MIMARU SUITES KYOTO SHIJO — Hotel in Kyoto

I had the pleasure of staying at Mimaru Suites Kyoto Shijo (hereafter abbreviated as MSKS) recently with my family for 4 nights. Including MSKS I have stayed at 4 different Mimaru properties and I can say so far MSKS is the best Mimaru property I have stayed at. As with my usual review format, below is my list of pros and cons:||PROS:|1. Excellent location: MSKS is well-located in a quiet alleyway with its own roundabout driveway. There are three convenience stores within immediate walking distance: a Lawsons, a 7-11, and a FamilyMart. In addition, you can actually walk to JR Kyoto Station. We walked from JR Kyoto Station to MSKS in about 20-25 minutes. It’s not a short walk, but it’s great there is that option for those who don’t mind walking.||2. Clean rooms: rooms were clean and well-kept. There were no odd odors in the room. Appliances - namely the microwave, fridge, and washer-dryer - all worked well. MSKS room was among the cleanest out of all the Mimaru properties I have stayed at. The housekeeping team at MSKS deserves recognition. ||3. Professional front-desk staff: emails prior to our stay were responded to promptly by front-desk staff. A staff member named Mac checked us in and was very professional. I also want to recognize staff member Manami who kindly helped us with requests prior to check-in. ||4. Nice lobby with plenty of seating: I appreciated the relatively more spacious lobby with plenty of seating areas for guests. ||5. Complimentary drinks in the lobby: a water machine (with cold and room temperature water), ice dispenser, and (during certain time ranges) beer and sake were provided in the lobby for guests. I especially appreciated the water machine with cold water and the ice dispenser in Kyoto summer weather!||CONS (minor, not deal breakers, but have to keep things objective and balanced!):||1. Need better humidity control in the rooms: this seems to be a problem at all the Mimaru properties I have stayed at. Rooms are quite humid, perhaps too humid especially in the summer. Yes - you can keep the AC on or use the “drying” function on ACs - but as the AC units are the wall-mounted ones they are not terribly efficient at lowering humidity levels in the room. Also sometimes you just want to dehumidify without making the room colder. The result of high humidity levels is that towels often would not dry fully overnight. Rooms come with a humidifier but the last thing one needs in Kyoto summer is to add water to the air. I wonder why Mimaru does not invest in some de-humidifiers so guests who request them can be provided with them during the stay. ||2. No tables in bedrooms: this also seems to be an issue at all Mimaru properties I have stayed at. There are no tables in the bedrooms. Even a simple folding table would be appreciated. Without a table, there were only two places to put stuff in the bedrooms such as a glass of water: on the bed (not a good option!) or the dresser in the closet (odd). ||3. No hotel staff available from 22:00-07:00: again, an issue not unique to MSKS but rather all Mimaru properties. There is no hotel staff available between the hours of 22:00-07:00. The only person available to assist is a security guard who as I understand is not Mimaru staff but rather contracted via an outside security company. Given what Mimaru generally charges for its rooms (room rates are expensive), it seems to me they could invest in having 24-hour front-desk hotel staff, as most hotels do.||All in all, I do recommend MSKS and would stay...

(I've written a novel! Sorry! Hopefully this is helpful for other uptight travellers like myself 😅)||We (1 mom, 2 teens) stayed here for 7 days in August. The original suite we booked (2 bdrm + tatami room) had only one window in the whole suite that looked at anything other than a dark brick wall. I played my 'princess' card and asked if there were other suites available that we could switch into where there were windows that actually looked out. Thankfully, there was a suite available (3 brdrm) and the hotel let us switch. There were still only two sets of windows in the new unit (one in one of the bedrooms and one in the common area, but both had excellent views) and I was beyond grateful for this switch. Windowless bedrooms are not legal in Canada so this is why I'm a bit surprised at this arrangement.||The suite itself is simple but also comfortable. There were separate air conditioning units in the common area and in each of the bedrooms. The washer/dryer is a single unit combo machine that performs both functions. I ran a full load and it took 3.5 hr to complete. We ended up just using the washer function and I hung up the clothes to dry. If you just run the washer it takes 25-40 min depending on the size of the load. I very much appreciated that laundry detergent was included! ||We usually had breakfast and one other meal in the suite. The one chef knife was sharp and functional. The 2 pots and 1 frypan were sufficient for simple meals (stir-fries, pasta, omelettes, etc). The dishes, cutlery, etc were all great. The cooktop is induction (maybe?) and comes with clear instructions. There are other small appliances that you can borrow from the front desk.||We explored a few different grocery stores in the vicinity that were within a 10-15 minute walk. The cheapest one (but still very good) was the one recommended by the front desk staff (Fresco-Gojo). In a pinch you can also get decent ready-made food from any of the nearby convenience stores (7-11, Family Mart, & Lawson are all very close). The Fresco had a huge assortment of to-go items (bento boxes, sushi, desserts, etc).||As others have said, the hotel is a short walk to the Shijo subway station. I found this very convenient for work stuff that I had to do almost daily and the teens could easily jump on the subway and explore on their own. We also walked back from 'downtown' and Nishiki Market in the evening several times and always felt safe. ||All in all it was a pleasant stay and I would stay here again if the opportunity arose. Bonus points if you've...

My family and I (2 teenagers and husband) traveled for 3 weeks, visiting Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. We stayed at 4 different Mimaru properties (Tokyo Station East, Tokyo Asakus Station, Osaka Namba North) and Kyoto Shijo was hands down our favourite property! Here's why we loved it.||Location: this property is nestled in a back street, beside a small shrine, just off a main street. 7/11 is just around the corner and there are many, many dining options in the area. It's also an easy 10 mins. walk to Nishi Market and 20-30 mins walk to Gion. It is the perfect blend of quiet, convenience and minutes away from shopping and dining.||Room/Staff/Little Touches: We had a 2 bedroom suite which was spacious and clean, plenty of room for a family of 4. Bonus, we also had in-room laundry which was very handy! The staff, much like all other Mimarus, are incredibly friendly, helpful, speak English and full of genuine hospitality. However, it was the little touches that made this a stand out property. Kyoto Shijo offered a daily Happy Hour between 5-8pm with beer, wine and sake for their guests. The front lobby was a very happenin' place during Happy Hour :) The property also had binders full of suggestions on where to eat, what to see, tours, handy services - they made getting information easy. They also provided a helpful binder in the room with similar information. I found myself referring to it again and again. It was very helpful!||All in, this hotel provided a fantastic experience. I would stay here again, no...