The Royal Park Canvas - Kyoto Nijo

Everything about our stay was great! The hotel is full of thoughtful little touches and complimentary goodies, such as face masks and other amenities, which made the experience feel extra special. Breakfast was really good, the location was excellent, and the staff were always incredibly polite and welcoming.

Nothing negative to mention — I would definitely recommend staying here when visiting Kyoto! 😊

Lovely breakfast and staff :)

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There’s a lot to like about this property. It’s modern, clean, with large comfortable rooms and it’s very close to Nijo JR and subways station, as well as buses, which will take you pretty much all the places you’ll want to go in Kyoto. Yet the area itself is a bit more chilled than downtown Kyoto, with some really good local restaurants, bakeries, coffee places and shops nearby as well as a cinema complex with chains such as KFC and Starbucks for those who like that sort of thing. I’d recommend Lion Bakery, just around the corner of the hotel for breakfast- it’s affordable and delicious. The staff we met were all friendly and polite and there is a decent public bath- not as good as some we visited but ok- which is nice to relax in at the end of the day. The hotel was very good value for money compared to others of a similar standard available during our time in Kyoto.

This is another Japanese hotel at risk of allowing a “concept” to get in the way of basic hospitality principles. The day we arrived was incredibly hot and humid, we were tired, sweaty, we had children with us and were carrying backpacks. But when we went to the “check in” desk we were told we had to use a self check-in machine and were not allowed to check in at the desk. The check in machine then proceeds to ask you to fill in lots of information you already provided when you booked and scan a passport for each guest. It’s reasonably easy to use but typing a British address on a form designed for Japanese address formats, on a not particularly responsive touch screen, whilst wearing a backpack and looking after kids isn’t a great experience. A staff member appeared to be coming to help, instead he gave us a drink as part of a promotion and promptly disappeared. You also have to get your amenities from reception and take them to your room. Some are in a grab area, others are behind the reception desk- such as water bottles. You can’t get coffee to take to your room and there is none in the room. Free coffee is in reception, but personally when I wake up in the morning I want to make coffee in my room, not to have to get dressed, go to reception and come back to my room. The baths also don’t have things like combs, cotton buds, razors, or lotion for after your bath. But you have to wear your “pyjamas” (Katana) to the baths, which you aren’t allowed to wear in reception to collect some amenities- which are all there instead. Our room had a frosted window with no view. The a/c in our room only worked properly some of the time. Occasionally there was no hot water.

Location, food and staff were great. Good service and good value.