Sakura Terrace The Atelier — Hotel in Kyoto

I loved the atmosphere of this hotel. Unfortunately, our bodies were sore the first night we slept here. Bed was not comfortable, thinking it was the mattress. Soundproofing may be needed for rooms as well. Our room was small but enough for 2 persons to move around. Basic amenities were included as indicated on their website and other travel stuff you can borrow from the 1st floor (i.e, alarm clock, electric kettle, throw pillows). They also have a safety box in the 1st floor though we never used it.

Public bath was clean. If you do not mind being naked with other people of the same gender, then I recommend this hotel. The women's bath has a passcode to enter which the staff will provide you as you check in. There were 4 shower rooms with glass doors, lockers with keys to keep your belongings safe, 1 toilet and 4 showers in the public bath with stools. Shampoo, conditioner, and body soap are provided in each shower stall. Don't forget to bring the towel from your room. Public bath bags are provided in rooms, too, so you can bring your clothes, etc. when you take a bath/shower. In the women's public bathroom, there were hair ties, combs, q-tips, and hair blow driers provided.

There was a miscommunication and misinformation about sending out luggage from the hotel. Prior to me and my husband arriving in Japan, I already asked the hotel staff via email if they can send our luggage from the hotel to Haneda Airport when we check out. They said in the email that it takes 2 days to arrive at the airport and that it is impossible to receive on the same day (which we thought was ok, we could just send it 2 days prior our departure from Japan). Fast forward, we receive our luggage in the hotel from Tokyo, my husband and I quickly repacked our luggage so we can send it to Haneda airport 2 days before our Japan departure. The staff who I didn't get to check the name told us that they DO NOT SEND luggage to Haneda Airport. He told us "No service." I was extremely surprised to this information. I told the staff that on the email I received from the hotel, it needs 2 days to arrive at the airport, meaning that they CAN SEND luggage to the airport for us. Without further arguing, me and my husband ended up wasting half of our day trying to figure out how to bring or send our luggage to the airport since we also have 2 stroller carry ons. Quick research, Yamato Transport (in which Google Maps doesn't show in English characters) can send our luggage to the airport. Big thanks to Kenta, staff of the hotel, for helping us in contacting Yamato Transport to ask questions for us. Unfortunately, another misinformation, as me and my husband understood it, we thought the luggage will arrive at the airport the next day and so we brought our luggage to Yamato the following day. Fast forward, Yamato denied our luggage because we wanted it to be at the airport the next day. It should have been 2 days before. Bottom line, we were misguided with the whole luggage situation. We ended up bringing all our luggage from Kyoto to Haneda Airport. Thanks to the shinkansen, there was enough space. I guess bringing our luggage all the way to the airport wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

So top advice, plan ahead and make plan Bs to Zs. If you can pack lightly, good for you. But me and my husband thought of bringing a checked luggage mainly for the souvenirs we plan on bringing home. We...

This place gets an excellent from me for being more than what I could normally expect of something this reasonably priced at peak season.

The best parts about it are:

1. The common area. My partner and I hung out here a lot and just played cards, enjoyed the first good tea we'd had all trip/French press coffee (fun to make), and felt right at home. I can't stress how nice this was compared to feeling like wasting time sitting in your room during your downtime - it's more like being in a casual cafe where you can curl up with a blanket and a book and don't have to pay.

2. The showers. No, you don't get a private bathroom or toilet and yes, you have to go to the first floor for the showers (there are toilets on every floor though) - I was pretty against not having a private bathroom as a couple, but those showers were amazing. Shelves of different shampoos and conditioners, body wash, free lockers, hair dryers, great shower space with good water pressure and temperature adjustment. Best of all, everything was immaculately clean and classy. If you're worried about the public nudity, don't be. The shower doors are glass but frosted in lines across the front, and slightly removed from the main mirrored area, with lots of space to walk in with a towel around you/clothes on and put them over the shelf part in the shower. Someone would have to walk up and press their nose to the glass to get a good look at you. No one's gonna do that.

3. The Onsen. Again, you've got to be okay with nudity, but it was mostly empty anyway when I went and it was the beeeest thing after so much temple walking! Oh, there are free washing machines too.

4. The budget dinner for those looking to save. 600¥ per person OR 1000¥ for two, the dinner wasn't gourmet but it was delicious when I had it, very filling and great for the price. They also have yummy little 200¥ desserts! (Pre frozen but just chuck them in the mic and they're pretty okay for a late night sweet tooth).

The rooms also are small, but use space efficiently (e.g. space under the bed for suitcases) and there is a sink so you don't have to use the public bathroom for absolutely everything.

Basically, if you're the kind of person who usually stays at classy 5 star places, I'm sure this won't seem adequate to you. However if you're used to hostels or middle-range hotels, this place is awesome and really homely. I'm actually sad to...

I stayed in this hotel for 3 nights during my kyoto trip. The rooms were okay but the floors are a little dirty. They have free laundry but it's always very full and there are no passwords on the machines so anyone can open and stop the washer or dryer during the middle of the run. We had to wait for 2 hours for a dryer and there were a line the whole time. While we were waiting for the dryer, an impaitient hotel guest that didnt want to line up came down and literally opened all the dryers and stopped all the machines without resuming the machines that she stopped. She tossed out clothes from one of the dryer and start putting her own clothes in. The staff did not do anything. It was quite a scene to watch. Their public bath close at 1am and there are no shower in the room. So if you pass the 1am mark, you will not be able to shower. 1am is too early in my opinion as the other japanes hotels that i stayed at are usually 2am or 3am. It is also very tricky as they don't state the closing hours in the public bath. The hotel staff also didn't mention it during check in. So if you didn't read all the information sheets in the hotel room or on their website you would not know. One of the day we went to universal studio in osaka and by the time we had dinner and take the train back and walk back to the hotel it's already 12:50. By the time we take the elevator down to the public bath it's already 12:55 and the receptionist saids the bath is closed and we cannot shower. I'm not sure what is the purpose of closing the bath from 1am to 5am even no one is cleaning during that time. It was a very hot day in osaka and we were very sweaty but had to sleep without shower. They also don't clean the room for you so the sweaty bedsheets will be the one you're sleeping in. There are free coffees at the lobby but u cannot bring it back to the room, there are also rules that you cannot eat or drink...