Myself and my family stayed at this hotel from February 15-20/09. We mainly choose this hotel, because it was the only one available to accommodate 3 adults and 1 child in one room at such a short notice. We booked our room via Expedia.
Hotel:
This hotel is rated as 3 1/2 stars. After arriving in Kyoto from Tokyo, we walked to our hotel. We had difficulty finding the shuttle bus. The walk itself was about 10minutes. The hotel is located on the west side of the train station. This hotel is really large, but looks dated. The main lobby is huge with many seats, its a big open space. There are several elevators in this hotel in various spots. There is nothing nearby the hotel except for the train station, which has everything you would need.
Room:
The room we booked had 4 single beds. It was simple and clean. It was no where as nice as the previous hotel I stayed at in Tokyo. Our room was located right beside the train tracks, but we never heard the trains go by. The are 2 glass doors to muffle out the sound. The room itself was quiet, so you can't hear others around you. There is a small flat screen tv in the room. A desk with a mirror. 2 chairs are provided in the room. There are several drawers here to store your belongings. In one of the drawers you will find robes. The doors to the balcony do not fully open. There is an alarm clock with a built in sound system to play nice background music. The closet is a small size with some hangars. What I didn't like in the room was, it was extremely hot. The a/c was not working properly. We could not change rooms, due to the amount of people we had, so we just had to deal with it. The only way to alleviate the heat was to open the balcony doors. The moment you open the doors, the room becomes really noisy. There is no in room safe which wasn't good. You have to go down to the main lobby and ask staff to hold your stuff in their safe. The room we were put in was quite far from the main entrance. There is a mini fridge stocked with the usual drinks, at a high price. Tea/hot water is the only beverage provided for free.
Bathroom:
The bathroom at this hotel is a small size. Again, it looked dated and could use an update. There was a bathtub with a shower head, the fancy JP toilet with the squirting water and warm seat, and a single sink. Toiletries they provided: soap/shampoo/conditioner all in a pumped bottle, bars of soap, razors/cream, toothbrush/pastes, lotions, and hair gel. A small hair dryer is provided. There are some towels and face clothes in the room, but you may need to request more.
Staff:
When we first arrived to the hotel (11:45AM) our room was not ready. Check in time is 1PM and they are pretty strict about that. We let them hold our luggage, while we explored the train station. When we were finally able to check in, the bell lady showed us to our room. She was very polite. The staff here seem to be more laid back. We never used the concierge service. Maid service was good. Everything was tidy up and fully restocked. I saw staff each day keeping things clean. There are always taxi cabs waiting out front of the hotel. We used the complimentary shuttle bus on our last day. It was punctual and the staff was helpful with our luggage.
Food:
We ate at 2/4 restaurants in the hotel, Aoi (we ate here 2 times) and Corbeille.
The first restaurant we ate at is Aoi, its a JP teppan grill restaurant. Open for lunch and dinner. This restaurant is one floor down from the main lobby. We ate here for lunch and dinner. The setting in the restaurant is nice. You get to watch a chef cook your meal in front of you, which is cool. All of the ingredients are fresh. We tried out a bunch of different foods from the menu and it all tasted great. Each dish is like a piece of art, presented carefully. Staff here was very polite.
The 2nd restaurant we ate at is Corbeille, its a casual Western-style restaurant. Buffet or à la carte items. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We ate here for dinner. This restaurant is located to the right of the main lobby. I thought the food was ok. I usually love eating at buffets, but the choices of food wasn't that great. When I went up to choose my food, I noticed that a lot of the bins were nearly empty. The king crab legs they were advertising, were really small and skinny. The buffet itself didn't' look tidy and staff were slow to remove the old plates I had on my table. They were really slow on refilling the bins with new food. I would recommend you skip this restaurant, to me this place wasn't good.
We never used room service at this hotel, but I did see a room service menu somewhere in the room.
Overall:
I thought this hotel was just ok. It was nearby the train station, clean, and was just a place to crash. The staff were nice.
The stay was not really memorable. The teppan restaurant in the hotel was good, but I would stir clear of Corbeille. The indoor pool here cost extra to use. If you want to use the internet, you have to pay 10 yen for every 10 minutes. There is no privacy when you use the internet. The hotel is aging and needs a make over. It was terrible that staff couldn't help with the a/c problem.
In the end, I don't think I will stay here again, so I can't say i would recommend this hotel. I just didn't enjoy my stay at this hotel. If you don't really care about how the hotel look and like to be near the train station, then this is the place for you. For the cost, it would be better to pay a lil more for something better.
