ORIENTAL HOTEL KYOTO ROKUJO — Attraction in Kyoto

I am an English female solo traveler who stayed in this hotel as part of a trip to Japan. Out of the five hotels I stayed in across the country, this one was my favourite.

Located in a quiet part of Kyoto, the hotel has a very sophisticated yet homely atmosphere. It was incredibly stylish and clean.

The staff were friendly and accommodated my request of sending on my luggage to my next hotel with ease.

I stayed in a standard double room and my (Western style) room was huge! It was very elegant, had a big TV, a massive bed, a sofa and a great bathroom with a fantastic deep bath. The hotel room came equipped with everything you need for a good night sleep.

The breakfast was lovely. It was mainly Japanese. I really enjoyed the Okonomiyaki style eggs with rice and veg. They also had amazing Japanese sweet breakfast items, which were so tasty. There was fresh juice and coffee.

Location wise, the hotel is in a more residential area. You can easily get the bus into central Kyoto though and the nearest metro is quite close (about 10 min walk). I enjoyed the fact it was in a quiet spot, as you were away from many other tourists. If you have Google Maps, (and data on your phone/a portable wifi device) navigating the city is easy.

The highlight of my trip to Kyoto was going to Arashiyama. You can get the number 28 bus which departs 5 mins away from the hotel outside Nishi Honganji mae and it takes about 35 mins to get there. Arashiyama was amazing for the scenic walks, monkey park, the beautiful temples, the delicious street food, the bamboo forest and cafes - it is such a...

My first 6 nights stay at this hotel, I was very happy with the room. So I decided to extend my stay for another 3 nights. It was a huge mistake! I initially requested to stay in the same room but they said no, I was told that I would be getting a bigger room, the Japanese twin room. So I packed up everything and checked out. When I came back to check in later, I was in for a treat. The room number was 111. When you opened the door, there is a sink on the immediate left. The entrance space is about a square meter, followed by a narrower space before getting to the elevated wooden floor. There lies 2 twin beds on the floor. There’s a mini cabinet and a one seater couch before the beds. I don’t have any space to open my suitcase fully. I went to the reception to tell them about the issue, the manager simply smiled and said that I paid for that room and if I want to upgrade my room I have to pay additional ¥19364 for 3 nights. Obviously I wasn’t the first to face such issue, the hotel is fully aware of it. First of all, the pictures shown on Agoda website didn’t show you the super narrow entrance. Second of all, your staff lied and said that I will be getting a bigger room ! It’s such an extremely poor design for a room. There’s a huge counter top inside the bathroom, which is a waste of space. If you want to use the kettle to boil water, you have to do it on the floor. There’s simply not enough space, there’s no table too. So I end up putting most of my things on the floor! The price I paid for the last 3 nights stay here, I can get a better hotel and in a...

I’m disappointed with Oriental Hotel.

When entering our room my husband and I noticed a pungent smell of mildew (?). It seemed to come from the bathroom, but we couldn’t identify where in the bathroom. The hallways and common areas smelt fine. I’m unsure if other rooms also smell. Keeping the bathroom door closed only mildly improved the smell in the room itself (and made using the bathroom a miserable experience due to the intense smell).

Our second issue was the bed. We requested a room with a king bed. I did not realized a king bed meant three twin beds smooshed together and wrapped in a sheet. The beds often slid apart and due to the edges of the twin beds provided a bumpy mattress. Additionally, the mattress pad was stained.

Finally, our mini fridge was not cool. I read that another reviewer said it was meant to be a “cool chest”. There is nothing indicating that it isn’t supposed to be to be a fridge in the room. We had gotten snacks to store that we ended up throwing out because of this.

The best part of this hotel was the WiFi. It was slightly faster than our hotel in Tokyo.

I’m not sure if it was the intense smell of mildew, but it definitely made me feel as if our room wasn’t clean. We have one night left and are debating whether we should switch hotels.

I deeply regret choosing this “4-star” hotel for our stay in Kyoto.

Edit - we switched hotels. I’m so glad we did! I didn’t realize how bad oriental hotel’s “king” mattresses were making my back hurt until a good...