Hotel Rakurakuan

Firstly, the room was beautifully designed - light, airy, and with a lovely tatami seating area. The room was also very large and had a small garden attached. The location in Kyoto was good (close to a metro station but even closer to bus stops for access to Kiyomizu-dera, Arashima etc.), and the road was peaceful.

This was not a problem for us, but be aware that this is effectively an Airbnb-style accommodation, not really a hotel. Check in is via a lockbox, and the reception desk is unstaffed, while you take any amenities (towels, toothbrushes etc.) from an area on the ground floor. There are no facilities at all (no microwave, seating area, reception, breakfast etc.) available in the hotel.

Room was very spacious. The neighbourhood is quiet. The hotel is not very centrally located but many nice sights are still in walkable distance. If the staff was around, they were kind. We really really enjoyed our stay in Kyoto and the hotel was a safe place to recover.

There were no real services provided by the hotel, such as washing machines, vending machines or a ice machine. It felt more like being in an ill equipped air bnb. Also there was hardly any staff around (corona as the reason did not convince me, as we are in year 4 of the pandemic). So, during our stay (4 nights) there was no cleaning done and no towels were replenished, which was mildly inconveniencing.

Room was extremely spacious and super clean. Street where accomadation is tucked away is nice and silent so no noise in room. Also good connection for public transport. Wifi connection without any issues. You can get breakfast as addition with your accomodation its mailny different types of breads with some yam or other spread. Toilet in seperate room in the bathroom which is always apreciated. Man who checked us in was very nice even though he didnt speak English he really tried to make it easy and pleasant experience. In room you have fridge and downstairs in shared spaces there is microwave if you wish to reheat some food. Downstairs where the reception is you can grab fresh towels every day or any other personal hygiene supplies that they provide.

We had little issue with checking in. There was nobody at the desk even though we arrived during check-in hours. There is code door to enter lobby and we could not enter at least the reception while we waited for somebody to show up to check us in so we had to stay outside with all the bags for the time being. Also there is a note to give a call or reach out via email if you wish to checkin they didnt respond to email very promptly and as foreigners we didnt really wanna call japanese telephone but luckily in our case two japanese ladies showed up around the same time and called the number. After the call man showed up in like 10 minutes to check us in. Personnel did not speak English which is nothing google translate cant handle these days.

I loved how quiet and private the hotel was. The rooms were huge which is really great if you have kids. Fabulous bathroom. The location is also nice - 8 min walk to Gojo station and 15mins to Kyoto. There's also a bus stop 4 mins from the hotel.

The staff are rarely present so we had to walk onto the street to hail a cab with out suitcases and toddler in tow. They will not hold your bags after check out or before checkin despite having the space to do so. They send multiple emails before you arrive to highlight this. When I checked out the Japanese couple in front asked to have their small suitcase looked after and they said YES! When I immediately asked the same they said NO! Also the carpet in the room was filthy and there's an exit sign that glows above the door so it's impossible to make the room dark.

Very spacious, having being travelling for days and seen many hotels this was by far the biggest room we had. Very comfy. Clean and modern

There is no actual reception, if you need something you must communicate via email. However we did not need anything. You just get your code, get your key and amenities are available.

Nice quiet neighbourhood of Kyoto, easily walkable to Gojo Station. Spacious room, well equipped and nicely decorated.

Would have liked a room safe. The safety exit sign above the room door was VERY bright, so the room wasn't dark even with all the lights turned off. There is no washing machine at this hotel and the nearby laundry requires you to bring your own washing powder (you can't buy it there).

I liked that the room was spacious in a quiet neighborhood in Kyoto.

Unfortunately if you have loud guests you might suffer for a bit, we stayed in the hotel during Gion Matsuri festival and the guests above us always were loud around midnight, unfortunately you couldn’t escape the noise.

We stayed for a couple of days and it was perfect for us in terms of location. The room was comfortable.

As we stayed for more than one day, the bin in the room was a bit too small. But overall, it was fine.

The room was spacious and very well designed. Everything was perfect! Location is near the subway and walking distance to many great spots.

There was no room cleaning service even though we stayed for 4 nights

The hotel is near Kyoto Station just 10 minutes by bus and 15 minutes by walking. Our room had a cute small garden. We love it. Our room had special traditional Japanese art/design. Simple but effective. The room was like described. It may booked trustfully 😇