四条河原町温泉 空庭テラス京都 別邸 / Soraniwa Terrace Kyoto Bettei — Hotel in Kyoto

Our family of three stayed in a higher floor corner room at the Soraniwa Terrace Bettei for three nights in early June. It is important to know that this is a “hotel within a hotel” commanding a premium price for a superior room and service. While we didn’t think the Bettei quite managed to earn its premium, overall our stay was excellent.||First the good part. The room, while tiny, was truly special and just like the photos. We used the private onsen multiple times daily, and enjoyed wonderful views of old Kyoto and people watching from the small in room terrace. When we grew tired of the close quarters, we took advantage of the spectacular rooftop terrace with foot spa and free happy hour, the comfortable lobby area with included drinks and ice cream, or the truly lovely public onsen on the lobby floor. (Note: these amenities are available to all guests, not just the Bettei.) Service was good, especially at check in when someone was available in the private lobby area for Bettei guests. The location cannot be beat, right in the middle of shopping and restaurants, not far from Nishiki Market and Gion, and a very short walk to the nearest subway station. ||Second, two areas we would encourage management to address to match experience with price. First and foremost, the room is cramped, especially when the couch becomes a third bed. What made it hard was the lack of space to store anything. Every inch is filled with yukata, pajamas, shoes, toiletries, glassware, drinks, and snacks. While all of these amenities are great, one needs someplace to put one’s own clothes and toiletries. A better use of the entryway, the separate toilet room (even just a mirror over the sink), and the dead zone behind the TV and mini bar would make a big difference. I wished we had forwarded our luggage on rather than having it all with us in hopes of using the hotel laundry, since the clothes we did wash had to be hung out all over the room to dry. Our second recommendation would be to work harder to differentiate Bettei service. There is no evening turndown and refresh of towels and drinks, no welcome amenity or delivery of special treats, and often nobody in the separate lobby to provide dedicated service (for example, we had to wait behind non Bettei guests to arrange our luggage forwarding.) We would expect this enhanced service in addition to the room amenities to warrant the significant difference in price for the Bettei.||Overall, though, we still awarded this stay a full five stars, because the experience of sitting in your own private onsen, sipping on a drink and looking out over old Kyoto, was simply unforgettable. Arigato goziamasu for...

Our family of three stayed in a higher floor corner room at the Soraniwa Terrace Bettei for three nights in early June. It is important to know that this is a “hotel within a hotel” commanding a premium price for a superior room and service. While we didn’t think the Bettei quite managed to earn its premium, overall our stay was excellent.||First the good part. The room, while tiny, was truly special and just like the photos. We used the private onsen multiple times daily, and enjoyed wonderful views of old Kyoto and people watching from the small in room terrace. When we grew tired of the close quarters, we took advantage of the spectacular rooftop terrace with foot spa and free happy hour, the comfortable lobby area with included drinks and ice cream, or the truly lovely public onsen on the lobby floor. (Note: these amenities are available to all guests, not just the Bettei.) Service was good, especially at check in when someone was available in the private lobby area for Bettei guests. The location cannot be beat, right in the middle of shopping and restaurants, not far from Nishiki Market and Gion, and a very short walk to the nearest subway station. ||Second, two areas we would encourage management to address to match experience with price. First and foremost, the room is cramped, especially when the couch becomes a third bed. What made it hard was the lack of space to store anything. Every inch is filled with yukata, pajamas, shoes, toiletries, glassware, drinks, and snacks. While all of these amenities are great, one needs someplace to put one’s own clothes and toiletries. A better use of the entryway, the separate toilet room (even just a mirror over the sink), and the dead zone behind the TV and mini bar would make a big difference. I wished we had forwarded our luggage on rather than having it all with us in hopes of using the hotel laundry, since the clothes we did wash had to be hung out all over the room to dry. Our second recommendation would be to work harder to differentiate Bettei service. There is no evening turndown and refresh of towels and drinks, no welcome amenity or delivery of special treats, and often nobody in the separate lobby to provide dedicated service (for example, we had to wait behind non Bettei guests to arrange our luggage forwarding.) We would expect this enhanced service in addition to the room amenities to warrant the significant difference in price for the Bettei.||Overall, though, we still awarded this stay a full five stars, because the experience of sitting in your own private onsen, sipping on a drink and looking out over old Kyoto, was simply unforgettable. Arigato goziamasu for...

Please steer clear of this hotel, they are greedy, dishonest and will nickel and dime you every opportunity. I booked an expensive top floor room for a family of 4 with two twin beds and a sofa bed. My reservation included breakfast and stated young kids had free breakfast but they made me pay extra for my 2 and 3 year old. I felt like they just made up things on the spot (like the free kids breakfast only consisted of miso soup and rice and if you want them to have more options you need to pay extra).||||The day after check in we get a phone call demanding we pay extra for using the sofa bed as a sleeping space (even though bedding was provided and it was included in my reservation confirmation). They called a few times while my kids were napping demanding more money and threatened to come into the room to take the bedding away if we didn’t pay, which at this point turned us off from the hotel completely. They ended up coming into our room and taking the bedding for the sofa bed while we were out with the kids on our last night.||||The room itself was TINY - no place to put luggage or store clothes. ||||The outdoor Onsen was nearly impossible to use due to mosquitos.||||I will never stay at this property and will not recommend them to anyone visiting Kyoto. I feel like they use the language barrier to their benefit and will just repeat the same thing over and over again until you hand them a...