spreadyourwingsandflyy

So for my 5 nights in Kyoto, I stayed in this really nice and new 3-star hotel (just opened in 2017!). It may be just 3 stars but it’s really comfortable and clean! The hotel is very close to 2 subway stations: Shijo Station and Karasuma Station

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The room

I stayed in an Economy Double Non-Smoking room.

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Double bed with a small bedside table and lamp above. There are 2 power plugs available at where the bedside table is! The hotel also provides pajamas! The room’s window didn’t give much of a view but sunlight could still shine in (there’s 2 layers of curtains – the translucent one that lets sunlight in, and blackout curtains).

TV with basic local channels

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This part can be opened and used as a table!
A telephone, clock, 1 USB plug and 1 power plug can be found here!

Under the TV and “table”, a chair can be pushed in nicely against the wall (what a great way to save space!) and the in-room safe can be found below.
The hairdryer also has its own dedicated storage compartment at the side!

On the table at the corner, another power plug can be found, along with the booklet on the hotel’s guide & facilities – including instructions on the operation of the aircon, in-room safe, VOD machine, etc.
Minibar (fridge) and tea-making amenities (cups, tea and an electric kettle) can be found below. There’s complimentary bottled water in the minibar.

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The bathroom is so nice and bright (I LOVE IT)!!

There’s a standard washlet, bathtub with handheld shower and of course, a bathroom vanity.

Amenities such as bath towels, hand towels, toothbrush sets, shavers, disposable combs and cotton wools & cotton buds are provided as well!
There are also (big) bottles of Shampoo, Bath Soap, Hair Conditioner and a Face & Hand Soap.

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Hangers are provided (note that there isn’t a closet, just a hanging area/rack).
Hotel slippers, Febreze, and an emergency torchlight can also be found.

A full length mirror can be found between the bathroom door and main door. Next to it – two more power plugs 😉

Also, the housekeeping/do not disturb signs are all magnetic 😀 So just peel them off the door and stick them to the front when you want to use them!

Do take note that if you want to use the luggage stand (can be borrowed from the front desk), it can be a little bit crammed in the room (even for one person). So with where my luggage was placed in the above pic, I had plenty of room (since it’s just me alone) to move about but once I had to leave the room in the morning, it was hard to fully open the door unless I shifted my luggage and luggage stand in, but that would also mean housekeeping wouldn’t have enough space to do their work That’s the only downside.

Iron & Ironing Board facilities are available from the front desk (yes, that means you gotta bring these up but fret not, the holder for the iron has a handle, and the ironing board is a tiny one meant to be placed on a table or bed!) Just take note that it’s on a first come first served basis, so it may be out of stock at times.

Coin Laundry facilities are available at Level 1, in the room right in front of the elevator. There are 2 washers and 2 dryers which accepts 100yen coins. Washers can take a load of 5kg and cost 200 yen. Dryers cost 100 yen per 30mins of drying.

Instructions on how to use the washers are attached on the machine. The key thing to note is that there’s a “rinse” function (the shower button) where the machine can do a rinse of the tub before you use the washer (to ensure extra cleanliness and hygiene after the last person’s use). A step stool is also available in the room for people like me to use (otherwise I can’t reach the inside/bottom of the dryer above).

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In the same room: the complimentary ice machine, vending machine and Video on Demand (VOD) card machine can be found.

Bonus info:

A handicapped toilet can also be found next to the laundry room on the 1st floor. There’s also a smoking room there (the rest of the hotel is non-smoking).
And these are the amenities available from the front desk:

Location

The hotel is located near Karasuma and Shijo stations. Shijo is just 2 subway stops away from Kyoto station (Kyoto → Gojo → Shijo).
The hotel is just a 3-5mins walk away from the subway station, unless you have a heavy luggage and need to use the elevator, then it’ll be a bit of a detour.

To access Shijo Station or Karasuma Station, Exit 19 would be the closest way 🙂 (stairs only)

If you have a heavy luggage or it’s not convenient to take the stairs:
If I’m not wrong, Exit 1 should have an elevator that faces the main road when you reach the ground level from the basement.
To get to the hotel, just turn right after exiting the elevator, walk straight and (do not cross the road,) turn right again at the corner of MUFG Plaza (just look at the unit on your right, it should say MUFG Plaza on the glass). Walk straight until the first junction (Yoshinoya is opposite this tiny crossing) and turn right.

Next to the hotel (on the right side when you exit from the building), is a humble ramen eatery (opened till 2300hrs/midnight!) and Yoshinoya. Round the corner (and still next to Yoshinoya) is FamilyMart (convenience store/kombini) and Sukiya! Along the main street where FamilyMart and Sukiya can be found, you can also find a lot of other eateries and interesting shops (ranging from regular stores to luxury stores)!

Along the main road, you can even take a 15-20 minutes walk (and shop/window shop at the same time) and reach Kawaramachi Station!

There is also a post office nearby the hotel, about a 5 minutes walk away from the hotel (turn left when you exit the hotel). So if you would like to purchase some stamps to send post cards, just head to the humble little post office and approach the counter staff 🙂

There is also an Eggs ‘n Things a building away, with yummy American breakfast options!