Friends Kyo — Hotel in Kyoto

We loved this place. My family of four stayed here for a few nights while in Kyoto. It was perfect - from the people working there (incredibly nice, helpful, gracious) to the location (excellent location in gion, near river, restaurants, shops, bus stops), to the room (clean, comfortable, quiet, spacious). A few extraordinary points to note. Stanley was fabulous - a wealth of information, character, resources. We ended up in a jam when a typhoon disrupted our plans and he was super helpful. It was so fun talking with him - we could have almost sat inside all day. The rooftop deck is a feature that should not be underestimated. We spent one night with a "take-in" dinner on the roof watching an incredible sunset over the city. It was a peaceful, beautiful vantage point that was one of the highlights of our stay. Finally, the sense of community was excellent. One of the reasons we travel is to meet others so we like to stay where we will meet interesting, welcoming people. This was it - the common area for breakfast is a little international exchange for like-minded travelers. A wonderful opportunity to engage in conversations to hang out and just chat. One other note - for families, this is particularly perfect. We were traveling with our two teenaged children. The common area allowed us to wake up early and enjoy the common area conversation, coffee, and breakfast (complimentary) while our children slept upstairs. We highly recommend this place and will stay again when we...

Awesome location, convenient for walking around gion as well as to the subway.

The space was really really clean and comfortable, bathrooms were well stocked and spotless. I stayed in the female dorm and the bathroom was shared between 5, but the shower and toilet have their own separate lockable doors. There are also extra showers on each floor and a washroom in the lobby. I’m not sure if the mixed rooms are the same but the female room also a space for changing/applying makeup.

I stayed here for ~5 days in June and found it pretty quiet (although most beds were filled in my room for most nights). Slept comfortably through the night, no earplugs needed (although they provide some for free).

Breakfast is light, toast and coffee and such. Fine with me since there’s so much food to try in Japan. They also leave some complementary small snacks in the common area which is a nice touch. You don’t need to wash your own dishes, but afaik you also can’t use the kitchen so may be pro/con depending on person.

Atmosphere was a bit quiet. For solo travelers, may be more difficult to make friends than in other hostels. Staff was nice but often don’t speak much english.

Hostel has a big wall with lots of tourist info.

Overall amazing stay...

When we arrived in Kyoto, we just wanted to go to some hostel. So my friend googled and found the Friends Hostel. It had the best ratings and was in the part of town where we wanted to stay. But when we arrived, the hostel was closed. But after a short time Stan, the owner, appeared and explained to us why. He was renovating and wanted to paint the floors. So he didn't accept any guests, but if we were already here, we could stay of course. He wouldn't have any staff and we would be the only guests, apart from a German girl who helped him with the renovation.||||He immediately invited us on a road trip the next day, showed us everything there was to see in Kyoto and made our stay with his unique way something very special. Stan is smart, incredibly warm-hearted, has a great family, a great hostel and is damn funny! Just all the self-printed signs in the hostel make you smile every day. Stan even let friends of ours come, so that we filled a whole room despite the closure. And I could tell so many more positive things about him and the Friends Hostel. ||||But actually I just wanted to say thank you! ||I hope we will see Stan...