The Thousand Kyoto — Hotel in Kyoto

We stayed 4 nights at the Thousand Kyoto in May 2024. The reason we booked this hotel is its proximity to Kyoto station (3-4 mins walking distance).

We immediately was impressed visually as soon as we stepped in the hotel entrance. That entrance tunnel made me walked back and forth couple times to make videos and take photos. (What can I say: a tourist thing I suppose).

After walking through the tunnel, I was constantly amazed at the huge airy lobby. Already indulged myself into a zen-like space. Just could not stop looking upward and admire the spaciousness and calmness that the space portrayed.

We booked a triple room with queen beds; the room was capacious with modern and clean design. The duvet, mattresses and clean soft pillows are absolutely essentials for guests to appreciate a really nice sleep. The Thousand Hotel did provide these essential items for guests to acquire wonderful rest at night. We found the room was still spacious enough even a small size sofa, two chairs and a small table were placed near the window. Ample space for big luggages which is conveniently located next to the bathroom. There was a coffee maker and a nice tea set at the tea counter. The room also came with an iPad that controlled lighting, air conditioning and dark shade. It was kind of fun to use the iPad to control the dark shading. If hotel guests want a good and undisturbed sleep then he will definitely give a thumb up to the dark shade. Amenities are plenties including hair brush etc; the front desk asked what kind of amenities were needed when checked in. I think this is great to prevent any amenities wastage; and it is our subtle way to preserve the environment. The huge shower room was separated from the fancy toilet seat. I miss these Japanese toilets, I used to have them in my Asian home; but I don’t have them any more at where I live now.🥹I suppose the separation of wet and dry washroom facilities is the trendy hotel design nowadays. All the toiletries were sufficiently supplied if requested at the front desk. A rain shower as well as a handheld shower head were installed in the shower room. The Water pressure and temperature are perfect and impeccable.

Our sightseeing itinerary was so tight and hectic that we did not have time to explore the gym, spa or tea room. Maybe next time.

Apart from The awesome hotel interior, the concierge’s service was marvellous too. They helped me to make restaurant reservations prior to my arrival to Japan; they even made recommendations about restaurants or sightseeing spots. This makes hotel guests feel at ease especially for first time Kyoto visitors like us.

The hotel’s proximity to Kyoto station enable you enjoy great meals and shopping like the Cube and Porta. Lawsons and 711 are conveniently located near the central exit of Kyoto station. Great for midnight snacks and ATM cash withdrawals.

Another thumbs up for the front desk assistance with our luggage forwarding service. The front desk helped to facilitate our luggage to be delivered to Tokyo (a day in advance). Thus we could travel to Tokyo comfortably with our backpacks via Shinkansen. (Mind you it is going to cost you using the luggage forwarding service. Travelling elegantly and stress-free are our preferences for this whole Japan trip. (I planned this trip for over 6 months)😜

Recommend Hotel Thousand Kyoto if you are looking for proximity to Kyoto Station, taxi stand, BIC camera, Kyoto Tower, sightseeing bus terminals, expressway bus terminal, underground shopping like Porta and the Cube (shop till you drop).

One minor comment was that after we checked out the front desk staff showed us all the hotel Souvenirs and I felt as if I was pressured to purchase them. I politely declined their offer and deducted 0.5 point from the overall review...

Would give 4 - 4.5 stars - we overall enjoyed our stay and are glad that we chose this hotel, but a few details could be better.

Advice for booking: We booked the king size bedroom for the lower listed amount, since it wasn't clear why the seemingly same room was listed twice (both no meals included) - turns out the view that's on the official pictures is not actually the view you get on the lower price. Instead you look onto another building that directly next to the hotel. Would be better if the listing was corrected.

Check-in: I'd advise to arrive after 15:00 (official check-in time), since the room wasn't ready at 14:50 and we had to wait 15 minutes.

Major positives: The room itself and the bathroom were spacious, generally clean, and modern. We also liked the King size bed with very fluffy covers, the convenient tablet room controls, and the humidifier. Of course, the hotel is extremely conveniently located directly next to Kyoto Station and its underground shopping mall with lots of reasonable restaurants and bistros. Everyone from the staff we encountered was also very friendly and speaking in English was not a problem either.

