Table of Contents

1. What this article covers
2. The short version: who it suits, and who it doesn’t
3. Where in Japan
4. Getting there, and finding the entrance
5. 9th floor "TAMARIBA": reception, free drinks and amenities
6. The "Kaikyo Twin" room: every room faces the strait
7. 10th floor "MIZUBA": watching the strait at sunset
8. Dinner buffet: reservation required, 90 minutes, noodle bar at the center
9. Breakfast buffet: a wait around 8 a.m.
10. BEB5 Mojiko from a coffee lover’s point of view
11. What I liked, and what to keep in mind
12. Hotel information
13. Related articles

On September 20, 2026, I stayed one night at BEB5 Mojiko by Hoshino Resorts in Mojiko, Kitakyushu.

The hotel opened on July 24, 2026, and is the first Hoshino Resorts property in Fukuoka Prefecture. It stands on the waterfront of Mojiko Retro, a harbor district of early-20th-century buildings at the northern tip of Kyushu. Across the narrow Kanmon Strait lies Shimonoseki, on Japan’s main island of Honshu, and every room faces that view.

The view is the easy part to like. What I did not know before arriving was how many small things change your stay once you know them: how to book dinner, how drinks work at the buffet, where the entrance is, and what the bath situation really is.

This article covers what I learned from staying there, including the parts that may not suit everyone.

This article is based on my stay in September 2026. Prices, hours, and services may change, so please check the official website before you book.

What this article covers

• Where Mojiko is, and how to get there from Fukuoka Airport
• The “Kaikyo Twin” room, and the small details I noticed
• Bathing: no bathtubs in any room, and a public bath that is not an onsen
• The 10th-floor MIZUBA terrace at sunset
• How to book the dinner buffet, how beer works at dinner, and breakfast crowds
• Children sharing beds, and the meal fees for them
• The coffee situation, from the eyes of a coffee blog

The short version: who it suits, and who it doesn’t

Where in Japan

BEB5 Mojiko is in Mojiko, Kitakyushu, at the very northern tip of Kyushu, Japan’s southwestern main island. Across the narrow Kanmon Strait is Shimonoseki, on Honshu, the main island that Tokyo and Kyoto are on.

For most international travelers, the easiest way in is through Fukuoka, Kyushu’s largest city:

• Fukuoka Airport → Hakata Station: about 5 minutes by subway
• Hakata Station → Kokura Station: about 15–20 minutes by Shinkansen (bullet train)
• Kokura Station → Mojiko Station: about 15 minutes on the JR Kagoshima Line
• Mojiko Station → BEB5 Mojiko: about a 4-minute walk

If you are coming from Honshu by Shinkansen, you can get off at Kokura and change to the local line there.

Travel times are approximate and depend on the train you catch. Please check the current timetable before you travel.

Where in Japan: BEB5 Mojiko stands near JR Mojiko Station in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, facing Shimonoseki across the Kanmon Strait.

Getting there, and finding the entrance

The hotel is a brick-style building by the water, about a 4-minute walk from JR Mojiko Station. It is a very convenient base for walking around Mojiko Retro.

The one thing that confused me at first was the entrance.

The ground floor is a shop called AMAZING SPOT, and the hotel entrance is right next to it. Inside the entrance there is an elevator, and the reception is on the 9th floor. If you are looking for a lobby on the ground floor, it is easy to walk past.

According to the elevator guide, the floors are:

• 10F: MIZUBA (public bath and terrace)
• 9F: TAMARIBA (reception, restaurant, café)
• 3F–8F: guest rooms

If you are driving: the hotel car park has only 25 spaces, first come, first served, at ¥1,100 per night. It was already full when we arrived around 5 p.m. When it is full, you can use the partner car park at the Kanmon Straits Museum, about a 3-minute walk away, for ¥800 per night with a ticket from the hotel. Hotel guests also get 5% off at AMAZING SPOT, and purchases over ¥2,000 came with a parking discount ticket at the time of my stay. Conditions may change, so ask at the front desk.

9th floor “TAMARIBA”: reception, free drinks and amenities

Take the elevator to the 9th floor and you arrive at TAMARIBA, where the reception, restaurant, and café share one open space.

There is a free drinks corner on this floor. Amenities and loungewear are also kept here, and you simply take what you need.

After breakfast hours, part of the restaurant is opened up as a lounge, so we could relax there before checking out.

The hotel describes itself as “casual,” and it is, but it is also stylish and very clean.

The “Kaikyo Twin” room: every room faces the strait

We stayed in a Kaikyo Twin (“kaikyo” means strait). All rooms at BEB5 Mojiko face the Kanmon Strait, and our window looked straight out over the water to Shimonoseki.

Things I noticed during the stay:

• The window-side sofa doubles as a bed, which is why this room sleeps up to 3
• The beds are on the firm side. If you prefer soft beds, they may not suit you
• Your suitcase fits under the bed, so you don’t have to open it on the floor. This made the room feel much larger
• A tote bag is provided for going to the public bath, handy for carrying your towel and change of clothes
• There is no bathtub, only a shower booth. I checked every room type on the official Japanese website, and none of them has a bathtub. The “Terrace Kaikyo Sauna Room” has a cold-water plunge tub on its balcony, but it is not a hot bath. If you want to soak, you use the public bath on the 10th floor

The strait from our window at about 6:30 the next morning. A calmer view than at night.

