I stayed in this hotel with friend for two nights. It's a completely non-smoking hotel which I liked very much (there's a small smoking corner on the 2nd floor in the common library-kitchen area). The price of the rooms is good and the staff nice and helpful.
Location: conveniently located for sightseeing while using subway (approx. 5mins from Marutamachi station). If to use busses (as we did) be prepared to walk a bit as the street where hotel is situated has no citybus traffic and closest bus stops (especially if to come from Kyoto Station) are several blocks away.
Room: nice, clean and spacious (latter by Japanese standards). We had twin bed room and there was also a sitting corner with sofa and coffeetable. Beds were confortable. Room was equipped with LAN and although WiFi was supposed to be available only in the hotel lobby we managed to connect to it also from our room (3rd floor).
Bathroom: really tiny. The only negative thing of this whole stay was the ventilation system in the bathroom which seemed like an almost completely uncovered hole in the ceiling above bathtub and looked horrible to me - I expected who knows what bugs to crawl out of there at any moment. Luckily the latter was just my imagination running wild (my friend didn't even mention of something being off with the sight of this vent.hole), and because of that I decided to rate the hotel based on everything else and not take into account that ventilationhole.

For the price you pay for rooms here, this is one of the nicer hotels you can get in Kyoto (and also vs. Tokyo!). The rooms are positively huge compared to what you get elsewhere, the beds are comfortable, I had a sofa and seating area, and there is a good-sized desk where you can connect for free via LAN. The room and bathroom were also clean and comfortable, even if the hotel is showing its age slightly.
The staff were very helpful. You can rent bicycles from reception, which is a great way to get around (though beware cycle parking at individual temples/ sights isn't great, you'll need to get to the area you're going to and then walk, especially in the Higashimaya area). There is also free wi-fi in the lobby.
Although the hotel's location is reasonable, there are more convenient areas to stay in for the vast majority of Kyoto's main sights. It is 5 minutes to the metro station, but this doesn't go anywhere especially useful other than Kyoto train station. You are across from the Palace park, but this is certainly not one of Kyoto's premier sights. The best options from here are the buses (fairly easy to work out and go to the main areas) or bicycle. A friend stayed in downtown and was much better placed to get to and from the sights quickly. Having said that, you pay for such a location in room size and cost, so overall this was a reasonable compromise.

I stayed in this hotel for four nights during my stay in Kyoto. In this hotel you can find the good standard of room quality and service.

Positive
- Very good location to explore Kyoto, just five minutes from subway station (Marutamachi station, 2nd exit, two minutes from bus station, next to Imperial Palace Park
- Very friendly and helpful english speaking staff
- Large rooms for Japanese standard
- Possibility of making tea and coffee (nescafe)
- Two english TV channels (BBC, CNN)
- Clean rooms, quite comfortable bad
- Shampoo, conditioner and body bath liquid soap
- Good price for Kyoto area and the time of my visit (Sakura blossoming) - 91 USD / night

Negative
- old looking (but still OK, do not worry)
- Western breakfast only for 1.100 JPY (I prefer local food on my trips...)
- "Westernized" area, full of Americans and Europeans (but you can prefer it)
- Small bathroom (but it is standard in Japan)

The palace side hotel is not the best hotel I have visited in Japan but I can recommended it and you can feel comfortable, it is good three star hotel (sea room pictures) and I'd like to return.
Regarding Kyoto area - must visit, it is so nice area, with many temples, shrines, old streets. Highly recommended. Kyoto is great but do not stay there only, visit Nara too, 50 minutes by train.

We stayed here for 2 nights to explore Kyoto. The hotel was in a nice location, right in front of a massive park, and a 2 minute walk to the subway. The rooms were a good size, and the staff were lovely.