Surprisingly big room! Good location as well.

Had a great time!

EXCELLENT in every way for a budget trip. This is a small, old fashioned "business hotel" and even though the rooms are compact, they are well appointed, comfortable and clean. The location is perfect, just out of the hustle and bustle but walking distance to the Kamo River. A previous review said the breakfasts here are terrible. This is completely NOT the case. The breakfasts are a great example of traditional Japanese breakfasts, with miso soup, rice, pickles, vegetables and fish. You can also choose lots of western options: croissants, eggs, meats. There is a coffee machine that fresh grinds the coffee and also there are different kinds of juice. This was a nice part of my stay. The best part is that the hotel staff is incredibly nice and helpful. They even made sure I was warm enough when I went to the mountains. They have a business relationship with with a really nice cab company, too. Just all in all a nice, simple, affordable place to stay in Kyoto.

Everything was great.

Amazing location with convenient access to the metro and many restaurant and grocery stores at walking distance.

The rooms were very clean. Just enough space for luggage and hanging out in the room. Washrooms were clean and the tub was a nice size. The area is very convenient. Family Mart just around the corner. Not too far from Kyoto station, or the local subway.

Largest room I have seen in japan

Great staff but hotel itself needs a bit of an upgrade. Perfectly satisfactory though and convenient location

I did not stay at the property. I reserved on line and walked directly over. The staff was surly and non comprehending. I cancelled my booking within half an hour of making it. I did not stay there and was charged $417 for a room I never used. I would appreciate your help in having my money refunded!

Great Stay in Smile Kyoto Shijo

Spacious room for 3. Near to Nishiki market and subway station but 40mins walk to Kyoto station. Bus stop across the road to bring you to Kiyomizu Temple

GREAT STAFF AND LOCATION!

I love the location which is close to Nishiki Market and the bus stop. Very safe neighborhood for a solo traveler and the staff is very helpful. Tanaka san was very helpful when I called over the telephone about my checkin with my limited Japanese proficiency.

The hotel is average. first day we had the breakfast, food was cold. I think someone informed the staff re. Cold breakfast because they added the warmer the next day. Breakfast has lots of selection but if you stay more than 4 days, it will be monotonous. Super grocery store is just infront of the hotel with lots of great selection. Bust stop is few steps in front of the hotel and convenient to got to different attractions.

Nice clean and convenient location for transportation staff r courteous

Our stay at the Smile Hotel was great. Breakfast offered had a wide selection which changed daily. The place was clean and was conveniently located to travel places.

Simplicity and price

Clean tidy. Staff helpful. Room is quite small as is the bed.

Nice sized room. Booked a room with 4 single beds and one was a cot which wasn’t ideal for an adult, but we were only there for 2 nights so we just managed with it. Good allergen labeling of breakfast food - would have liked more hot food options that weren’t meat and fish but again, we managed. Cleanliness seemed ok for any touch points. There was some mildewy areas in the bathroom corners, etc.

Good basic accommodation. Good value.

Very nice experience

Honestly in a perfect area

Everything was fine except only three laundry machines and only one laundry machine has security. In a very crowded location.

Everything was same as described.

It was very clean and the staff very friendly and helpful.

Great Stay

In my opinion, this was the perfect location for a hotel in Kyoto. It’s a few minutes away from a subway station and right next to a bus stop that can take you anywhere in the city. The hotel itself was really nice and clean, and the room was spacious.

Nice people

It is in close proximity to all the tourist areas but just far enough away that we do not have to face the crowd every day.

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Great location to most facilities.

was in kyoto for Gion Matsuri. the location is fantastic which i really managed to finish hunting for all the floats. they are amazing and very local-ish. staff at the hotel are accommodating and pleasant. there is even portable balance for checking luggage weight. however, the property itself is obviously worn out by time, you may find stains, rust, mould or dirt here and there in the room. it is still using a real room key instead of card key. but the mattresses is still bearable. tho it really needs some renovations to keep up with the cost they demand for a night and the surrounding area.

Rooms are very small as are most Japanese hotel rooms. No wardrobe or draw units to store cloths. Shower was excellent with plenty of hot water. Towels changed daily. OK for a couple of nights but not for long stay. Great location close to bus and trains and taxi's run past the hotel frequently.

