Hotel M's Plus Shijō Ōmiya — Hotel in Kyoto

This is what happens when clean design, Japanese efficiency, and actual value-for-money hook up and make a baby. This gem was our Kyoto home base for nearly a week—and honestly, it delivered. Hard.

Location: Smack beside a train line and a major bus depot. Translation: you’re mobile. Don’t like transit? Rent an e-bike or embrace your inner hermit. But if you’re actually here to see Kyoto, this is strategic territory.

Room: Spacious by Japanese standards—which means you can open your suitcase and walk around it. Minimalist. Clean. Functional. Beds are firm (welcome to Japan), but after 20,000 steps a day, your spine will thank you. Shower and tub combo? A+ after hours of temple-hopping.

Lobby gives off “Instagram startup meets zen dojo” vibes. The check-in staff are straight-up pros. Friendly, helpful, fluent English. Honestly, they speak better English than 80% of tourists we ran into.

The shared kitchen area is low-key brilliant. Microwaves, hot/cold water, and coffee for 100 yen. Yes—100 yen. That’s less than a bottle of Pocari Sweat, and ten times more effective. Great place to eat your konbini haul or regroup before round two of sightseeing.

You’re steps away from restaurants where locals actually eat. Translation: flavor bombs without the tourist markup. Nakau for quick comfort food. Non-chan for character. Coco Curry for when you want to feel something. Head closer to the river, and prices double. Stay here and eat like you’ve been here before.

M’s PLUS is the functional luxury play in Kyoto. It won’t fluff your pillow, but it’ll make damn sure you sleep well, move efficiently, and spend money where it counts—on culture, not square footage. Would 100% stay again.

Score: 4.7 out of 5 firm pillows Strategic. Clean. No fluff....

Stayed in in December with my wife. The rooms are tinier than others I’ve stayed at in japan, but it is reasonable given the price. The window is frosted and very limited on how much can be opened. I have seen something like this at other hotels, but given how tiny the room is, it makes it a bit uncomfortable that there is limited natural light as well. The overall design is modern and it’s very clean. The lobby and other common areas are spacious and very comfortable to be in. The price includes breakfast, which is a bakery with an assortment of pastries, coffee, juices and milk. It’s pretty busy in the mornings, it is pretty good as long as you don’t mind sharing tables with other patrons of the hotel. The staff are friendly and understands English. You can buy the all day bus passes from the hotel front desk. The location is very good. It is close to a lot of bus stops and train stations. There is even a train directly to arashiyama across to street.

Pro: price is good, good atmosphere, staff are friendly and understands English, pastry breakfast is good, location.

Cons: tiny rooms, frosted windows.

P.S. this applies to all hotels. Don’t forget that there is an accommodation tax that is paid on top of the fee you paid. You need to pay it when you check in.

PPS. For food. There are some restaurant just around the corner, east of the hotel. There is a gyoza restaurant just around the corner that’s opened really late, and a yakitori izakya also around the corner that charge 298¥ for every item on the menu including drinks. there is also a ramen restaurant just a couple steps west of the hotel. If these type of food are not your taste, there is a...

This modern hotel is close to Shijo Omiya for the metro (less than 5 minutes away) and is centrally located with lots of bus stops within walking distance to many of Kyotos attractions. There are also lots of restaurants in the immediate area. ||The room was fantastic value for money and whilst small, was practical, clean and modern and nicely configured. There was a safe, a fridge and kettle and shelves for personal items and clothing. There was also an AC unit and free toiletries - the body wash was really nice. The hotel provide bottled water each day. ||The staff were really helpful and some of the things we really liked about this hotel were that they have a coin laundry on the second floor which was reasonably priced and they also had an ice machine. On the ground floor is a communal kitchen where you can get water and there was also a microwave if you wanted to heat up food. They also offer coffee for 100 yen which was inexpensive and saved us going out. ||At reception you can buy a one day bus ticket for 700 yen which was a bargain and we travelled by bus or on foot to the many incredible temples and attractions. The staff will also provide a bus map which was helpful in helping us get around. ||Across the road is a family mart and on the same side of the road is a seven eleven if you want to pick up snacks and inexpensive food. We got some great sandwiches here for lunch and nice salads for lunch. They have Japanese as well as more European options. ||We stayed here for 5 nights and had a really comfortable and enjoyable stay. We would absolutely...