31 Higashikujō Nishisannōchō, Minami Ward, Kyoto, 601-8003, Japan

We only stayed here for one night (as we came from Yokohama to visit Osaka and Kyoto), but I was impressed with the cleanness and the interior design.  The staff was very friendly and in the lobby you can take some things with you into the room (e.g. wet wipes, lotion, toothbrushes, charging cables or tea).  The view was nice.  The hotel is right next to the main train station in Kyoto.  Worth it if you want to explore Kyoto and Osaka. ありがとうございました。

This hotel is a pretty good. Plenty of space. The location is in a very convenient location, since Kyoto station is 3 mins away. there is also many restaurant and shop in Avanti mall. The downside is that the Wifi is really bad. My room was on the 9th floor but whenever I go on the internet or YouTube it tends to be very slow. The air conditioner is very weak there was barely any air coming out of it. The fridge also didn't have any freezer at all. I know some hotels have fridge with a freezer in it. The room were mostly clean, except the bottom of the bed there was some garbage in it. Which suggests none of the cleaner ever cleaned down there. Overall the hotel isn't too bad but there is some improvement that is needed.

Disappointing. White female staff at the reception counter was extremely rude and unprofessional. When I walked in, she did not bother to even look at me or serve me where I had to speak to her first and asked if I could check in where she just nonchalantly pointed to the self-check-in counter without saying much. When the check-in counter experienced some issues when I was trying to scan my passport, she then unwillingly came out from the reception counter to fix the issue. She went on to rudely ask in a lackadaisical manner, “passport of the lady” (referring to my wife, which I passed to her. Without saying anything else further and upon scanning the 2 passports, she simply left us and went back to her booth. Throughout the whole check-in process, she seemed as though she could not be bothered to serve us, uninterested and uttered less than 5 words in total. It felt as though as I was the receptionist at the hotel and she was the guest as I had to be more proactive than her. She DID NOT give us a single service greeting throughout the whole encounter, almost zero (actually zero) guidance on the self-check-in process, did not even tell us where the elevators were, our room number, check-out timing, check out procedure and DID NOT even inform us that there were amenities at the lobby which we could help ourselves to. She simply ASSUMED that we could read her mind and know everything. She was borderline useless as a hotel staff and I don’t even know what’s her purpose for existing there. You could clearly sense that she had airs around her, was snobbish, arrogant and unwilling to serve others as though as she was more superior. I wonder why the hotel even bothers to hire a white female staff when the locals can probably do better than her. It felt as though I was at a self-check-in hotel that did not have any staff. I would give this hotel a 0 star due to this particular white female lady staff. If she could act like this as a hotel receptionist, I can’t imagine how poor her performance would be in other job position. The hotel room was spacious, fairly clean and conveniently located to Kyoto station, apart from some stains on the bed. There were also a few strands of blonde head hair and blonde pubic hair that was found on the carpet floor when neither I or my wife was blonde. I urge all those that are reading this, you can stay here for the room but DON’T stay here if you expect good service standards as you are putting yourself at risk to be snubbed at the reception counter with little recourse. For sure, this has to be the worst customer service I have experienced in the whole of Japan and in comparison to all the previous hotels I have stayed at, all thanks to this snobbish white female lady staff. It is interesting that she treats tourists in such a manner when she herself is clearly not local, the hotel is better off not having or hiring her as she just serves to tarnish the company’s hard work and reputation. Why hire foreigners when locals can do it better? I cannot imagine how she would have treated previous guests that have checked in prior to us. I would not recommend this hotel because of this shoddy staff along with the few strands of blonde head hair and pubic hair found on the room’s carpet floor. Stay here if you wish to be mistreated and if you like having someone else’s pubic hair in your room. When checking out, local japanese staff were so much more friendlier and helpful. Check the pictures that I took.

Hotel Keihan Kyoto Grande

68 Fukakusa Yabunouchichō, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, 612-0882, Japan

It lives up to thy hype!
Fushimi Inari Taisha is one of the most iconic spots in Japan and for good reason. This temple and hike is beautiful. Photos don’t do it justice.

The hike took my family about 80 minutes total. We had a 6 year old and a two year old with us and both did well with all the stairs. My two year old did need to be carried from time to time, but mostly going downhill. I would say this is definitely a child friendly activity.

The crowd levels were astonishingly lower than I expected. This lead to more time on the path alone and a more peaceful climb. **

I recommend bringing yen on the climb as there are plenty of places to buy bottle water, tea, and even ice cream at the view point.

This temple is easily assessable by train and is located just outside of the station.

**Disclaimer* My family and I went in spring of 2022 where Japan was still closed to tourist. If you are coming when the county is reopened be prepared for bigger crowds than I experienced

Such a surreal experience getting the chance to walk through the thousand gates. It fascinated me how well maintained these gates are! Walking and climbing up the stairs was quite the hike! So be sure to have a comfortable pair of shoes on you. it was also nice to enjoy snacks in the front side of the temple. Overall surreal experience walking through these gates in a Forrest, I would describe the experience as magical!

This place is amazingly beautiful and shows how much Japanese people respect this shrine by looking at those thousands of gates. It's so cool. If you come to kyoto, this place is a must! I tried hiking up there just half way (the first loop). Let's say, it requires some good health to do so as it's up and down the hill. It was a good hike for the first loop taking around 1 hour and a half to do so. Good exercise!

Santuario di Fushimi Inari-taisha

I prossimi tre giorni saranno dedicati a Kyoto e ai suoi dintorni. Per non sprecare la giornata siamo partiti con lo shinkansen delle 8, quindi sveglia all’alba!
Arrivando presto a Kyoto, ne abbiamo approfittato per visitare subito Inari Shrine, il famoso...

Tokyo/Kyoto in shinkansen!

Il viaggio del mio cuore, il mio viaggio di nozze, il viaggio che ha profondamente cambiato la mia anima. 12 giorni alla scoperta di Tokyo e Kyoto tra templi e modernità.