Urban Hotel Kyoto Gojo Premium — Hotel in Kyoto

This is a Japanese style hotel. Its very nice and well appointed with luxury. But if you are comparing it to an American style hotel, you will be disappointed. First, let me condition my statement on this. I am used to American style hotels. This hotel is very nice. But there were two issues that make it stand apart from an American hotel. ||First, the rooms are small. We stayed in a double twin room (two twin size beds). There isn't a lot of room to walk. We had to shove one bed over to walk between the two beds, and that only allows for about a foot of space. Between the two beds, and the sitting couch, there was not a lot of room. ||Second, the bed and pillows were hard. This is because the Japanese typically sleep on a futon on the floor, so a hard mattress is comfortable. But for Americans like us, they were very firm. I personally slept well, but my wife did not. My son and daughter in law slept in another room with our grand daughter and my son said the same thing. His wife is Japanese and she found the beds comfortable and said they are typical in Japanese hotels. For someone that likes a firm mattress, this is the place to stay. And the pillows were hard too. ||My wife and I loved the bathroom though. They are small too, but the showers are so nice there, she loved it and now wants to remodel our shower like that. And the toilets are boudet. If you have never used one, after using one you will want one in your own home! ||We had a great view being on the back side of the hotel. The breakfast is very good and buffet style with a generous spread. There are plenty of options no matter what you are used to. But breakfast was not included with the room for us, it was an upcharge. But we got the room at such a good price, it was worth it. If you don't want to eat in the hotel, I didn't explore around to see what other options there are, but there is a 7-11 nearby with very good (health and tasty) grab and go options. But I recommend getting the breakfast in the hotel. Its more convenient, and delicious. They do have timed seating there. that makes a difference on holidays and weekends when they are busy. ||There is a sauna upstairs you can use. In Japan Sauna's are called Onsen. In Japan this is a VERY hot bath, and you are in the buff. One for women, and the other for men. They also have a hot room and bath. It was very relaxing. But NO TATOO's! In Japan Tatoo's are associated with gangs. ||They also have a nice fitness room that you pay a daily fee to use. It is on the top floor and you have a great view while you are working out. ||Overall, I do recomend this hotel. Just be expecting a firm mattress and pillow. We got it for a very good price of about...

We stayed for three nights here. I would consider this to be a Japanese style higher end hotel. Overall, the hotel is equivalent to any Hilton or Marriott property, though it is in a Japanese style instead of American. The room was well appointed and modern. The bathroom was very nice.

We stayed on the back side of the hotel on a higher floor. There were no issues with noise from inside or outside of the room/hotel, or anything that kept me from sleeping. I don't know about noise or views on the street side of the hotel, but our son and daughter in law stayed on the opposite side and didn't complain about any noise. The view was fantastic!

For an American though there were some unexpected comfort issues. First, the room was small, with two single beds and a seating area. There was very little room to walk in the room. The beds themselves were very firm, which I assume is standard for Japan? The pillows as well were very firm. Some in my family had a difficult time adjusting to the firmness of the beds and pillows. I didn't, neither did my daughter in law who grew up in Japan sleeping on a futon. Not a criticism, just warning those not used to this.

The breakfast was a great delight. Served buffet style, the selection was magnificent. From American style to Japanese style foods, I really enjoyed the variety. Breakfast was not included with the room price, and we purchased them when we checked in.

The Onsen (spa) was a nice experience. The water in the whirlpool bath was very hot, and the sauna was enjoyable. Be forewarned to non-Japanese visitors, this is a gender separate and nude experience.

I did a complete workout in the gym, which access to does cost extra, but is well worth it.

The area is very safe. I did an early morning walk around the area. I love Japan, and the culture. It is so clean and inviting. My morning walks were very enjoyable if you don't mind the traffic noise. The area is bustling with traffic.

There are plenty of conveniences nearby with vending machines behind the hotel that includes beer if you so choose along with hot and cold beverage options. There is a 7/11 nearby as well about a block (210 meters) away and across the street, and a family mart about 500 meters away, both have very good, and healthy food options.

For restraunts and drinking establishments, there are both scattered...

Overall the staff were polite but not hospitable except for one male front desk attendant who was really helpful with booking restaurant for us and spoke good English. I know it’s a norm that Japanese expect tourists to understand basic Japanese but this is hardly possible for most tourists. We were told no room service but they would change our towels and clear the bins. That did not happen. Every day a bag of new towels was placed outside our bedroom. We were told if we prefer, they could provide room service but that did not happen even though I specially requested for room cleaning service. We bought fresh fruits for my father who was sick and staying in a room on his own. The staff refused to lend us a fruit knife and told us the hotel kitchen would not slice fruits for us. That was their way of saying either buy your own knife or throw the fruits away. The rooms were extremely small. Not possible to open two luggages at the same time. We had to upgrade to bigger rooms but they were still small. The hotel cafe was constantly full-house for dinner even though we could see there were empty tables. It didn’t make sense to us. We had lunch there once and didn’t like the food. The variety of food was limited. Not a recommended stay if you have elderly people with you. Quite a walk...