We really liked our stay at Village Kyoto. The room was big with a nice view, and the bathroom was separated in toilet, shower and wash basin, which was great because me and my 4 friends shared the room, so we could use the facilities at the same time. There's a subway station and a bus stop only a few minutes away, and it's about a 20min walk to Gion. The only drawback was the breakfast, it was not very tasty, especially the bread version. But the staff was very helpful giving us directions and recommendations for the busses, and spoke English well.

We stayed as a couple for 3 nights at around £150 a night. We had a large room with woven vinyl floor, tatty unit along one wall and ripped vinyl futons. You had to make your own bed up from the futon, so then had to sit on the stained dirty cushions on the floor or make up your bed each day. Breakfast was served to your room - plastic tray of cold rice, sushi or bread option plus one green tea bag to make a drink to go with it. Bathroom was tiny, but did have Japanese style bathing on first floor, although ladies area was so busy - strange as a westerner seeing a queue of naked women waiting to shower. The view out of our window was straight into the rooms in the building next door, so close you could have touched it! Therefore we had to keep the blinds closed all the time - dark and depressing. Bedding smelt dirty on our first night we wondered if it was from the previous people staying there, but was changed the next day.

This hotel tries to come across as a semi-authentic ryokan experience, which has to be your taste. We didn't really care for it. We (3 adults) shared one of their smaller rooms together, but we tried to be out as much as possible. We found the rooms to be very uncomfortable, as there was really no place to sit down anywhere, except if you went through the hassle of folding back your bed into a chair. Sitting on your bed on the floor just isn't so nice to come home to after a full day of sightseeing. Furthermore, we found the rooms to be incredibly small, especially considering the money that you pay. Beds were unexpectedly quite alright. Location was decent, although it was a good 20-25 minutes walk to the shopping area and about 15 minutes to the nearest train station (Nijo Station).

Clearly, this type of hotel is just not our thing. We didn't get a chance to try out the onsen since it it not something we particularly enjoy, but I'm sure it is quite a nice addiction for people who do. Overall I would suggest that you think long and hard about what kind of hotel you feel comfortable in before booking this one.

Stayed here with my son and husband in a large room which accommodated up to 5 people, plenty of storage space, comfortable futons, nice linen, including the pyjamas for tripping down to the onsen. Walked miles during the day so lovely to soak in the onsen in the evenings. Breakfast is pre ordered the evening before with a choice of rice, sushi or bread based menu. Location was good, a 10-15 min walk taks you to the main shopping areas but plenty of bus sops to get to the major sites- just make sure you have a decent bus map- available at reception. Reception staff were very helpful and directed us to good noodle and yakatori bars