Hotel M's Est Shijo Karasuma — Hotel in Kyoto

I had a very disappointing stay. I would not stay at this hotel again. First the positives. The location is excellent. It's convenient to Shijo metro station and one block off a major street that most buses stop on. It was also very convenient having a washer and dryer in the hotel (not in the room but at least inside the hotel). That being said, there were way too many negatives to offset those positives. It was very disappointing that the hotel doesn't have even one multi-lingual staff member available. They're certainly not trying very hard to cater to tourists with staff that only speak Japanese. Also, the staff is really unknowledgeable. There's no concierge at all which is understandable for such a small hotel but the front desk staff should have at least basic knowledge of at least the top 5 tourist destinations. Using Google translate (because the staff doesn't speak English), the desk staff told me the Imperial Palace was open for tours. But the Palace's website clearly stated on both the calendar view and written text that the Palace had no tours all week. This isn't some obscure, off-the-beaten bath attraction. The Palace is easily a top 3 tourist destination in Kyoto and the staff's lack of knowledge what is going on there is just not acceptable. The cleaning staff was no better than the front desk staff. For starters, they only clean the room once every three days. That's already cutting corners but I've seen this from other hotels. What blew my mind is the note I received on the third day that my bed was not changed because I had left "personal items" on the bed. That personal item consisted of ONE iPad. They could set the iPad aside for two seconds to make the bed and then put it back. That's just ridiculous. If that's a cleaning staff decision, that's wicked lazy. If that's a management policy and they're just following orders, that is really stupid policy. I also noticed that some coffee I spilt in the bathroom was not cleaned up and there were smudges on the room window so the quality of cleaning was piss pour. The room itself is tiny, even by Japanese standards. But what really made it feel like a jail cell was the smoked glass window. I've never seen this at any hotel but for some weird reason the window glass is deeply frosted so that, even when it's bright outside, the window barely lets in any light. Of course, you can't see anything out of it. So take an already small room and effectively take the window out, and it really feels like a jail cell. I would not recommend this...

I had a very disappointing stay. I would not stay at this hotel again. First the positives. The location is excellent. It's convenient to Shijo metro station and one block off a major street that most buses stop on. It was also very convenient having a washer and dryer in the hotel (not in the room but at least inside the hotel). That being said, there were way too many negatives to offset those positives. It was very disappointing that the hotel doesn't have even one multi-lingual staff member available. They're certainly not trying very hard to cater to tourists with staff that only speak Japanese. Also, the staff is really unknowledgeable. There's no concierge at all which is understandable for such a small hotel but the front desk staff should have at least basic knowledge of at least the top 5 tourist destinations. Using Google translate (because the staff doesn't speak English), the desk staff told me the Imperial Palace was open for tours. But the Palace's website clearly stated on both the calendar view and written text that the Palace had no tours all week. This isn't some obscure, off-the-beaten bath attraction. The Palace is easily a top 3 tourist destination in Kyoto and the staff's lack of knowledge what is going on there is just not acceptable. The cleaning staff was no better than the front desk staff. For starters, they only clean the room once every three days. That's already cutting corners but I've seen this from other hotels. What blew my mind is the note I received on the third day that my bed was not changed because I had left "personal items" on the bed. That personal item consisted of ONE iPad. They could set the iPad aside for two seconds to make the bed and then put it back. That's just ridiculous. If that's a cleaning staff decision, that's wicked lazy. If that's a management policy and they're just following orders, that is really stupid policy. I also noticed that some coffee I spilt in the bathroom was not cleaned up and there were smudges on the room window so the quality of cleaning was piss pour. The room itself is tiny, even by Japanese standards. But what really made it feel like a jail cell was the smoked glass window. I've never seen this at any hotel but for some weird reason the window glass is deeply frosted so that, even when it's bright outside, the window barely lets in any light. Of course, you can't see anything out of it. So take an already small room and effectively take the window out, and it really feels like a jail cell. I would not recommend this...

I stayed here for 5 nights in late September. The location is great as it’s close to the local subway (2 stops from the Kyoto station). There’s plenty of cafes around for breakfast and just 1 minute away from the convenience store on the Main Street.||I arrived to the hotel quite early on the day as I had a red eye flight. I managed to have lunch at 11am at the Kyoto station and head to the hotel by noon. I took a cab from the Kyoto station as I didn’t want to bother to look for it and my body is tired and aching after the flight.||Cab driver dropped me off on the Main Street and I just walked 1 minute and arrived at the hotel. The fare was around 1000 yen. ||I was greeted by the staff and they will ask for your check-in number which was given to you via an email once you completed and paid your booking online.||The staff said I’m too early as their check-in starts at 3pm and my room was not ready. So I sat on the lounge and waited. Within 30 minutes, the staff said it is ready. He was kind enough to allow me to go up slightly ahead of the check in time. (I’m quite grateful for it as I fell into deep sleep as soon as I go into the room).||The room itself is on the small size, it’s impossible to lay down a 28 inches luggage flat on the floor. They replenish the complimentary bottle water everyday. They have DHC Amenities and smells quite neutral and nice.||Worth mentioning about the laundry. They only have 2 washing machines and 2 dryers. So there’s constantly a queue for washing. I would suggest washing at midnight if you are a night owl. ||I would definitely stay here again! Friendly service and...