Right next to the JR Hiroshima station, Hotel Granvia Hiroshima was the perfect location if you want to minimize time moving from one lodging to another. It's a short walk from the shinkansen platform to the hotel lobby. I incorrectly booked a smoking room and it was a very unpleasant room, if you didn't smoke. To get a non-smokibg room, there was an upcharge of about USD$50 per night, considering how nice the hotel ended up, it was a bargain. The non-smoking rooms were very pleasant and located in the higher floors. We had our luggage shipped to Osaka, avoiding lugging around big suitcases on the train. The bell captain took care of all the arrangements and paperwork, even calling ahead to our next hotel, to be sure. That is excellent service (and happily, the luggage all ended up i in our room (!) at the promised time). Finally, the hotel offers a discount to eat at their restaurants for guests of the hotel. The buffet breakfast was totally worth it for about USD$20 with the discount.