Loved the Granvia for our recent trip to Kyoto.

It was in a fantastic location, the staff was superb, the rooms were large and fantastic (and had great sheets). We would definitely stay there again if visiting Kyoto and planning day trips.

If you are ONLY planning on visiting Kyoto while there (but why would you?) then you might consider something closer to the center of the tourist attractions.

The worst thing about this hotel: the restaurants in the area aren't the best in Kyoto. There are plenty of "good" restaurants but no "great" ones that we could find.

Hotel is very nice indeed. Good rooms, perfect service.
Although it takes miles of walking to get from the lobby to your room, even so with good views around the area from high atop!
Room service was a bit strange, they seemed irritated by my sleeping off my jetlag and gave me only till 2.p.m. or so to leave my room otherwise they would not clean it the same day.
room service dinenr was not good, average quality and very small quantity.

My wife and I just left the Granvia after a 3 night stay. We got a great rate including breakfast with a 60 day advance booking from the hotel web site.

Locationwise - it can't be beat. It's a short walk after getting off the Shinkasen in Kyoto Station to the escalator up to the hotel. As soon as we walked in, a bellperson helped up with our luggage to the the front desk. Check-in was a breeze. Our room overlooked the train station. It's very cool watching the trains come and go all day and night.

When we asked for the bedding to be changed due to allergies, Housekeeping sent someone up promptly to change the linens. We had breakfast in the restaurant on the 15th floor (western) and on the lobby level (japanese & western). Both were more than adequate. The lobby level restaurant was a bit more quiet and peaceful.

The Concierge was more than helpful during our stay. If we had a question when they were closed, the front desk staff was helpful.

Check-out was easy. We left our luggage with the hotel for a few hours while we did some more exploring. When we returned to retrieve our luggage, it was returned promptly.

Overall, a great visit. We'd definitely consider the Granvia on a future visit.

My wife and I stayed at the Hotel Granvia Kyoto for 2 nights in June 2007. My comments / feedback are detailed below:

Booking
We used a discount online booking provider for our stay. The rate obtained was very good which translates to an experience that was really good value.

Check-in
This was a smooth process. We arrived a little bit early, so the hotel took our baggage and gave us some information as to how we could keep ourselves occupied in the area - we explored the station complex. The staff were extremely polite, friendly and helpful, from the moment we got to the top of escalator before we even reached the hotel lobby.

Rooms
The rooms were pretty sizeable (having a dedicated shower area (ie. not standing in the bath)), particularly for Japan. Everything was clean and in good shape. We were able to fit two large suitcases in the room and not have to trip over them all the time. There was also a decent sized coffee table by the window which had a pretty good view of Kyoto tower.

Housekeeping were fantastic. I called to change pillows (feather allergy) and they had the decency to call back and inform me that the bed covers were also feathers and asked if I wanted those changed too. It took about two minutes for someone to arrive and completely strip and remake the bed, which was done in under 5 minutes. The staff member refused my attempts to give a tip (common throughout Japan).

The mini-bar fridge was of adequate size for a hotel and we were able to stick a few bits and pieces in there for safe-keeping. There is also a safety-deposit box in the room. The air-conditioning was effective and easy to operate (providing good relief from the humidity).

Meals
I can only comment on the breakfast buffet which we had on the top floor (great view). I found it a bit pricey (+- JPY 2,500), but once again in line with other hotels. The buffet had a really good selection (Western only, there is a Japanese one elsewhere in the hotel) including omlettes to order. There is also a filter coffee bar where they operate these funky looking machines and the operator was very obliging when I asked her for a demo.

Concierge / Activities
We didn't use the concierge for any bookings, but they provided us with English maps and offered more assistance than we had requested. There was, however, only one English Internet terminal (and one Japanese).

Location
Ideal. Can't think of a better description. The hotel is part of the station complex. It's a new-age building that contains numerous shops and restaurants of all different types. The station is, in some ways, an attraction in itself and you could easily spend half a day there. Be warned that there isn't a coach tour pick-up point - you have to walk to the nearby (< 5 minutes and the staff are happy to assist you find it) New Miyako for the coach pick-up. If you are heading anywhere under your own steam, you couldn't be better located.

We did struggle a little with picking restaurants in the station area as the signs are in Japanese only - we had an English brochure which we used to match the Japanese symbols, but it did take some time (altho we had fun figuring it out).

Check-out
Once again, a smooth process. The staff were also eager to assist when we asked for directions to the platform to meet our shinkansen.

Overall
I would love to go back to Kyoto - we barely scratched the surface and all my experiences were rich and enjoyable. I wouldn't think of staying anywhere else other than the Granvia.