Very nice hotel, great location, comfortable. Only issue was check in surprise. 3 days room reservation was prepaid online. Online receipt stated room rate included taxes and fees. It did not. Additional fees were charged upon check in. This increased daily room rate.

Felt like bait and switch. No other hotel in same country did this. Showed reception staff receipt, amount paid and disclosure the payment included taxes, surcharges, etc.

Hotel reception is located on second floor. The entrance is on first floor set back from a main street. A single elevator takes you to second floor for check in.

The hotel is a relatively easy walk up the main street from Kyoto railway station. The building in nondescript on the outside with modern decor inside including the rooms. We were very pleased with the room and ensuite and even the tea making facilities which we used morning and night. The staff in the hotel were from the room cleaners to the front desk. All were ready to help make our stay easier and more enjoyable. We were able to purchase food from Diamaru and bring it back to the hotel and eat in the dining area - something you would not usually be able to do in a hotel. The dining area has a balcony over looking the street which was a popular place for guests to eat and drink.
Our group of four were good walkers by the time we reached Kyoto and found walking to Gion was no great hardship.
I would definitely stay in this hotel again for the comfort and convenience, and friendly and accommodating staff.

Pros:
- the hotel decor is really nice
- the staff is very helpful and friendly
- the shower was good, nice bath and comfortable bed and pillows
- location is close to the subway, with some good restaurant options around and many convenient stores. Even though the location was good, if I ever stay in Kyoto again I would probably choose to stay near Kyoto station. Kyoto is a large city and the tourist sights are really far apart, so you have to use public transport a lot, usually the best way to get to places is by bus or train/subway, and most of the time you end up having to change at Kyoto station anyway, so I learned it's the best place to stay if you're there to explore the main sights. It's easy to take the bus or subway from the hotel, they even have a map with the bus options, but when returning to the hotel, I never knew which bus to take and always ended up taking a train and changing at Kyoto station. There is no tourist attraction really close to the hotel, maybe only Gion, but it's still a 20-25min walk. There are some great restaurants around though, Donguri has amazing okonomiyaki and there is a great cafe just across the road, Komeda's coffee I think.

Cons:
- there is no natural light, the only window in the room faces directly to the building's wall next door
- on check-in I found out I had to pay an extra fee. I checked later my booking confirmation, and even though it's not clear enough, it does say that it might include an extra fee, it doesn't say how much though, booking.com should be more careful about that. But anyway, every hotel I stayed in Japan didn't have any extra fee, I only had to pay what was on my booking confirmation, so I think it's quite annoying that the hotel didn't include these fees in their final price.
- there is only one lift, so sometimes we had to wait a long time until the lift came
- No self serve laundry. I like the option of doing my own laundry when travelling, most hotels I stayed in Japan had coin laundry which was very handy after travelling for many days.