Kyoto Garden

The garden gives this hotel a lovely, elegant charm, and I haven’t found another place with quite the same feel. The service was all smiles, and breakfast was the best of the three hotels I stayed at on this trip. Smile Hotel had the worst breakfast of the three. The rooms were in top condition, with windows you can open for fresh air, and there were no complaints from me. Luggage storage after checkout was handy, and I’d return. One thing to factor into the price: there’s an extra $5 per room tax at check-in. The other two hotels didn’t charge it, and I prefer charges to be clear upfront.

The room was extremely small, though I could have accepted that. What I couldn’t accept was stepping on an earring that pierced my foot. It seemed to have been left by a previous guest and missed during cleaning. I was furious, especially since I was traveling with my one-year-old, who crawls around and could have picked it up and put it in his mouth. Luckily I was the one hurt. The whole thing was frustrating and unacceptable. Before checking in, I’d had a good impression of Loisir Hotel Kyoto because of its convenient location and reasonable price.

The room was tiny, the breakfast was poor, and I wouldn’t recommend this hotel. The supposed warm dishes were lukewarm or cold, apart from the soup. In the room bathroom, I found several hairs in the shower and sink, and it didn’t look fully cleaned. The lobby toilets were extremely unkempt and full of waste. The whole place felt dated and a bit icky. I can’t see how it’s listed as four stars; to me it felt closer to 2.5. If we could have gotten our money back, we would have gone somewhere else.

There’s a 7-11 directly across the street, with Starbucks around the corner and good breakfast options there too. The hotel serves breakfast for 2200 JPY per person, with a view of the indoor garden, though guests can’t access the garden. There’s no hotel parking, but a nearby carpark is within walking distance. Our room had two windows that wouldn’t open, and both the aircon and air purifier worked fine.