Karasuma Kyoto Hotel

...chose to stay at the Karasuma Kyoto hotel.


The reasoning for my decision was that it wasn't the most expensive hotel (although still £75 a night) and in a good location. I'd read that the interiors were dated, but that's fine with me as long as things are clean. Sadly it wasn't as great as I had hoped.


== Location ==

The hotel does score some points here. It's two stops north on the Karasuma subway ...
...be sure to exit the station by South Exit 6, it comes out right in front of the hotel, you'll see it directly in front of you with the Starbucks at the front, just as in the photo.


Being very close to Shijo dori you are able to walk quickly to the main shopping district. If you're looking for some snacks there are many convenience stores in all directions and the usual ready supply of drinks vending machines (I like that you can ... more

On previous visits to Japan I've been lucky to find some good value and good quality hotels. I'd never stayed in Kyoto before and having looked at the options online I chose to stay at the Karasuma Kyoto hotel.

The reasoning for my decision was that it wasn't the most expensive hotel (although still £75 a night) and in a good location. I'd read that the interiors were dated, but that's fine with me as long as things are clean. Sadly it wasn't as great as I had hoped.

Location

The hotel does score some points here. It's two stops north on the Karasuma subway line from Kyoto station. If you arrive via the subway be sure to exit the station by South Exit 6, it comes out right in front of the hotel, you'll see it directly in front of you with the Starbucks at the front, just as in the photo.

Being very close to Shijo dori you are able to walk quickly to the main shopping district. If you're looking for some snacks there are many convenience stores in all directions and the usual ready supply of drinks vending machines (I like that you can buy a hot can of coffee any time of the day practically every 20 metres)

For sightseeing you can of course use the subway, but the lines are limited and don't cover the city so well, busses pass regularly on the Shijo dori and there's always the option to walk. Kyoto has many many temples and shrines to visit, we covered a large number in the 3 days we were there. Most of the time we walked but one of the days we took the unlimited bus card (500 Yen) and started our journey near the hotel on the bus.

Arrival

Having found the hotel quite easily following our train journey from Kansai airport (75 minutes to Kyoto station) things were going smoothly. The greeting at the hotel check in was very friendly and I'm glad they spoke some English as my Japenese is non existent. If you're going to make some complicated requests then there will be some issues here I think, the staff level of English is limited, but it's Japan and I don't expect everyone to speak my language :-)

The lobby feels like it was designed in the 1980's, but I'd forgive them this if it didn't smell like the interior of an old dusty bar. It's not the best hotel lobby I've seen.

After completing the checkin formalities (I still don't understand why so many hotels want you to fill in your name and address details when they already have all the information in your reservation) we were given the room key. No chance of losing this one. I like a good friendly keycard, I can slip it into my pocket easily and if I forget to hand it back the hotel aren't going to be chasing me to cover the cost of it, such a shame that they gave me a normal key with a giant piece of perspex attached to it advertising my floor and room number to anybody that happened to pick it up.

Hotel room numbering should be a simple affair really, the first digit should be the floor (or 2 digits), then should be the room number on that floor, simple. Well I'm not sure where they got their number system from here, hence the need to print the floor number on the giant novelty keyring.

The Room

I wasn't expecting anything exciting from the room, something small and clean would have been ideal. Well, the room was a little larger than I imagined, kind of like a Premier Inn room size, just a little bit smaller. It was dated, like the lobby, with a unit between the two beds (I had booked a room with one bed) that incorporated light switches and stuff.

The decor wasn't a big issue for me, but the amount of dust was. The carpets were old and stained and the closer you got to the edges the furrier they became with aging dust. I'd like to suggest the purchase of a vacuum cleaner that can reach the edges.

The two beds were a bit wider than a standard single and had a duvet, which was good. They also provided a robe to wander around the room in and some disposable slippers. I used the slippers, I didn't want to have too much contact with the floor.

As well as the dust there was a tremendous smell of dodgy perfume in the air, I traced this to the desk which may have been sprayed by a previous guest attempting to sample their duty free purchases, I don't think I can blame the hotel for that one.

In front of the desk was a stool, there were also two chairs and a table by the window, they looked like they may have been outside furniture at some point, they looked a bit bashed and worn.

There was a fridge, handy if you've been to the supermarket and want to make your own breakfast. They also provided a couple of cups and four tea bags (2 green tea and 2 roast black tea). Hot water was from a large water boiler that was filled every day by the housekeeping staff, there was a helpful sign on how to use it.

We didn't use the TV, but I don't think there was anything in English on it anyway. Behind the TV we found a cable that allowed us to make use of the free internet access, you'll need your own laptop for that.

There was no temperature control for the air conditioning, just a fan speed control. Thankfully the window could be opened for some relief from the dust. The rooms at the back of the hotel must get warm as they have sunlight all afternoon, it was always warm in the room when we returned each evening. The air conditioning was quite noisy, I can sleep through it but sensitive sleepers be warned!

The Bathroom

As you may expect from a Japenese hotel bathroom, it's a plastic box that looks like it got dropped in the corner when they built the room. It's certainly larger than an easyHotel or Ibis airplane style bathroom, but still rather cosy. There was the standard Japanese toilet with buttons to spray water around the place when you've finished your business.

The bath was rather too short to be useful, so only the shower got any use. Pressure and temperature were okay, nothing to get excited about though.

The smell in the bathroom was a bit unpleasant, you got the feeling that some mould was developing somewhere that you couldn't see. Some of the (few) surfaces in the room looked like they could use a bit of a clean too.

We were provided with two large towels, two small towels and a large basket of toiletries that was refilled every day. This contained 2 hairbrushes, 2 razors, 2 toothbrushes, 2 sponges and 2 shower caps. This kind of thing seems standard in Japan and if you've forgotten something it's very useful. Each day we hung our towels on the rail so we could re-use them next day but they were always replaced, not very eco friendly but a nice service.

Hotel Services

I can't say much about the services at the hotel, they have a restaurant and bar, plus the Starbucks right next to the lobby. I didn't use any of these. The only facility I used was a vending machine on the 4th floor to get a couple of bottles of water at 5am.

Summary

I won't be returning to this hotel, I could easily forgive the decor but the level of cleanliness is not acceptable for me. The hotel cost £75 a night, Kyoto is not a cheap place to stay so maybe for future visits I'll increase my budget and stay somewhere better.

If they could simply put some more effort into the cleaning of the place I'd give it a decent rating, but you cannot get such a basic thing wrong in my opinion.

Apologies for the lack of photos, I never think ahead that I might be writing a review about a place.

(also posted on dooyoo) 

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