a standard room with one double and one semi-double bed. The room was spacious with urn and green tea supplied, also a TV with Japanese channels, The bathroom was cell-like but there was a good supply of toiletries and essentials.

Breakfast was a small buffet consisting of several types of rolls all labelled, bread for toasting, tinned fruit, juice and tea/coffee.

No nonsense hotel ideal for Shin-Kobe station, 15-20 walk into the city and the arcades, 10 minute walk from Avenue Shopping Mall / Crowne Plaza Hotel where there are plenty of cheap eateries and there is a supermaket a couple of mins walk from the hotel in the basement of the Art Centre

Ideal for an overnight stay

The wife and I travel twice a year, usually to a large city.
The choice is always, stay somewhere noisy and close or too far from everything and quiet.
This hotel is quiet and semi close to everything.
The Kobe shinkansen (bullet train) station is a 5 minute walk.
To get to the hotel from the shinkansen station the first time, take a taxi.
Be sure to get a Japan Rail Pass.
The local train station (Sannomiya) is a kilometer away.
There is a closer, much smaller, station but did we did not know about it until after we left.
I do not know if it is a Japan Rail station or not. That station is the Nada station.
I marked all of them, plus the Holiday Inn Express, on this Google map.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=100368555118509230708.0004582cd46e2fedf0482&ll=34.700325,135.198526&spn=0.027203,0.038452&z=15

The shinkansen usually shares a station with the local trains. That is not the case in Kobe.
The Katanya section of Kobe is just this side of the Sannomiya station.

The hotel staff was courteous and helpful.
The room was clean.
Japan does not have soft beds and pillows like those found in the west. The bathroom lacked a power outlet.
The free Wi-Fi was fairly fast and always available.
You got to love a hotel with a vending machine on every floor that has beer in it.
We ate dinner once, at the restaurant, and enjoyed it.
The free breakfast was coffee, a couple of juices, several choices of bread and some canned mixed fruits.
Good luck finding an American breakfast anywhere in Kobe.
We always felt very safe in Kobe.
Tthe restaurants were great and the women beautiful.
Have fun.