Despite the recent renovation, we felt this hotel was not up to standard. We stayed on the 10th floor (spa level). The whole hotel from the lobby to the rooms generally feels old with a few obvious touch ups here and there. Certainly, the spa that the hotel runs appears to have had a complete renovation and the photos on their website play this up. The rest of the hotel doesn't look like this! Our hotel room had new carpet and furniture but you can see the ceiling has a new coat of paint over an older one and the walls have been re-wall papered. The bathroom remains old as they haven't bothered to renovate this. We also had an issue when we had to visit another floor to fill our ice bucket because the stench that hit us as we got off the elevator was unbelievable! The spa services (facials, massages) were also relatively expensive, from AUS$200 and up for 60min treatment.

Overall, as we are used to staying in boutique style hotels with style and character, this hotel did not meet our expectations. We were disappointed as their website photos fail to make a true representation of the hotel. If not for the central location, there are not too many reasons to stay here! We'd recommend looking for similar priced ryokans.

We stayed at the Kyoto Royal hotel for a long weekend in early November 2007. The property is very well located for sightseeing in the city center just off Pontocho and very close to a subway station with easy connections to the railway station and many sights.
It's a rather big, modern hotel without much charm but the room was clean and well appointed. We had a single room for double use facing the courtyard. It wasn't very big but the twin-bedded rooms with outside views are somewhat larger. The breakfast buffet was good standard, staff spoke english sufficiently well.
As we were pretty much self-organized and found it very easy to navigate with a proper guidebook of the city, we didn't need much help from the concierge, so can't comment on that. Check-in and -out were handled very efficiently though.
I recommed this hotel for travellers who are looking for an efficient, clean and very well-located base for sightseeing in Kyoto and wouldn't hesitate to return.

We liked the helpfulness, friendliness and location of this hotel and found many of the Tripadvisor reviews out of date and therefore unwarranted - the management has tried very hard to improve these points. Our room was clean, the bathroom well kept, but for a double room we did expect two bedside lamps (we did eventually have this after asking for an additional lamp). On our second visit, we got a much better double room with two lamps and a few square meters of extra space that made all the difference. This room was clearly meant for two people rather than a double to be used by singles. The housekeeping staff were very sensitive to our need to get over our jetlag and the reception staff helpful. This hotel is an excellent option to the nearby and very good Okura if you cannot get a booking there. We used the Okura's restaurant for breakfast (marginally more expensive than the Kyoto Royal, but oh, so much better) and cafe. The two most frustrating things about the Kyoto Royal were the variable internet connectivity in the rooms and the compete lack of mobile phone reception. There is a computer you can use for net access in their business centre (with a useful printer) if you don't have your own laptop or you're experiencing problems. To get mobile phone coverage and then ensure that it doesn't drop out, you must go some distance from the hotel. I don't know why, as this is the only hotel in Kyoto I have ever stayed in with this problem. You cannot fault the location of this hotel - it is walking distance to just about anything major in Kyoto or the buses and subway are literally meters away. If mobile phone coverage and internet access aren't absolutely essential, this is a good hotel to stay in.

We stayed here for 3 nights in November. The service was probably the worst in this hotel. They were unable to provide us an electricity adaptor and plugge although we requested it at least 5 times to different people. They didn't have a turist map to give to hotel guests. We only received a cheap Metro map imposible to read. Also on the low side, the room had no vew (looking into an interior patio), it was very hot (no cold air conditionaire working) and the bathroom was tiny.
We chose this place because of location. It is very central and close to Gion, so there is no need to use any public transport, because everything is within walking distance. I would never go back to this place. I felt ripped off. The hotel is not cheap and I am convinced there has to be better value for money in that location. I would not recommend this hotel to anybody.