The Royal Park Hotel Iconic Kyoto — Hotel in Kyoto

My family came to Kyoto for a really short 3 days 2 night trip before going to Korea and after days of research on where to stay, I decided to book the balcony room at the Hotel Iconic Kyoto for 2 nights. Our experience, as you can tell from the rating, was amazing. Honestly, we were out doing this and that so barely had the time to actually enjoy our room, which we upgraded, but nonetheless enjoyed every part. The most important thing to know, is that every guest regardless of the room you stay at gets to choose a free 1x a day "meal" at their lounge. You can choose to have a light breakfast, tea time that comes with desserts, or a light dinner. We only had time to enjoy the afternoon tea on the first day but it was really cute how they display it in a little carrier that opens up. Taste was so-so. Another key feature is that this hotel has a complimentary hot bath for men and women (separate) where you can go in with a black key the concierge will give you. It isn't large but it has a small locker room with keys where you can dress and then a shower area with 4 seats and then a decent-sized hot bath. There are spa bags and spa-use slippers in the room closet that you can take down. Clothes off! After all the walking we did, it was definitely worth the relaxation at the end of the day. AND they close super late, which was great. Next to the spa is also a tea room where you can enjoy some nice tea sets in a dark room which was also a new experience. The room itself is unbelievably nice, and although we did upgrade to the nicer corner balcony room, we saw some regular rooms which were just as clean and decently spacious. Japan is known for having smaller-than-average hotel rooms but the standard rooms are a lot bigger and overall the cleanliness was superb, probably because it is a new hotel. They even had the sofa bed ready to use when we walked in, and we couldn't find a speck of dust anywhere. The room was so spacious and clean, the floor-to-ceiling windows gave a luxurious-feel, the bathroom with bathtub was clean, and they even include cutlery that honestly looked like it came from a high-end restaurant (plates, bowls, cups, mugs, etc.). The breakfast (which we paid for) in the restaurant next to the lobby, was NOT worth it though. I highly recommend you try something else. For those looking for a place to book, I HIGHLY recommend this hotel, as the staff was welcoming and all understood basic English. We took the subway from the airport and got to the hotel after walking 3 minutes. :D Would definitely go again! Miss it already :( Some etc. info: Lawson across the street and 7/11 two buildings down so stock up on some snacks and leave in the fridge. The bidet in the bathroom was amusing but fun. We for some reason thought the bar was a complimentary service but it actually was not. For transportation other than subway&bus we used the DiDi taxi app since Uber isn't available (some Chinese parts of the app did not translate but overall easy to use as long as you have the Japanese address of your...

Service: Excellent service from hotel staff, spoke English, accommodating, helpful and cheerful. ||||Location : Quiet area, right next to a train station exit, convenient location. It is close to Kyoto Station by taxi ( approx 5-10 mins), located at an intersection and was easy to grab a taxi. It is not located that close to the main Kyoto shopping street, but it's just a peaceful 5-10 minutes walk away from the main stretch of shopping and food areas. Great to explore the quiet side of Kyoto.||||Lawson mart just opposite, the quiet lane opposite had lots of quaint cafes and bakeries. What a wonderful find just walking through the little lanes opposite. Away from tourists crowds, immersed in local Kyoto city vibes. ||||||Room style and space: Room furnishing decor colours were so soothing, stylish pale sage greens, light cream and oak, modern and pleasant , light cream tones. Fantastic huge single beds and pillows, fluffy and clean pillows, huge sofa, strong showers from rain shower in bathroom. Loved every corner in my corner room. Spacious work desk at the corner, perfect for a working business trip. The balcony flanked the entire room length.. absolutely wonderful.. sat outside on the balcony and people watched. Bathroom amenities and products included face and body moisturizers, combs etc, all wrapped in classic stylish Japanese style. ||||Perks: We received daily vouchers which we could use for lounge cocktail hour (free flow great selections of wines, beers, sake, hot drinks etc drinks and snacks) or for high tea set in the lounge area. The lounge area was so cozy. Wonderful vibes. High tea set was amazing, provided by famous patissierie that's located in the hotel lobby. Wonderful chill experience just before we head out for daily dinners. ||||Facilities: We checked out the mist room and onsen.. so clean and stylish. Felt like we were at a W hotel. ||||Overall super fantastic experience, wonderful ambience, rooms were new, stylish and cleanliness was top notch. Property itself is very new and modern. Perfect for solo or couples. Very quiet (some traffic noise, but not a big deal), peaceful neighborhood, chic furnishings. I loved my stay in Nov so much, I will stay again in future. ||||Downside: The rooms face a few offices opposite, windows are not coated with opaque film.. so just be aware and not walk around underdressed in the room in full view of opposite buildings. Windows are definitely see through! Nothing the day...

Positives: This hotel is excellently placed right next to a subway station so you will have no problems getting around - super easy to get to and from Kyoto station (to get trains to places like Nara, Osaka and Arashiyama). Well placed next to a few convenience stores and also an open air luxury shopping mall. You can walk to most tourist areas like Gion and Nishiki market. This hotel was very convenient for the longest part of our Japan trip (staying in Kyoto). Cleanliness levels are great and the room is modern and well kept.||Negatives:|All in all this is in no way a 5 star hotel - this is a good 4 star. This lacks the finesse, service and amenities of a 5 star for example: no one shows you to your room, no bell service so you must lug heave luggages yourself, no face towels (just body and hand towel), have to put a sign up before leaving your room to have room cleaned (in a 5* this should just be assumed), no gym, no spa, no one tells you about the services available when checking in, refusal to make bookings for a restaurant unless you sign a wavier form to pay cancellation fees (this is fine, just not a luxury experience), small rooms compared to most 5s globally, no concierge, no room service, NO ROBES!||There is an option to use the laundromat which has 2 tiny drum (3-5kg) washer dryers which I had to pay for extra drying twice as my clothes were wet after 3 loads of drying. As this is a big hotel and there are 2 small washer dryers which do not dry well, they are constantly occupied. You can, from your TV in your room, track if these are free and how long is remaining on a cycle of laundry but people leave these occupied for ages after their laundry is done and then of course have to dry their clothes over again. SO much of your holiday goes away stressfully watching if the laundry room is free as everyone is waiting for it. I would have never even put myself through this if someone told me the hotel itself offers a laundry service!!! I only found this out when I found the laundry menu and bag while rummaging around in a drawer on day 4 of my stay - AGAIN, a true 5 hotel would have told me this was an option at check in!||We booked this due to lack of larger rooms and luxury accommodation in Kyoto and may I say, this is a very expensive hotel for what it is. If you want 5* do...