CANDEO HOTELS Kyoto Karasuma Rokkaku — Hotel in Kyoto

I stayed in Candeo Hotels Kyoto for three nights, and I had a lovely time. The hotel was in a great location, and made me feel comfortable throughout my stay.

The hotel looks very nice; with an old townhouse converted into the reception, dining, and lounge space. The hotel rooms are in a nearby block that is accessed through the back of the townhouse via a courtyard. There is a lift to access the upper floors. The hotel has a utility room with coin-operated washer and dryer machines, and gender-seperated spa on the 2nd and 4th floor. The hotel has two common areas called The Lounge and The Library. Both are accessible by stairs, and are shoes-off with tatami mats. The lounge is a seating area, and it's where breakfast is served in the morning. There is a small bar where a self-serve wine pouring machine can be used for a price. There are also glasses for any drinks. The Library has bean bags and free tea and coffee served 24/7. Downstairs is the main floor of the original house, and there is a shop where you can buy things like snacks and drinks including beer.

The staff were friendly and helpful. All the staff I spoke to could speak English, which made communicating easy. They would always greet me from the reception whenever I walked in or out of the hotel. If I woke up late for my breakfast reservation, they would call my room and offer a later time. On the day of checkout, they were more than happy to ship my luggage to my next hotel, and filled in the forms for me. They really went above and beyond.

I booked an Executive King Room. The room was decorated in the usual modern and contemporary style of Candeo hotels. The room felt warm and inviting. The room was made up of a bedroom living area with a sink, a toilet room, and a shower room. The room had an extra large double bed, a nice sofa and a flat screen TV with the ability to connect to local TV and streaming services like Netflix. The room was nice, though it could use some TLC as there was some wear and tear, including a towel rack that was falling out from its fitting. The room has a mini-fridge, though it was a pain to use as it would power down when you left the room, meaning nothing would be cold when you returned to your room.

My room came with breakfast, which was served in the lounge area upstairs. Generally this space wouldn't be accessible for anyone in a wheelchair, as there is only a staircase and the staircase is very narrow. I'm not sure if the hotel offers an alternative place to eat for customers with disabilities, so I would inquire ahead. The hotel offers a Japanese or Western-style breakfast, which must be ordered at the reception before. Both breakfasts are served like a bento. Personally, I wasn't a big fan of the breakfast, but this was more of a personal taste issue. If you like Japanese-style breakfasts, you'll love this. There is also a room in the lounge where you can get free tea, coffee, juices, and other drinks.

The men's spa is on the fourth floor, and follows the standard Japanese protocol. There is a small changing area with lockers, a water fountain, a toilet, sink, and amenities. Inside the spa is two large hot baths; one enclosed and another semi-open air, with a small cold bath. Near the entrance is also a small sauna. There are also rows of showers with stools, buckets, and toiletries. I usually went in the evening, and it was dark and usually quiet.

The hotel was in a nice location in downtown Kyoto, and gave me easy access to so many nearby attractions. The nearest subway was a short walk away. There were plenty of places to eat and drink nearby too.

Overall, the hotel was in a great location, the hotel was modern yet traditional, and the spa was great. The service here is amazing, and the staff did such a wonderful job. If you're looking for a hotel in downtown Kyoto,...

We are currently staying here on our fourth night as this review is written and posted. We have one more night to go.

Good points [ ] Near family mart, Holly’s coffee. A stone’s throw from Fresco supermarket. Super convenient. Walking on foot to the main Teramachi street is about 15-20 mins depending on walking speed [ ] Bath tub is big and water fills up quite fast and is very hot. [ ] Love that the room’s shower head has a button to stop water flow rather than just turning the tap on and off. Convenient for bathing halfway and switching the water flow off and on.

Bad points [ ] The onsen is horribly small. Arguably the worse onsen in all my 5 japan trips this year. And I’ve been to many onsens and stayed at hotels with onsebns. The locker space eats into the sink/hair dryer space so much so that it gets super squeeze and crowded during peak hours. Even non-peak hours like 4-6 people using the lockers will get uncomfortable - imagine elbowing another naked person while getting changed. It’s that cramped. Refer to my pictures to see. I tried the onsen on my first night and decided to bathe and soak in my own room for the rest of my 5 nights here. [ ] No dustbin in the bathroom. Only 1 dustbin and it’s so small. Some hotels provide a general dustbin and a small one in the bathroom. But no there is none here. I have to keep walking out of the bathroom to throw my bath rubbish. I actually called to ask and they said all toilets don’t have dustbin. It’s so troublesome to remove make up and have cosmetic waste or floss to throw and u have nowhere to throw except to walk out of the room to throw. We booked the bigger room and we had a long walkway from the toilet to our dustbin. It was crazy. And the bin is so small it gets full so fast. [ ] No tissue paper in the toilet except for toilet roll. No facial tissue. Very bad. [ ] Reception staff that is on call in the evenings don’t speak English at all. Very bad. Guy at reception who checked us in spoke English but he looked so uninterested and repeated the check in information like a script, talking super fast. We had to stop him to repeat some items. [ ] Place is not luggage friendly. Lots of stones and have to slightly lift your luggage up while rolling it in. Guess it’s in keeping in line with the whole ryokan Matchiya style with no ramps and no easy access to bring...

I booked the top-tier King Room with Private Spa for several nights, spending over ¥140,000. While the room was fine, the service I received was frankly unacceptable and completely out of line with what one would expect from a hotel in this price range.

In the lounge area — which requires you to remove your shoes — I respectfully followed that rule and took mine off. Not being familiar with every nuance of Japanese custom, I placed them on the wooden step near the tatami, thinking it was appropriate. It wasn’t on the carpet or inside the space — it caused no harm whatsoever.

Instead of handling this minor misunderstanding with basic professionalism, a front desk employee decided it was appropriate to walk all the way over, stand over me, and belittle me in front of other guests by “correcting” me in a tone that felt patronizing — as if I was a misbehaving child. Not only was this unnecessary and humiliating, it was poor problem-solving and completely inappropriate customer service.

I’m a tourist. It’s only logical that I might make a small mistake. This is not a shrine or a private home — it’s a hotel, and I am a paying guest. If a Japanese guest had done something minor like this, I highly doubt they would’ve been publicly scolded in the same way.

There’s a big difference between upholding tradition and weaponizing it to put someone in their place. If your staff lacks the basic empathy and professionalism to guide international guests with respect, they have no business working in hospitality. This experience was not only embarrassing, it ruined the atmosphere of my stay. I won’t be returning, and I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to any international travelers looking for...