I think that there could be 2 ways to experience this hotel: standard room and superior room. There are some 756 standard rooms in the original hotel and 228 superior rooms in the new block. We were booked into a standard room. Oh dear! If you have a booking, make sure it is for a superior room in the new block. The hotel is located within walking distance across the road from Kyoto railway station so the road outside is very busy. Whether the proximity to the station is an advantage is questionable. Taxis are cheap. There is also little in the way of restaurants etc in the area, other than in the mall in the station. Initial impressions from the outside are good, but quickly deteriorate. The lobby is moderate and the bell boys (and girls) are eager, but it is always crowded. However, you can see from the state of the lifts in the old block that the hotel needs renovating. The bedroom floors corridors are dirty and tired. The first bedroom had a window that would not close and overlooked the main street, so was very noisy. It also smelt and not only of cigarettes. The second was on a side and had a window that closed. It also smelt better. Although they say there are no-smoking rooms there are not many and the Japanese seem to smoke in them anyway. These 2 examples of bedrooms were poor and disappointing. The bathrooms are dark and worn. The decor and furniture seem to be 1970s, they need a major renovation. The beds were hard by western standards. The TV was an old style with limited channels in english. We tried to change to a superior room but none were available. It seems that the hotel is usually overbooked and caters for organised tours from all over the world, hence the crowded lobby, with visitors waiting for city tours etc.
We had a meal in the Ronde restaurant. What a mistake! The service was very poor and the meal, 'noveau' style, was miniscule portions and expensive.

Pro
- great location, just opposite the Kyoto Station and very near a convenience store and a yoshinoya

Cons
- ugly rooms
- non smoking rooms smelled strongly of cigarette smoke
- no temperature control in rooms (the front desk told us that the entire hotel is in "winter mode" and that only heat is available for the guest rooms. thank goodness the windows could open so that we could let in a breeze)
- staff knows limited english

i'd rather not stay here next time (we stayed at the old building, which may be why we got such bad rooms). we'll be reprimanding our travel agent because he dumped us here. although the location is very convenient, try the other hotels or request for a room in the newly renovated south building near the station before going to this one.

This is one busy hotel but the level of service is maintained to a very high standard. The front desk staff are really good and there are other people on hand nearby for extra help too. I even saw managers taking it upon themselves to double as lift attendants in the mornings when things became very busy.

The rooms are fine, the internet is free but well organised and the restaurants for breakfast and dinner are good. The Ronde restaurant could do with a postive non smoking area instead of invisible lines of separation. I had trouble when a lady on the next table lit up a cigarette but when I complained to my waiter he moved me to a new table straight away, which was good.

The service in the Kyohamasaku Japanese restaurant was also god, possibly slightly better than the food which is very unusual.

There is plenty of competition from in excess of 50 restaurants just over the road at the train statoin but I doubt if they have non smoking areas at all.

I was amazed to find out that this hotel is only rated at 3 stars, I think it is much better than that.

Summary: Comfortable enough, felt a bit dated. Wouldn’t rush back

-Location – directly opposite the main train station, 2 mins from subway and buses. 15 mins by train/bus from main city centre/shops. Excellent food shops and restaurants in the station complex. Check out floor 11 of the Cube!
-Internet PCs.. only available until 10pm. Horrible classical music played in the room, they obviously don’t want you to hang around in there. It was painful.
-Hotel has a dated feel in the main wing
-Room with vending machines for emergency supplies!
-Clean room
-Very friendly/helpful staff, most especially the concierge!