Traveling with small children: sharing beds

Children aged 6 and under can share a bed with an adult, up to the same number as the room’s capacity, with no room charge. In a Kaikyo Twin, which sleeps 3, that means up to 3 children can share beds. We spoke with a family of five, two parents and three children, who were staying in a Kaikyo Twin.

Based on the room information on the official Japanese website:

Room type	Capacity	Children sharing beds (age 6 and under)
Kaikyo Couple	2	Up to 2
Dog-friendly Room	2	Up to 2
Kaikyo Twin (where we stayed)	3	Up to 3
Yagura Room	4	Up to 4
Terrace Kaikyo Sauna Room	4	Up to 4

The buffets are charged by the child’s age. This is what the booking screen showed:

Age of child sharing a bed	Room charge	Dinner buffet	Breakfast buffet
0–3	Free	Free	Free
4–6	Free	¥2,000 per child	¥1,150 per child

Meals for children aged 4–6 are paid at the hotel on the day.

Room names above are my translations of the Japanese room names; the English website may use different names. Bed-sharing limits come from the official room information, and meal fees from the booking screen of the plan with dinner and breakfast buffets, both checked in September 2026. Please confirm when booking.

10th floor “MIZUBA”: watching the strait at sunset

The part of this hotel I remember most is MIZUBA on the 10th floor.

It is an open-air terrace with a wide view over Shimonoseki: Akama Shrine, the Kanmon Straits Museum, the Kanmon Bridge, and even the Ferris wheel. On the evening of September 20 the terrace was in the shade, and the heat was not a problem.

Around sunset, the hotel runs a “Kaikyo SUNSET HOUR,” serving welcome drinks from one hour before sunset until sunset. There was sparkling wine as well as non-alcoholic juice, so people who don’t drink can join in too. The board said sunset that day was at 6:16 p.m.

The terrace also has a shallow water pool, about knee-deep for a child, where children can play. The public bath entrance is on the same floor, with towels near the door, which makes it easy to dry off after playing in the water. We saw many families during our stay, and it felt like an easy hotel for families.

After dark, the water is lit up in blue, and the firelight and the night view of the strait come together.

The public bath: not an onsen, no indoor tub

The public bath is a calm space with black marble-style surfaces and soft indirect lighting. It is a Japanese-style shared bath, where you wash at seated shower stations before getting into the tub.

What makes it different is that there is no indoor tub. The indoor area is only for washing (about seven stations), and the bath itself is semi-open-air, under a roof, with a view over Shimonoseki. There was also a shallow bath for lying down.

Two things worth knowing before you book:

• It is not an onsen. The official website lists it as a bathing facility, not as a natural hot spring. If an onsen is the main reason for your trip, this matters
• There is no sauna. For a sauna, you would need to book the “Terrace Kaikyo Sauna Room,” which has its own

If you have tattoos, check the hotel’s rules for the public bath before your stay.

After the bath, there are free ice pops on the same floor, which both adults and children will enjoy.

I did not take photos inside the bath, so there are none here.

Dinner buffet: reservation required, 90 minutes, noodle bar at the center

Dinner is a buffet at the 9th-floor restaurant.

You must reserve a time slot in advance. Before your stay you receive an email, and you book a time from there. Slots start at 5:30 p.m. in 30-minute steps, with the last entry at 7:30 p.m. Each seating is 90 minutes.

During busy periods such as holidays, slots seem to fill up quickly. Book your time as soon as the email arrives.

The buffet centers on a noodle bar, along with yaki curry, beef grilled on a teppan in front of you, and Southeast Asian-style dishes.

The noodle bar was the most fun. You choose your noodles, soup and toppings freely, so you can make something like tom yum noodles or hot-and-sour noodles to your taste. They tasted good, and choosing the combination was part of the fun.

The teppan beef was good, and I was happy to have yaki curry, Mojiko’s local dish of curry rice topped with cheese and baked, right in the hotel. During the day in Mojiko Retro, we saw long lines at many yaki curry restaurants because it was a holiday, so being able to try it at the hotel was convenient.

It is a little different from the typical hotel buffet, and picking what to eat was enjoyable in itself.

Beer at dinner: buy it at the café and bring it in

This is the thing I most wish I had known beforehand.

Drinks at dinner are bought at the café on the same floor and carried to the restaurant yourself. The menu at the time of my visit (tax included):

Beer	Price
Mojiko Beer (Weizen / Pale Ale / Sakura Beer)	¥850 each
Taiwan Beer, 333, Tiger, Singha	¥600 each
Kirin Ichiban Shibori, Yona Yona Ale	¥700 each

Local craft beer from Mojiko sits alongside Asian lagers, which I felt paired well with the noodles and Southeast Asian dishes.

