The Hotel Seiryu Kyoto Kiyomizu — Hotel in Kyoto

The hotel that disappointed me the most after years and years of travelling.

I‘d like to preface this by saying I have stayed in upwards of 70 luxury five star hotels and resorts from which prices range somewhere between 200-3000 USD per night.

The Seiryu Kyoto with around 500 USD (entry level room) per night was in the mid range therefore, I didn’t expect something overly special but we just came from a regular five star city hotel in Osaka which gave a even higher effort in all aspects even though being a lot cheaper.

I‘d like to point out now, that the main part which is so bad about this hotel is generally the management and reservations department/front desk.

We apparently booked a twin room for one person. Upon confrontation of the front office (which has never happened before in any five start hotel I have ever stayed at) we were asked to pay an additional 80 USD for the second person. This is an absolute embarrassment when you pay 1000 USD for one of their better room categories.

Upon talking with the Front Office the non-english speaking Manager did not wish to drop any of the charges nor apologize for the faults which they have caused.

They have contacted us for the booking of the Afternoon Tea, yet apparently contacting a guest and ensuring the number of staying guests (in a Twin room) is correct, is not possible. There was not a single grain of understanding for their fault.

Additionally the Receptionist was rather rude and behaved elevated. Even the other hotel staff were surprised by his attitude towards a paying guest.

Finding an solution for any of the problems did not seem to interest the Management nor the front office team whatsoever.

The front desk staff are also uneducated and unaware of their own ToS. They were telling us that Same Day cancellation is 100% charge and previous day is 80% charge. Yet in their own ToS published they state that „None“ cancellation is 100% charge and Same Day is 80% charge.

Having such attitude against paying customers was honestly one of the most disgusting feelings I ever experienced in a five star hotel.

I can’t comprehend nor understand why a hotel would make such a fuss about 80 USD when you‘re already leaving around 1000 USD in the hotel simply for the room rate. If a hotel acts like that, they simply enrage the paying guest which will then lead to the guest not eating/consuming anything in the hotel in order to not make any further profit.

Additionally they have outrageous policies that you need to return the keycard else you‘ll be charged 1000 Yen per keycard. This cost is absolutely absurd and unprofessional (the keycards are the regular, boring, plastic ones). This just shows how disgustingly greedy the Management is and in the end it also shows that they do not care about their staff since they are the ones affected by these hideous policies and charges.

Additionally, if you stay only one night, turndown service will not be offered, their room service closes at 11:00pm (last order 10:30pm). I honestly do not know how they have five stars with policies like thes

Therefore please do stay in a different hotel in Kyoto. I really regret booking this for my birthday trip since it absolutely destroyed a...

I'm sad to write a negative review about this place.

The good: The hotel is very beautiful and meticulously maintained. The staff, in general, is very kind and helpful. The location is great and very convenient and the rooms have a lot of amenities.

The bad: communication is a problem if you don't speak Japanese. The staff doesn't understand English well. They say "yes" but then you later find out they had no idea what they agreed to. E.g. we called reception and asked to move our restaurant reservation to 4:30pm and they said yes no problem. But then we got a call at 4:15pm from the restaurant, pretty much yelling why we weren't there yet. E.g. We had two 1yr old babies with us and had paid for breakfast in the room rate. They informed us when we checked in that we couldn't take the babies to breakfast. Apparently it was a recent change in policy. They said "don't worry, you can just order for in-room dining at no extra charge". They gave us an order card to check things off and hang it by the door and breakfast would be delivered. We saw that items on the list had prices next to them and asked three times to confirm that we won't get charged for it. They said not to worry as breakfast is already included. So fast forward to checkout and we see they charged us for breakfast for all the days. It seemed like an obvious mistake so we pointed it out. It was the same person checking us out who had checked us in. And the same person who had helped us fill the order card. But they spent 30 mins (not exaggerating) going between the restaurant and us and literally accusing us of ordering too much food. All this time our taxi was waiting and we are getting late for our flight. It seemed so silly to see three staff members huddling and discussing and brainstorming what to do when the charge in question was for $40 and we had paid $$$ thousands for our stay. This is our first time in Kyoto so not sure if that's just how it is here everywhere or just this hotel. They even have a printed policy on the key card saying they will charge $10 if we lose the key card. So it seems like a very nickel & dime kind of approach to service and that's what we witnessed.

And the other major con at the hotel is that the beds are very uncomfortable. Both my wife and I ended up with back and neck pain (we camp and mountaineer and sleep on rocks so are used to roughing it up) but for a hotel that charges so much and aspires to hit a high end standard the poor bedding is honestly quite baffling. How does that come to be?

So in summary poor service, un-empowered hospitality, low communication, and uncomfortable mattresses leaves a poor net experience of this place. It's sad to write a negative review as simple changes could make such a huge improvement. We understand mistakes can happen. But the way they handled the error on their part was extremely disappointing.

If you have kids best to stay away. Most places here don't allow kids for some reason (recent policy...

We stayed here for two nights from October 5-7 and have no complaints about the service and care we received. This is renovated primary school, but you wouldn't know it from how it has been remodeled. Though we did like the wide stairways with wooden bannisters that retained a little of the "school" feel. The overall atmosphere of the hotel and its grounds is very calming; a nice oasis from the bustle of the city.||The room was a good size with very good amenities that made the stay convenient and comfortable. The in-room bar was complimentary and restocked daily. We also had access to the lounge which had free flowing snacks and beverages throughout the day. It was nice to sit next to the window with a warm beverage or a glass of wine after a long day of trekking across the city.||We ate in the city, but also made a point to try all of the places to eat in the hotel.||We had breakfast on the outside terrace of the main restaurant. The "well-being" breakfast was healthy and hearty; very filling. We liked that the breakfast was "by order" rather than buffet. Buffets can be tiring when you just want to sit comfortably on a terrace, enjoying the morning with a cup of coffee. ||We had one dinner at Benoit, the French restaurant. We tried three mains as part of two set meals we ordered: Sea Bass, Lobster, and Pork Loin. All were done very well. ||For a late supper, we had a steak on the Rooftop Lounge. The chef himself, strongly suggested I order a different wine with the steak as he felt it complimented it better. It was actually a cheaper wine than I had ordered, so I appreciated that it was a true recommendation. We followed dinner with cocktails in the bar, where the bartender apparently is rather well-known in Kyoto. He certainly had admirers watching him as he made the drinks.||The hotel general staff and concierge were all very helpful, helping us reserve cars and check to make sure that our destinations were convenient for our purposes. They also follow-up with us to see if what they had suggested worked out.||The only suggestion is to make sure that you leave plenty of time for arriving and leaving. The hotel is right in the middle of a major tourist area. There are many temples in the area, and the streets are lined with tea houses, places to eat or buy souvenirs, and places just to discover or wander about. So depending on the time of day, the traffic can be very congested. That said, from the hotel it's only a 20-minute walk to Nishiki market and the areas around it.||Overall, an excellent stay. We would definitely consider the hotel again for any future trip we might...