PIECE HOSTEL KYOTO — Hotel in Kyoto

After staying at youth hostels in many countries, I found my experience at this hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo to be very disappointing. I was initially attracted by the integrated library design, but the actual stay was far from pleasant.Firstly, on my way to the hotel, I was harassed by numerous nightclub promoters, leaving me exhausted. Upon arrival at the front desk, the staff's attitude was cold. When I handed over my passport, thinking it was required for check-in, the staff ignored it and didn't even bother to say that it wasn't necessary, making the situation awkward.Upon checking in, I discovered that the hotel is on the 8th floor, right above a noisy club street with blaring electronic billboards. Inside the hotel, the library café was playing music, which made it impossible to rest quietly. While the café's atmosphere might be pleasant for reading and coffee during the day, it was unbearable when I was tired and just wanted a quiet place to rest. Even after the music was turned off at midnight, the noise insulation in the sleeping area was poor. I could clearly hear other guests turning over, opening plastic bags, plugging in chargers, and walking around. Moreover, there was another bar upstairs adding to the noise.In terms of service, the hotel's design did not separate quiet and active areas, and the lights-out time was fixed at midnight. This was very inconvenient for guests dealing with jet lag, needing to make phone calls late at night, or wanting a late-night snack. Although there was a transparent activity room near the front desk, it was closed after midnight and used by the night staff as a temporary sleeping area, with no place available for making calls or eating.Regarding luggage storage, the hotel only allowed storage until 4 PM after checkout, charging extra for any time beyond that. I was charged an additional 1000 yen when I retrieved my luggage after 6 PM, something I had never encountered before. This policy is particularly inconvenient for guests with evening flights. Additionally, after checking out, I realized I had forgotten my toiletry kit at the hotel. When I inquired the next day, the staff claimed they hadn't seen it, which indicated a lack of concern for guest service. Given it was just one night, and there should be security cameras at the public washbasins, it seemed unreasonable.Overall, my experience at this hotel was far inferior to the youth hostels I stayed at in Osaka and Kyoto. The poor service attitude and environment left me very...

If I hadn’t tried the laundry, I would have easily put 5 stars. This was a great, convenient, modern hostel I would recommend to anyone (just don’t try the laundry).

The rooms are spacious, the beds are huge and comfortable, you can get as many towels (different sizes) as you want, slippers, different pillows for your comfort. You can also make your own delicious filter coffee with freshly grounded beans (amazing). There are all of the amenities you can imagine.

The staff is also super kind, helpful, speaks a great English. Maddy was especially super sweet helping me with various kinds of stuff :)

The location is extremely convenient, especially if you plan a lot of day trips (Nara, Uji, Arashiyama, etc.) because it’s closed to the train station. So to go to any of those places, it will be fast, cheap and easy. It’s not so close to other attractions however… but if you don’t like to walk, it’ll be fine, you can just take the train anywhere.

But the laundry is the worst I’ve ever experienced. Even if it was free I’d be unhappy. My clothes almost smell worst after washing them… You don’t put the detergent yourself, it’s automatic… but I think a little (a lot) more would be nice. I mean I travel a lot, walk, sweat, etc. My clothes actually need product to be washed… The dryer is quite inefficient as well (but that’s a common issue). They don’t have any room to dry your clothes if you don’t want to use the dryers. I wanted to hand wash a clothes because it was very colourful and I didn’t want to ruin my other ones, not possible. So please, just improve your laundry facility and it will be perfect, because this was a huge downside of my stay that gave...

First of all we would like to thank the owner and all the front desk staff who made our stay such a pleasant one! (If you are reading this!) We stayed three night at this Hostel’s private room for two so happily that we have recommended all our friends to look nowhere but this place when they visit Kyoto. We will not repeat every great comments made already by other reviewers. They are absolutely true. What impressed us and most helpful thing is the owner and the front desk staff offer three fluent languages: English, Japanese and Chinese! You cannot get anything like this in any star hotel! The huge map on the wall was so helpful when you ask directions. The front desk staff and the owner there would go extra miles to help you from how to get to the places to the one day bus pass was really thoughtful. Make sure you ask the owner for recommendations of the places to see or things to do. He is so knowledgeable and we were able to see more truly Japanese places in Kyoto than we had planned. We happened to arrive on a Saturday the hotel was hosting a free party with Kyoto pancakes and drinks. It was such a warm welcome feeling, just like some old friends reunion. We found all the guests were courteous and friendly. If you are a couple a private room is a true deal. We will definitely stay there if we ever go...