Positive details: Free 2l of water in small bottles, a few tea bags, espresso for the room machine, fast water kettle, decent hairdryer, lots of toiletries with a pleasant cedar smell

What we didn't like about the room: Especially the stone floor entrance and the bathroom area echoed a lot. The bathroom as well as the toilet are also not sound isolated from the bedroom, which makes for a slightly awkward amplified toilet experience. Another minus is the shower - we involuntarily activated the cold rain shower head multiple times since there's no resistance between switching off the normal shower and activating the rain head on top. The normal shower head continues running a bit when the middle position (off) is reached, so it's really easy to mistakingly activate the rain shower by twisting further. I'm also not sure why the shower room echoed this much, but taking a bath didn't feel as relaxing due to that.

Small details that could easily be better: Attach towel hooks next to the sinks, so hand towels can actually dry. Give the cleaning personnel a little bit more time per room, so that they can dust off drawers and clean the sinks properly. Especially the nightstand drawers were very dusty inside, and the sink had some piled up gunk around the drain.

While the personnel was friendly, we missed a little bit of a personal touch for the occasion. My husband had informed the hotel that this was our wedding anniversary, but this hotel didn't take note. On previous anniversaries/birthdays, similarly priced hotels had a tiny surprise (like a card or small chocolate/cookie/even once a free view upgrade) or gratulated verbally, which would have been nice.

Additional note: The breakfast cafe is incredibly overpriced. Continental breakfast is around 3200 JPY, American or Japanese breakfast a whopping 3720 JPY per person. A single tea on a visit at any other time is around 1700 - 1900 yen, which is even more than the iconic Park Hyatt in Shinjuku, and despite that the cafe here has no view. We preferred to go to the numerous cafés in the area, where we usually paid around 2000 - 3000 yen for 2 people and plenty of food.

Overall still a recommendation for...

I was tempted to write a review after we checked out, but I decided to wait until I have time to properly write one, because the hotel, the service and the crew, they all deserve this.

Let’s talk about the size. I’ve been to Japan many times, and while the rooms in Kyoto in general is slightly larger but they aren’t by much. The Thousands Kyoto is adequately big enough and more importantly the space is designed with efficiency. Luggage placement is plenty and the location is perfect by the bathroom with plenty of space for a walkway. The room still accommodates a small size sofa, two dining room type chairs and a small table for two, without making the space cramped. Again, it’s designed to bolster efficiency. It has that minimalist design that Japanese architecture is well known off.

Also if you are worried about there potential noise coming from the trains, the room was very quiet.

And the service is immaculate. There are reviews here that tell you, you don’t get general amenities. This is simply not true. You need to ask the receptionist when checking in or you can order one and they’ll give them to you free of charge by their robot. While it may not be common but I see more and more hotels particularly in South East Asia that have the same model nowadays.

But here’s the testament of their service. Once you ask for them, they remember your preference and the cleaning crew will provide said amenity to you daily. We ordered a lotion through the iPad on our second night, and we got them everyday till we checked out.

Just because you don’t see, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. All you need is ask and not assume.

The staff is friendly and professional. I had the chance to know Hikaru-san who always greeted us and put the time to chat with us. When we arrived at the lobby, if the staff is near the elevator, they’ll open it for you. When we got out of the elevator, they always greeted us. The crew went through a proper exercise, I’ve seen this consistently.

The location is unbeatable. It is by the Kyoto Station with great dining and shopping options. If you arrive from Tokyo by Shinkansen, the direction provided by the Google map and the hotel are very confusing and you ended up going on a detour. I find the easiest way is to go by the central exit and not the east as suggested. The east exit will take you on a very long corridor and is a little inaccessible.

There are many konbinis around the area. And 7-11 is conveniently located near the central exit on your way back to the hotel.

Price I think it’s adequately priced, given its location and proximity to the Kyoto station. We paid $210 per night on average. This is when the Japanese ¥ was weaker against the US$ ($148). As a comparison we paid an average of $200 for the smallest and outdated room in Tokyo Metropolitan Marunouchi which is by the Tokyo station. We believe for the service, the location, and the room, the price is justified.

We plan on going back to Kyoto next year and we will be...