The hotel is slightly larger from outside than you would expect. It is not 4 minutes from the subway as everyone says. As you emerge from the subway, it is almost literally just across the street. It's about a 30 second walk. You will spot it immediately.
As an English/Chinese speaker I found it nearly impossible to communicate with the check in staff. There was some confusion about the breakfast and as a result, the staff did not give me the breakfast ticket that I had already paid for (more about that in a moment).
The room was tiny; only slightly larger than the bed. There was no safe for my valuables. There was a giant tv on the desk, but there were no English stations (not even CNN). The room was completely free of charm, but it was warm on a cold night and it was very clean. The bathroom had a clean bathtub as well. There was free wifi! The room was advertised as no smoking and it was completely free of smoking odors! This is hard to find in Asia. A definite plus.
Breakfast was sorted out the next morning with an English speaking staff member. She refunded my breakfast (about $9USD) and gave me a ticket for the following morning. HOWEVER, I should have kept the next day's $9 and skipped breakfast. Breakfast is a sad affair. A choice of three set plates at the adjacent cafe. The cafe staff didn't speak any English. I didn't much care for a choice of ham or curry for breakfast but if that's your thing, enjoy. Even if you don't mind the choices, for the money, you can buy a much happier meal almost ANYWHERE.
TIPS FOR YOUR STAY:
Local Flavor? There is a tiny shoebox cafe on the way to subway station. It's tiny, charming and perfect.
Want western coffee? There is a starbucks literally down the block. Just walk past the subway station you arrived in and you will see it on the corner. This one is open, nice and quite comfortable (fills up completely at 12 and empties again at 1). Still love Starbucks AND love to walk? Keep walking about 25 minutes more on the same street and you will find yourself alongside the ruins of Fukuoka Castle. Walk along the small river/moat until you reach its end. Make a left turn into the beautiful Ohori Park riverside.As you walk along the riverside you will come to a beautiful little Starbucks overlooking the lake. A great place to spend your first hour or last of the day.
Not sure what to eat?
Your first stop should be Chikae Fukuoka. Just 5 minutes walk from the hotel. This place serves a great bento set meal for 1400 JPY (less than $15USD), and it is a lot of fun to eat. There is also a full menu available and they can provide an English menu as well. (At the corner where the Starbucks is turn left and walk down three blocks. Turn left at the third block and walk half way. The restaurant is on your left.)
The hotel is situated in the Daimyo district which is chock-full of restaurants. Just jump inside one. You will either get a seafood/sushi restaurant or an Izakaya which serves basically everything. Most restaurants are moderately priced at about $20/per person. Try pointing and pantomiming and see what shows up. Don't be shocked if you are served raw chicken. It's a thing here.
After lunch you can just wander eastward and you will run smack into a big shopping district with chain stores, pedestrian walk ways and loads of energy. Or, head westward and you will run right into Fukuoka Castle and Maizuru park. The castle ruins are not spectacular but walking the grounds is really nice. Lots of birds and small gardens to enjoy. You can spend a solid 2 or 3 hours there. Down by the lake, is the Fukuoka Art museum. You can also rent giant swan peddle boats to drift down the river in. It's a real pleasure to spend time here and soak up a lot of local flavor.
This is my perspective as a visitor who doesn't speak Japanese. I know it's not fair to expect everyone everywhere to know English, but I do speak two of the world's most widely spoken languages. This seems like a lovely beautiful city, but it is hard to get by without knowing some Japanese.