Hotel Traveltine Kyoto Kiyamachi — Hotel in Kyoto

I arrived at this hotel from Osaka early in the morning. Under no circumstances was I expecting to be able to check into the hotel early, but I thought I would ask. No! Check-in is at 3! Okay. I guess the hotel may have been busy the night before and there were no clean rooms available yet.

I went to an appointment at 9.30am and returned back to the hotel later towards lunchtime. I again enquired if I could pay extra to be able to get into my room earlier to get some sleep. No! Check-in is at 3.

I went and sat by the river for over an hour, waiting for this seemingly very important 3pm check-in time. After almost falling asleep I decided I would go wait in the hotel lobby until 3pm arrived.

I sat on the chairs in front of the check-in desk where the staff could clearly see I was waiting. Exhausted, I sat there waiting patiently for 3pm.

At 2.20pm (approximately) a male and female customer walk out of the lift towards the staff. They immediately greet them and quickly arrange their room keys and provide them with all the information they needed.

At this point, I became extremely frustrated. Why was I required to wait until 3pm, but other customers could check in whenever they want!??!?

I am DISGUSTED AND APPALLED by the way the staff handled my reservation. Am I not important enough to receive the same service as a male and female customer who walk in and are IMMEDIATELY checked in? Is my yen not the same colour?

I will never stay at this hotel or any others owned by the brand in the future.

(Reply to managers comment)

As you can see, the hotel could not even be bothered to read or understand my complaint. This is by far the worst hotel for service that I have experienced in my life. If you enjoy paying top dollar for zero service, then this is the place for you....

Hotel was situated in a very convenient and safe location. We could easily catch busses or walk to the areas in Kyoto we wanted to visit. It was also located near the canal/river, which offered a lovely walk. The double room was spacious for Japanese standards with a small seating area, a small table, and a chair. The room was equipped with hangers for coats, hot water maker, tea pot, mini fridge, glasses, hair dryer, robes, slippers, and some toiletries like toothbrush and cotton swabs. The shower comes equipped with a large bottle of hand/face soap, shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner, which I love since it's so much more environmentally friendly than offering tiny bottles of everything with a high surface-to-volume ratio. The staff members were very friendly and helpful. Breakfast is available from about 6:30 to 9:00 and includes coffee, tea, orange juice, and pastries. The coffee machine does issue espressos, which were good, although there are no milk alternatives. The pastries are not vegan or gluten free, so plan accordingly if you have either of those dietary restrictions. Washer and dryer are available to wash your clothes. People in Japan seem to be very honest, but the equipment is set up to enter a code so only those with the code can open the machine, so you don't have to worry about sitting in the laundry room while your clothes wash to make sure they...

The location of this hotel is wonderful. Central, a short walk to the river and metro lines, and easy to walk to the market. The staff was nice, but there were a few problems and/or things that travelers should know. ||First of all, if you can avoid doing laundry here, do. It was a necessity for us, and their wash/dry cycle leaves your clothes wet. Then, after putting our clothes in for an additional 2 hours on dry (selected by the staff helping us), the clothes were still drenched. They ended up using a different dryer to complete the job (which we appreciated), but even when we got them back, the clothes smelled like there was never any soap added (supposed to be automatic). This was problematic. ||Additionally, the room was supposed to be cleaned daily by noon. The first day, the room was not cleaned at all. The second day, the room wasn't cleaned until about 6pm. So to get clean towels, etc., we basically had to ask and/or take some from the cart we found. ||We made it all work, and loved the city. However, the hotel itself, outside of the fantastic location was not...