HOTEL VISCHIO KYOTO by GRANVIA — Hotel in Kyoto

We had a very unpleasant experience during our stay, caused by one of your front desk receptionists. It completely ruined our honeymoon mood in Kyoto and left us with a bad impression of this hotel!

We checked in around 10 PM and found that the room’s air conditioning was not functioning. Despite waiting for about 25 minutes, there was no airflow or cool air, even though the temperature was set at 20°C, fan at level 3, and mode on “Cool.” We were exhausted and just wanted to rest, but the A/C was clearly not working.

We went to the front desk to request a room change. The receptionist said she needed to check the room first, which we found reasonable. My husband went back with her to show the issue. We expected that she would bring along a technician or housekeeping staff, but she came alone.

After checking, she claimed that the A/C was working simply because there was sound from the ventilation panel (which is above the entrance door), even though there was no airflow at all from the air vents. Her first response was, “The aircon is working. All the rooms are the same, we have no room to change.”

Back at the front desk, she told us, “There is no room to change.” Her facial expression were very rude, and she offered no solution or apology. We were not asking for anything free — we simply needed a working room to rest after a long and tiring day.

When we insisted on changing rooms, she went in and out of the back office, typing on her computer very slowly and ignoring us for a while. When we asked if the room change could be arranged soon, she replied that we needed to wait over 10 minutes for the A/C to start working properly. We explained that we had already waited more than 25 minutes, and only then did she admit there was one last room available. This means she initially lied to us.

P/S: The air conditioning in your hotel corridor and lobby was even stronger than in both rooms we stayed in. It was so warm that we didn’t even need a blanket.

Unfortunately, we did not manage to catch the receptionist’s name (she was on night shift on 14 Oct 2025, slightly chubby, not wearing glasses). From start to end, she never apologized. We have already given feedback to your hotel manager, Mr. Gion Suzuki, and sincerely hope that this staff member can be educated on proper customer service. Although we will not be returning to this hotel or any of your branches, we hope that you will take this matter seriously and improve your staff training and...

Hotel Vischio Kyoto is located close to Kyoto train station. If you travel by the Haruka train from Kansai airport, you will arrive at platform 30. As you exit from the train, look out for the West exit then proceed to Hachijo West exit, this route (rather than Hachijo East exit) is preferred as it has access to a lift and escalator which is helpful for travellers with luggage. If you are using the lift, turn left when you reach the ground level, walk a short distance along the covered path to the first traffic light and you will see Kyoto AVANTI (a brown building) diagonally opposite. Cross the traffic light and walk a short distance along the lane parallel to the side of Avanti (Karasuma-dori St) and you will arrive at Hotel Vischio Kyoto.

The receptionists were polite, helpful and very accommodating. We were allowed to leave our luggage in their baggage room, securely locked, before check-in. This hotel has many room types to suit various travellers' needs and budget, with room areas ranging from  21sqm to 43 sqm. We booked 2 superior rooms and were assigned rooms next to each other. The rooms fitted with Simmons mattress and comfortable pillows were spacious and thoughtfully laid out with separate areas for the bath/ standing shower and toilet.

Breakfast is served in a pleasant dining area with a view of a small Japanese garden at the far end. It has a generous spread of delectable western and Japanese dishes with quality ingredients sourced from established suppliers.  There is a wide variety of juices, quality Ronnefeldt tea (which is usually served in premium hotels in Europe) and coffee.  An assortment of bread, pastries, cheeses, including hot dishes like vol-au-vent served in delicious creamy chicken gravy as well as succulent slices of wagyu beef grilled on the spot by a chef are available. There are fresh fruits, fruit parfaits and panna cotta which you can top up with soft serve ice cream of your choice - vanilla, matcha and vanilla/matcha flavours.

Their simple but elegant lounge comes with self service machines that offers a variety of beverages, including cold green tea and this is very much appreciated by guests. They also have a public bath which we did not visit.

We enjoyed our week long stay in Hotel Vischio Kyoto and are very pleased with every level of their impeccable service. We will return when we travel to Kyoto in the...

We booked a room for 4 people (2 adults, 2 kids aged 4 and 6) on booking.com. The hotel there suggested a Triple Room was appropriate. We assumed based on a Q&A section about the hotel on booking.com that their single beds were 120cm wide (info provided by hotel itself, not booking.com…). This is also what the beds looked like on the photos of the room. ||When arriving in the room, we found out that the beds are much narrower. Every toddler mattress I’ve ever seen is at least 60cm wide so you cannot possibly assume children will sleep well if you put two of them onto a mattress that’s not even 120cm wide (looked like 90cm to us). They’ll just end up kicking each other all night long. ||We went to reception to complain as the beds looked much wider on the photos than they are in reality, but the hotel completely refused to acknowledge our issue. They asked us to pay extra for an upgrade despite confirming they would have a room available that would solve our issue. It’s been a terribly frustrating discussion over 30 minutes late in the evening (we were all tired after a day of travel) and now we have slept horribly the first night as the kids were awake multiple times during the night - as was to be expected. ||Nowhere have I seen such rude front office staff in a hotel before. Completely uninterested in our well-being. I’ve filed a complaint with Booking.com but I really think it would have been up to the hotel to make it right. They’re selling a room as appropriate for 4 people when it’s only suitable for 3. We paid for 4 and got a room for 3 - really upset about this ruining our stay in Kyoto. ||One more comment: the triple room is also so tiny that there is absolutely no room to put your luggage anywhere. Unless you travel with 3 people sharing one suitcase (how likely is that…) you’ll have everything crammed on...