Gion Kyoto Guesthouse HANAKANZASHI（花かんざし） — Hotel in Kyoto

Stayed for 3 nights in the dorm room at the end of December. All in all, I wasn't very happy with the shared sleeping facilities, but I liked the place and the staff were helpful, despite some language barriers.||||LOCATION: The location is a very nice and residential spot in the old town, it's pretty quiet but easy to find. It's about 5 minutes walk to the nearest metro stop. Around the metro station you have convenience stores and restaurants, we highly recommend the yakitori place between 7/11 and the metro, they had menus in English and the food was delicious (about 4500yen for two people with drinks). Bus access isn't that good as the nearest bus stop doesn't connect to anywhere useful, but you can walk to Kiyomizu and Gion areas. We bought a daily bus pass and used it to get around town for a day (golden and silver temple for example), it was 500 yen and if you use the bus more than twice a day it's worth it. There's a direct train to Fushimi Inari but not to Kyoto JR, but it's easy enough to change trains to get there, just a pain that it's an extra cost because you change train/company.||||GUESHOUSE: They basically didn't speak any English but there wasn't really an issue since I speak some Japanese. There are three floors I believe, the ground floor is a common area with a small restaurant (public, people from outside can come in), a very small seating area (max 3 people) with a PC and a vending machine and the check-in area. The upper floors are the rooms. ||||*TIP: There a very few maps and tourist details available around the front desk, maybe something for the place to improve on. I recommend you go to the tourist office in JR Kyoto station and get all the info you need there, they speak English and have the daily bus and train passes for sale as well.||||ROOM: We stayed in the female dorm room and I wasn't too impressed. It says it's separated from the mixed dorm but actually it's all the same room with a paper wall that doesn't reach the ceiling, so light and sound is shared by 14 people. I found it hard to sleep with the noise from snoring and what not. Also the air conditioning remote control was always missing the it was like a sauna... Maybe I just felt that way because I was in the top bunks though. Also there's a password lock on the female dorm door, but it was never actually locked. The bunks are big and have a curtain for privacy, so that was nice, but it was full of dust and hair in the corners, not sure how they clean that stuff. Would have appreciated clean sheets or at least a pillow cover to put over that toweling fabric. There is a very small locker to put in valuables by the dorm entrance. It's big enough for passports and probably ipad mini, but not for anything else, so basically I just hoped for the best and left my laptop and other stuff in the dorm area: nothing was taken :) ||||SHARED AREA: The toilets were clean nice and clean. There were only two showers so we had to wait for our turn, solved this by having a shower at night and avoiding the morning rush. We used the public area every night, they don't sell soft drinks in the restaurant, but they had no problem with me bringing my own and not consuming any of their stuff. Some other guests were also there and we got chatting a bit and that was nice, but this isn't common as most people just stay in their room or bunk. I actually ordered pizza delivery on the last night and not only did staff help me to solve a problem over the phone with an out of stock item, I was also able to eat it in their restaurant!!! So that was really nice of them to allow outside food.||||Checkout was the fastest ever: "I'd like to check out" -"Ok, thank you" and that was it. Not even sure if they...

I stayed for a couple of nights (October 2015) in the male dorm on the first floor. The bunks were the best I have ever stayed in, spotlessly clean, working individual power sockets and reading light, I felt very at home. There's probably about 10-14 bunks in the male dorm, the females I don't know. Both male and female dorms basically in same room just with a thin partition wall (does not reach ceiling) and password access door. I think there were another 2-3 people in my dorm, very very quiet. Great sleep.||||There's a small individual locker in the room you can use but passport and a few small electronics is all it will hold, will not take a day pack of anything like that ( or a laptop). I left some of my stuff in my bunk, no issues. Also a fridge at bottom of dorm you can use.||||The only person on reception when I arrived was an elderly Japanese lady, we couldn't communicate a word but she was very nice and I got a good feel on arrival. Plan on getting any travel/transport/sightseeing info elsewhere if you don't speak Japanese (main train station had an unbelievably comprehensive tourist information). ||||The common area had a couple of washing machines and dryers - coin operated. The common area had a computer or two but it is a tiny area 4-5 people and its bunged. I ended up sitting in the little restaurant bit just of reception as common room is a bit naff. I wasn't sure if you were meant to or not but it was only me and the elderly lady so not exactly busy. No one seemed to mind.||||There are two very, very nice showers on 1st floor, for me I had access whenever I wanted due to low occupancy but with a full dorm you may wait a bit.||||I stayed mid week and wanted to extend my stay into the weekend, there was no chance, booked solid. The lack of people mid week had given me a false sense of security. Seems it gets busy busy in weekends, not a shocker I guess. If you think you'll stay into/over the weekend book it up as soon as. ||||There are good areas for food within walking distance, a metro station 5-10 mins walk away (just check route, most likely you will need to change). The closest bus stop I could get coming out of town was on the other side of the river, then it's a nice 10-15 minute walk. I liked this as it gave me the opportunity to grab a beer in some of the more lively hostels nearby on the way back in the evening.||||I would stay here...

This hostel is located in the prettiest area of Kyoto! |The small streets with almost no cars, every house with delicate wooden doors and windows, an occasional geisha passing through, the lanterns lit at night.. It is wonderful! ||There are convenience stores and restaurants a 5 min walk away and the Gion area for bars and restaurants is also walkable from here, 15 min. |The riverside is also beautiful to walk at sunset. ||The staff doesnt speak english but we understood each other. |There is a kitchen +common area (where you can eat) +washing machine you can use. ||The beds in the dorms are really big and spacious, with a curtain each for your privacy, plus power plug and night light. ||Wifi works better at the Ground floor, although it also works at the dorm. ||There is just one toilet and 2 showers for the 14bed dorm (7 male+7female), but they were always free when i wanted to go. |There is also a small fridge in the dorm and lockers. As said in other reviews, it is the same room for the female and male dorms, there is just a paper-thin wall and a door with lock in the middle separating them. ||We had a very pleasant stay, maybe we...