Very clean. Close to some tourist attractions

👍

Staff are friendly, 8 mins walking distance from the underground station, and there is a family mart downstairs and some shops around that area, it's quite convenient. The facilities are a bit old but include basic and functional amenities, there are some old stains underneath the washbowl, but general cleanliness is good. A good place to stay at a good price.

Very nice property. Very spacious for my family of 4. We had 4 twin size beds so all of us could get a good night sleep after all of our adventures and walking.

Nice hotel. Clean and easy. Staff was kind. What I didn’t like: I wanted to stay one more night and they gave me double price for 1 night. I paid that money for 2 nights. I couldn’t extend my staying

Great hotel for the price

It is a lovely place to stay right in the heart of Kyoto. We would definitely stay there again.

Good for the money.

It’s okay

The guys at the front desk were great. My son forgot his medication and they mailed it to our hotel in Tokyo.

They don’t provide any parking lots and the room is pretty small and tv is small overall experience was bad

Had a great time with my stay, staff were kind

Very friendly staff. Hotel looked modern and clean, it felt more like a 4 star hotel. Short walk to bus and subway. Breakfast had lots of choices. Free things given such as night wear, toothbrushes, shavers etc which is so rare in europe.

Area is nice Supermarket and convenience stores available Quite a lot of food options Room clean in general but house cleaning only available per 3 nights

I greatly appreciated the little amenities and efforts by the concierges. I brought shoes that soon proved worn out, but the complimentary house slippers made excellent temporary insoles. Developed quite a few blisters of course, but they always had a bandage or three when I asked. And they had me covered for money changing as well, taking such a headache off my plate when I found all the public transit needed exact change. All in all it was the staff that saved my trip with such little touches.

The hotel is too old and needs refurbishing.

Great Location, Proximity to transportation and Restaurents. I did not interacted with the staff much but they were very nice. The hotel was a little worn down but clean. Verry limmitted items in the Breakfast buffet. Ended up eating out 2 out of the 5 days we were there. for a 3 star it is a little of a streach. Would not recommend

The TV is too small no English channels or do mirroring. They only have 2 pillows and its hard.

Very accommodating staff and service. Great breakfast!

Clean, safe, easey transportation. Room is small.

Breakfast buffet has lots of choices and nice price.

It was very convenient and affordable.

Location and breakfast are excellent

The hotel is definitely dated but the room was very clean and quite large. The staff were very helpful.

The staff are super friendly and welcoming. Will definitely stay here again when visiting Kyoto!

Convenient, safe, clean

Great value for the location with breakfast buffet. The hotel is a bit dated however decent size room compared to other Japanese hotels.

Perfect location and outstanding staff at So Smile Hotel! The hotel's proximity to attractions, restaurants and supermarkets made exploring Tokyo a breeze, and the staff went above and beyond to ensure a comfortable stay.

The room was clean and spacious, bigger than APA Hotels but dated. Property is old. They use traditional keys not keycards. The duvet was scratchy. Pillows not comfy. No water provided but it’s the lowest rate I found so you get what you pay for. Close to bus stations, to trains less than 10 mins. Staff were really nice and helpful.

Clean and spacious room. Convenient location and staff was very friendly and helpful.

The hotel is super clean and conveniently located to train and bus stations to go anywhere. The best part of this place is how friendly and helpful the staff is. I had trouble finding certain places I wanted to visit and they patiently helped me find what I needed. Highly recommend this hotel and would stay here again.

rooms are small

Good

Comfortable for a few days.

Excellent location and great stuff.

We love this hotel. It has excellent service.

Great helpful desk staff! Liked being able to purchase breakfast buffet with variety of food to start day of sight seeing.

Great hotel. Excellent area , easy to access trains/ taxi, bus. Also walkable. Good for shopping, dinning and to see temples in the area. Hotel was excellent.

Great staff, very helpful. Clean spacious room.

Great experience

The staff were excellent. I was nervous on travelling to japan, but they were helpful in answering any questions/assistance I had about the local area or the hotel facilities. The reception, kitchen/dining, room service experience were great. I have stayed in more expensive hotels before, but I had a better experience with this hotel. Thanks!