A few things to be aware of:

• Cans are opened when you buy them. When I bought one in the evening, it was handed to me open, still in the can. You can take it back to your room, but it is opened at the counter
• It may also be served in a cup. At dinner time I saw people carrying beer in cups from the café to the restaurant. This may vary, so ask when you buy
• There is no table service. You cannot order more from your seat as you would at an izakaya
• If you want wine or other drinks with a long, relaxed dinner, this may feel limited

For me, the setup worked best for having one or two beers with the meal rather than settling in for a long evening of drinks.

Want a drink in your room later? Buy it in Mojiko Retro first

After my bath, I bought a Mojiko Beer Weizen at the café for ¥850. It is convenient that you can buy one inside the hotel at night, when most shops nearby are closed.

The next day, though, I saw the same Mojiko Beer at a shop in Mojiko Retro for about ¥550, around ¥300 less.

Since beer from the café is opened when you buy it, if you want to drink in your room later, buy some in Mojiko Retro before check-in and chill it in your room’s fridge.

Breakfast buffet: a wait around 8 a.m.

Breakfast runs from 6:30 to 10:00 a.m. (last entry 9:30 a.m.), with 70 minutes per seating.

Entry is managed with a barcode at the door, and you can check the waiting status on your phone. We went around 8 a.m., found six groups ahead of us, and waited about 20 minutes outside.

Because of this system, the room itself was never crowded, and choosing food was stress-free.

According to a “breakfast congestion forecast” posted in the elevator, 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. were relatively quiet, and 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. was the busiest. At the time of my stay, until about 7 a.m. was the quieter window.

Breakfast also has a noodle bar, plus seafood rice bowls and a banana French toast finished in front of you.

The French toast was served warm and was the highlight of breakfast for me. The seafood bowl was fresh, too. The menu is clearly different from dinner, so it doesn’t get repetitive even with both meals included.

BEB5 Mojiko from a coffee lover’s point of view

Since this is a coffee blog, here is the coffee situation.

First, there is no coffee in the rooms. There is an electric kettle and cups, but no drip bags or instant coffee. The free drinks corner on the 9th floor has no coffee either.

The breakfast and dinner venues, however, have a coffee machine that also makes cappuccinos and lattes. Paper takeaway cups are available, so grab a coffee on your way out of a meal and take it to your room or up to the 10th-floor terrace.

If you want to make coffee in your room, bring your own coffee bags. Steeping-style bags that work like tea bags only need the kettle and cup already in the room.

Mojiko is also a fun town for visiting old-style coffee shops. After dinner, I walked to one called “Kauhii-do” (かうひい堂), where I tried an “old coffee” aged for more than ten years. I wrote about the visit in this article (in Japanese).

What I liked, and what to keep in mind

What I liked

• Every room looks out on the Kanmon Strait, with a different view morning and night
• Sunset at MIZUBA, watching the strait with a welcome drink in hand
• Family-friendly touches such as the shallow water pool and free ice pops after the bath
• A buffet with character. At breakfast, the entry system keeps the room from getting crowded
• A convenient base for walking around Mojiko Retro
• You can buy beer at the café even at night, when nearby shops are closed

What to keep in mind

• The entrance is easy to miss (next to AMAZING SPOT on the ground floor; reception is on the 9th floor)
• No bathtubs in any room type, only shower booths
• The public bath is not an onsen, and has no sauna and no indoor tub
• Drinks at dinner are beer bought at the café. Cans are opened at purchase, so for drinking in your room later, buying in Mojiko Retro is easier and cheaper
• Only 25 parking spaces; when full, use the partner car park
• The beds are firm
• No coffee in the rooms or at the free drinks corner

Hotel information

BEB5 Mojiko by Hoshino Resorts

Item	Details
Address	1-4-44 Nishikaigan, Moji-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka
Access	About a 4-minute walk from JR Mojiko Station
Opened	July 24, 2026
Rooms	119 (all facing the Kanmon Strait)
Room capacity	2–4 depending on room type
Bathtubs in rooms	None (shower booths in all room types)
Children sharing beds	Age 6 and under, up to the room’s capacity, no room charge. Buffets are charged for ages 4–6. Please confirm when booking
Reception	9th floor (entrance next to AMAZING SPOT on the ground floor)
Parking	Hotel car park: 25 spaces, first come, first served, ¥1,100/night. When full: partner car park at the Kanmon Straits Museum, ¥800/night with a hotel ticket
Dinner	Buffet, reservation required (entry 5:30–7:30 p.m., 90 minutes)
Breakfast	Buffet, 6:30–10:00 a.m. (last entry 9:30 a.m., 70 minutes)
Public bath	10th floor, semi-open-air (not an onsen, no sauna)
Official website	BEB5 Mojiko by Hoshino Resorts

Prices, hours, and services are as of my stay in September 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

Related articles

• Kauhii-do in Mojiko (in Japanese): the old-style coffee shop I walked to after dinner, serving coffee aged for more than ten years.
• Soft Serve in Minamiaso, Kumamoto: kibaco at the Shin-Aso Bridge Viewpoint: another stop on a trip around Kyushu.
• What Is Goto Coffee Farm in Minami-Aso?: a coffee farm growing coffee in Aso, Kumamoto.