Backpackers Hostel K's House Kyoto — Hotel in Kyoto

I found a really good price for this place on TripAdvisor site (Thank you, Tripadvisor!) and I jumped on it. No regrets whatsoever.||||Here is what I loved about this place.||||1. Easy to find from Kyoto station. We walked for about 15 min.||2. Extremely clean and comfortable. I love the system of not walking in the hostel with shoes. They will give you a key for the shoe locker. You can either wear slippers or we just went around with our socks on.||3. Super friendly and helpful staff. They answered all my questions clearly and on top of it. gave me extra information. ||4. Maps - they have a nearby map that you can find eateries, convenience stores, etc. They also gave me a good tourist map of Kyoto and given me an idea of what to do with teens.||5. Amenities - common shower rooms and bathrooms on every floor. Amazing water pressure of shower will make you feel "Ah~" after a long day of walking in Kyoto, We never had to wait for any of them. The communal kitchen was large and well equipped with refrigerators, a microwave, free coffee, and tea, electric kettles f and filtered water pitchers. Some of us went to Kyoto station area to eat out, others brought some food from a convenience store and heated food up in the microwave, others brought food from McDonald and we all ate at the dining area. There is also a lounge with 2 computers you can use and enough plugins there.||6. You can rent electric device cords and plugs for free with a deposit of 1000 yen. ||7. Information boards are a great source. They update often. Check out flea markets in the city and other events.||8. Bicycle Rental available. 150 yen per hour or 800 yen for a day (7:00-23:00) Just make sure to ask biking a parking regulations of Kyoto.||9. One day bus pass is available at the reception. Although Kyoto can get congested heavily in some areas, if you have time and want to save your energy, then it is a great idea to get on the bus. Kyoto station has a large bus terminal. To go to Kinkakuji Temple, there is an express one that only takes a little more than 30 min, but you can sit and enjoy the scenery of Kyoto.||10. Rooms are very basic, but there is a light-blocking shade that serves as no heat escape through windows during cold winter. The air-con unit is set rather warm for the winter and we were very comfortable setting 18 C this time. ||||Down duvet and down pillow - we have a daughter who is allergic to animal and feather - we realized that they were down stuffed after she had a bit difficulty breathing. We always have antihistamine medicine with us, so there was no problem and we did not even ask for a replacement. Those who have allergies, it is wise to check with the hostel ahead of the time. ||||It was a squeaky clean and amazing hostel that does not deserve the name of "backpacker's hostel". (I have stayed in too many of these in my life. :-)) I would recommend to all the travelers to stay here. K's House has other properties in different areas of Japan and I would definitely try them out. ||||*On the google map, it shows, "Backpackers Hostel K's House...

This place has two things going for it:

Vibe:

It has the elusive vibe.. it has a lot of solo travellers and you will meet good people here. That is always high on the hostel list. Some places can be fancy and chic but have the personality of a cardboard box. This is not that. Stay here if you’re alone in Kyoto.

Service:

Staff are funny, kind, speak good English. Seems the staff at Ks house hostels are all very helpful and polite. You will be greeted good morning and good evening and it’s always a nice touch.

Room:

I stayed in a private room and my lord, it was atrocious. It really is awful. Are you guys serious?? It was $140 AUD, can you guys afford to maybe get a plug in the wall next to the bed, fix the wallpaper and floor tiles and maybe make it feel a bit nicer?

There was no plug for a phone apart from NEXT TO THE DOOR. What even is that!?! Are you trying to be funny? Always great coming back to a funky smelling room after spending the day in 35 degree heat to plug my phone into a wall outlet on the floor. Hilarious.

Bathroom is fine, water pressure is fine, just old and tired.

Mattress was the worst of any in Japan, so another thing to replace..

Considering how Japan is so clean and often well maintained, I feel the condition of this private room is personally offensive. This is extremely poor. Shameful!

You are telling me you aren’t making enough money across all your Hostels to buy a new bedside table and fix your walls?

It is a very old and tired energy in this room. It takes “only a place to sleep” to a literal expression.

Consider that I stayed also solo travelling at the PIECE hostel Sanjo and it was $103 AUD a night. It was extremely clean, comfortable, the best room I’ve ever stayed in, shockingly good for the price, great mattress, really nice air con and to chill in for 20 minutes before you venture out into the heat again. It was perfect, but the place doesn’t have the elusive vibe.

Maybe you don’t give a damn about rooms or quality because you’re a 20 year old American backpacker and just want to smash double lemons all night, that is also fair enough. I’ve had my time with that but you don’t want to go solo travelling and meet nobody!!

These hostels ought to appreciate that their guests are what keeps them busy, not their exhausted and tired buildings and rooms. It is running...

The hostel is well located within Kyoto and has several convenience stores within a 2 minute walk and also has both a subway and the main Kyoto station within a 10-15 minute walk. If you are travelling with lots of luggage you may want to consider a taxi for this journey though.

Our group booked a 4 person private dorm room and a 2 person room with private bathroom. The rooms can be quite cramped if you have a reasonable amount of luggage but are otherwise ok. The Aircon was extremely welcome in the heat and the beds were comfortable. The only main criticism of the double room was that the only electric sockets available were right next to the main door at the other end of the room from the bed which made using anything electrical challenging at times.

The facilities were always clean and well maintained and there are showers and toilets located on each floor however it can get quite busy at peak times.

The staff are very friendly and helpful and most speak excellent English. They were always happy to assist us with anything we needed and even recommended a couple of nearby events during our stay.

The common area is well equipped with seating and all of the usual cooking equipment as well as free tea & coffee. The Laundry room is also available to all and easy to use but be aware that there can be a bit of a wait at...