THE HOTEL HIGASHIYAMA KYOTO TOKYU, A Pan Pacific Hotel — Hotel in Kyoto

Three North American tourists, who had just completed an onsen spree, checked into our first western style bathroom hotel since starting the onsen adventure about 3 days prior. It was a wonderful break and we all enjoyed the return to private showers, especially during the blistering summer week that we spent in the area. One of the first things that you notice is the elevator staff, who stay in the elevator and press the buttons for the floors that you request. Whether this was always a thing at this hotel or if it was a post-covid adjustment, I don't know, but it was a nice touch. Also, by this point my friends and I had spent a week in Japan and our clothes needed to be cleaned. The free and open laundry that is available was a big hit, although it is in high demand so if your jetlag is still in effect, it may even be advantageous since you'll have less competition. Worst case scenario, you can ask the front desk staff to handle any completed laundry that may be occupying the machines. This also applies to your own laundry, as they will pack it up and keep it in a storage area near the front desk, available to you whenever you ask for it. I was still jetlagged enough to get my own laundry, however my two friends picked up their laundry the next morning from the front desk. While you wait for your laundry to finish, you can read books either at the laundry area (if you can read Japanese) or provided in your room, or use the exercise machines that are present in the laundry area as well. There is a private spa service available, with a few different experiences to offer. Since we had just returned from an onsen mission we did not take part in any of it, but for 5000 yen for an hour, it's not a bad deal if that's what tickles your interest. You also are provided with traditional clothing to wear if you'd like. Unfortunately, the largest size was tight on my fatty North American body and would not even fit my two friends. You are also provided with 2 sets of slippers - a soft kind that you would use for your room as well as a harder kind that you could use for walking around the hotel itself. The hotel itself is built around its garden area, so a bunch of rooms have views of the peaceful plants, and between that and the hot showers I think you'll be perfectly fine. The hotel's location within walking distance of Maruyama Park is also a big plus. My favorite was the Gion Weeping Cherry Tree, but most of the park is lovely even during the heat of the summer. The hotel is about 2 blocks away from the Higashiyama subway station, so you have good access to the rest of Kyoto as well. There is also a shuttle bus service to and from Kyoto station, for the days that you have a lot of luggage. You can choose between an American or Japanese breakfast each morning. My friends enjoyed their sleep, while I enjoyed the breakfast for each day we were there. The Japanese breakfast seemed to me to be the more polished experience, however the American breakfast was perfectly fine and if you are in a hurry during the morning then the American option is probably the best for you. Overall, a slightly more secluded hotel from which you can still enjoy the...

Three North American tourists, who had just completed an onsen spree, checked into our first western style bathroom hotel since starting the onsen adventure about 3 days prior. It was a wonderful break and we all enjoyed the return to private showers, especially during the blistering summer week that we spent in the area. One of the first things that you notice is the elevator staff, who stay in the elevator and press the buttons for the floors that you request. Whether this was always a thing at this hotel or if it was a post-covid adjustment, I don't know, but it was a nice touch. Also, by this point my friends and I had spent a week in Japan and our clothes needed to be cleaned. The free and open laundry that is available was a big hit, although it is in high demand so if your jetlag is still in effect, it may even be advantageous since you'll have less competition. Worst case scenario, you can ask the front desk staff to handle any completed laundry that may be occupying the machines. This also applies to your own laundry, as they will pack it up and keep it in a storage area near the front desk, available to you whenever you ask for it. I was still jetlagged enough to get my own laundry, however my two friends picked up their laundry the next morning from the front desk. While you wait for your laundry to finish, you can read books either at the laundry area (if you can read Japanese) or provided in your room, or use the exercise machines that are present in the laundry area as well.|There is a private spa service available, with a few different experiences to offer. Since we had just returned from an onsen mission we did not take part in any of it, but for 5000 yen for an hour, it's not a bad deal if that's what tickles your interest. You also are provided with traditional clothing to wear if you'd like. Unfortunately, the largest size was tight on my fatty North American body and would not even fit my two friends. You are also provided with 2 sets of slippers - a soft kind that you would use for your room as well as a harder kind that you could use for walking around the hotel itself. The hotel itself is built around its garden area, so a bunch of rooms have views of the peaceful plants, and between that and the hot showers I think you'll be perfectly fine. The hotel's location within walking distance of Maruyama Park is also a big plus. My favorite was the Gion Weeping Cherry Tree, but most of the park is lovely even during the heat of the summer. The hotel is about 2 blocks away from the Higashiyama subway station, so you have good access to the rest of Kyoto as well. There is also a shuttle bus service to and from Kyoto station, for the days that you have a lot of luggage.|You can choose between an American or Japanese breakfast each morning. My friends enjoyed their sleep, while I enjoyed the breakfast for each day we were there. The Japanese breakfast seemed to me to be the more polished experience, however the American breakfast was perfectly fine and if you are in a hurry during the morning then the American option is probably the best for you. Overall, a slightly more secluded hotel from which you can still enjoy the...

This is not a good hotel. It is also not a bad hotel, but it is definitely not a good hotel. It has the bones of what could be a good hotel, but the soft product is such a disappointment that it doesn’t save it at all. We stayed here 3 nights in an executive king room.

This hotel has the worst service and housekeeping standards of any GHA hotel I have ever stayed in (over 20+ with Titanium status). Overall, it feels like it’s undergoing an identity crisis. Is it a cheap hotel, is it expensive, is it eco, or is it luxury? It doesn’t do any of these notably well.

The good - rooms are large, beds are large, coin laundry, luggage storage and forwarding, tea ceremony and shop in the lobby, breakfast is serviceable and clearly well considered and planned.

The minor bad - location is a bit far from Gion or the centre. Is accessible via bus or subway but min 20 min walk to anywhere of interest. The hotel seemingly has no pedestrian entrance we were informed of which is an accessibility concern as you must walk through a road to enter the hotel. Prior reviews praise the free laundry facilities and these are no longer free. The spa facilities are fine, but expensive for 1hr in a small tub with few amenities. The hotel claims to be a green hotel, but gives you single use packets for toiletries/bath amenities which are paper coated plastic and aren’t refillable or recyclable —instead of refillable bottles as seen in many other hotels now. Toiletries are all a mishmash of 3-5 different brands all ranging from inert scentless body soap to DHC repackaged stuff. The minibar is also such an afterthought that we didn’t even think it was non-complementary (1x 5 different drinks only).

The actual bad - both days of housekeeping left trash inside our room leaving us to do our own housekeeping after housekeeping. On the first day, our own trash was left in the room but moved about from the bin and open with the contents then strewn across the floor to be re-binned. The AC was also turned off so we were greeted by whatever bin odour escaped in 30C heat. The second day, housekeeping left plastic bags and waste from their own refilling tissues and amenities on the floor. The front desk truly didn’t seem to care when I went down to raise this and didn’t offer much of an apology. Someone came to fix it shortly after the first issue but came, took the bags and left (service!).

This is a real first world problem, but I expect better of a GHA hotel as a guest with the highest tier status. I wanted to share some of this feedback at check-out, but the receptionist wasn’t interested in feedback beyond getting my payment. This hotel was a disappointment, and I won’t be staying here again even with the points of it all. I don’t think you should stay...