Hotel M's Est Shijo Karasuma

Hotel M’s Est Shijo Karasuma is incredibly well situated in the centre of Kyoto. The hotel is surrounded by restaurants and shops but is very quiet in a side street. There are many excellent restaurants in the side streets adjacent to the Hotel, and Nishiki market and the river are ten minutes walk away. The Hotel is clean, modern and very good value. The bathroom had a bath with shower and was brand new as was the room. I had a window on the street but heard no noise. Several subways are within 50 to 100 metres of the Hotel as well as buses to get around to temples and other sights easily. I love Kyoto and like to walk around the old streets and watch daily life too. The Hotel is within walking distance of Yasaka Shrine, Gion, Tatsumi Bridge and Kiyomizu-dera Temple. I am a walker so even Philosopher’s Path is doable at 4.5 kms. Otherwise there are lots of easy local transport options from the hotel.

The staff do not speak any English. Therefore, the hotel is great if you can figure things out but it can be a challenge otherwise if you need advice and explanations from reception staff. Also the rooms are small. It was fine with one small suitcase but it would be difficult with lots of luggage.

Hotel in very good location in downtown Kyoto, very friendly staff. Rooms are small, as it is standard in many Japanese hotels. Some rooms have the window to a narrow court which is quiet but doesn't provide too much light. There are other rooms with view and more light. The staff was helpful to find the right room for us.

We loved the location. Rooms were very clean. Room cleaning is done every 3 days but trash is collected and towels are changed daily. It was within close proximity to a lot of cafes, restaurants and convenience stores. Nishiki Market was also close by. Entrance to subway and Hankyu train were also just a few steps away. The bus stops to get to different tourist attractions were on the main road. Would pretty much choose this hotel again if we end up in Kyoto.

At first I was hesitant to book this property because of all the bad reviews about how thin the walls were. It wasn’t as bad as the reviews said… but I only think it wasn’t as bad because our neighbors probably weren’t that loud. My daughter in another room did mention that at some point in the night she heard a man snoring but not enough to ruin your sleep. On our last night, we got some really loud guests - whom I could hear while I was in our bathroom. I think the walls there are thin. They also ignored the no smoking signs everywhere because when we left our room at night, the halls reeked of cigarette smoke. The rooms are pretty small but I was expecting worse.

The hotel is very conveniently located in downtown Kyoto with public transport stops, convenience stores, and restaurants nearby. Nishiki Market and Gion are easily walkable, and Kyoto station a quick train ride away. Although the room including bathroom was very small, it suited our needs just fine with highly functional facilities (adequate shower size with good water pressure, bidet with toilet, mini fridge, water kettle). Note that this set-up may be typical for Japanese hotels, as it was nearly identical to the different hotel in which we stayed in Tokyo.

The room is very small with limited room for anything besides sitting on the bed with luggage left in the corner and belongings on a small shelf. During our six-night stay, the staff only performed a full room clean once, and even then, they did not change the sheets as there were two articles of clothing left on top. (The trash was emptied and fresh towels delivered daily.)

Fantastic location in central Kyoto; walkable to many shrines, temples, Gion, and shopping. The rooms were big by Japanese hotel standards, and overall it was a good value for the price.

The dryers didn’t work very well and one of the two available was out of service for the duration of my stay. The walls are also very thin, so noise carried. Finally, I received a phishing email claiming to be this hotel using booking.com’s messaging system; while it wasn’t the hotel’s fault, it was still a very stressful moment of an otherwise great stay.

Location: Excellent location, conveniently located at the main shopping strip at Shijo and Karasuma. Few minutes walk to Nishiki Market. Near to bus stops (where buses will take you to majority of the sight seeing spots) and subway stations. Staff/Service: Very friendly staff. Most can converse in English well. Helpful and very detailed while explaining check in/out procedure and any other queries. Overall Experience: It has been wonderful staying there. It is really value for money at such a great location. Good choice for solo traveller. Would love to stay there again when I am going back to Kyoto.

Nothing.

The location was excellent. A short walk to the main street, Nishiki Markets, shopping malls, Ninja Museum. So many 7/11 and family marts in the area. The ramen place next door was awsome 😋 There was a wonderful selection of restaurants within minutes of the hotel. The buses and train station were a 5min walk. The bed was comfy and you could walk down both sides. The staff were so helpful, polite, and spoke English. I would stay here again.

No issues at all.

The room was tiny but clean and the bathroom had a small bathtub which worked as a pretty generous shower. The provided cosmetics was amazing. Location was perfect - 2 subway lines as well as bus stops with direct connection to most tourist spots. A huge shopping mall and at least 3 convenient stores are within 2 minutes from the hotel. The WiFi quality was the best we've had in Japan (we travel mostly around hostels) and we had no trouble streaming our favourite shows. Contactless check-out was a big plus as we left early.

The room was really small and I'm not sure how our thighs would fit in it if we had 2 middle sized suitcases instead of large backpacks. Also the bed is extremely narrow for 2 people (especially people over 170 and 195 cm) and we did not sleep well here at all. It would be better as a room for 1 person. I was looking forward to a nice view when I learnt we'd be on 10th floor but our room was situated to another tall building so the window was blurred glass and impossible to open. I'm not sure why there was a microwave in the hallway next to the elevator but no place to sit down and eat the food (there was 1 chair in the room, more wouldn't fit).

Great helpful staff, very nice and attentive, flexible when wanting to change room due to water sink in first room. Made reservations for me in Japanese restaurant. Great location.

The cleaning of my bed / bed sherts was not done once in 6 days. After 3 days i hoped it would be done. As I had left sweat pants on my bed, I had a letter at 10 pm in my room at night that said they wouldn’t be able to touch and clean the bed, as there were personal belongings lying on my bed. This was hotel policy.. I did not know this and was slightly surprised. The rest was very good.

Recommend this hotel for it's location, many affordable eateries within 2 minutes walk. Friendly staff, stylish and clean hotel room, excellent wifi, didn't have any problems with it.

The room is pretty small but considering that it was probably a room for 1 adult I guess it's ok. And i recommend using outside laundry service rather than the hotel's. It's not a negative factor but there's a tax to stay in kyoto that's not in the website's pricing for 200yen/night