Older hotel, needs updating, but clean, helpful staff, spacious rooms, well maintained. Excellent value for the budget conscious traveller!

A nice cozy hotel to stay in Kyoto.

Friendly staff.

Decent price

For the price it's really good value. The rooms are small but it's clean and the service is very good. It's walkable to a metro station and there are bus stops nearby, as well as convenience stores and grocery stores within 1 min of walking.

Small and minimal

I think hotel is pricy given the size of the room and bare minimal approach. Very small room. Its hard to even move chair while sitting and working on table. Provided one thin towel a day only and bed was also ordinory. Breakfast though was fine.

Property was okay. Lots of scratches on the walls and carpet looks old. Also breakfast options were very limited…not worth paying 1000 yen for. Front desk staff and waiters were extremely friendly and helpful. Laundry machines were easy to use. Hotel is fine for tourists who will be spending most of their day sightseeing.

Spacious & clean room. Within 20 min walking distance of nijo jo castle in one direction and nishiki market in the other. Next door to family mart and opposite life Supermarket with amazing food. Long walk or short taxi ride to Gion

The beds were very comfortable. The best we have had so far in Japan

Clean, good location near Shinjo subway station and walking distance to Gion…great value.

It is a great location and the staff were very friendly. The beds were comfortable. The rooms we stayed in was dirty from long use and in need of renovation.

Great service and the property is near a lot of great atteactions and experiences.

DO NOT STAY HERE DURING SPRING OR FALL.

Ridiculously, the entire building AC/Heat is controlled by one system. If you’re unfortunate like us where the weather was hot, but it was still spring time - you’re out of luck. The front desk suggested we open the window, or lend us a fan. This only happened in this hotel during our entire 2 weeks stay in Japan, spanning 6 different hotels.

No AC. We need to open the window so we can have a good ventilation but it was noisy outside. Because our room facing the main street.

Location is good. Room was ok.

Adequate but not inspiring.

No AC in rooms - the hotel operates the AC for the entire building. Even with pleasant weather, it got SO stuffy in our room and we were miserable until we finally requested a fan, which helped. Very noisy outside our window. Bed was ok, not great. Coin laundry is only available during 8 AM - 10 PM, which was super inconvenient when everyone is trying to use the same 3 machines and they aren’t monitored to make sure they get emptied after a cycle is done. Would recommend a slightly larger room if 2 people are sharing the room, because we were constantly walking over each other to use the bathroom or reach our luggage. Great location, but was more expensive than the slightly nicer Tokyo hotel we stayed in a week prior, which had AC in the room and laundry available 24/7. The only positive was that the staff was incredibly kind and happy to help however they could. Wouldn’t stay here again though, mainly because of the AC and laundry and for the price we paid.

Bathroom needs to be cleaned thoroughly

The bathroom sink is not clean, you can see the dirty darkness under the sink when stand outside the bathroom. Also the toilet is not clean even outside the bowl.

Good price in spite of GW but need to work for 10 min or more from the station. If you have big bags, it’s bit tired. For room, nothing to mention 👍👍

Nice staff

Very clean, which was especially important as we stayed during the Covid-19 outbreak. Had a complaint one night about some noisy neighbours and hotel staff immediately came to sort it out for us. Great breakfast. Clean room. Quite a walk from Kyoto station, but really close to the main shopping street and really close to the station that takes you straight to Arishyama, which is worth a visit!

The staff were very helpful and friendly

Very small room, but it was perfect for me. It had a refrigerator, tea & TV. Bed was very comfortable. All was nice & neat upon my arrival.

Really good place, affordable and close to the shopping streets of Kyoto.

Room is clean but an air conditioner can not adjust to cool in winter because it is set to be heater now. If you feel hot, you have to open the window.

Good location. near restaurants and public transport. But needs improvement on cleanliness. Too much molds mildews in bathroom

property is clean staff is kind and near to all the tourist spot

Good price, good location.

The hotel is conveniently located with a bus stop just a couple of minutes walk away with buses that go to most of the attractions in Kyoto. The room is a teeny bit tiny, rather typical of Japanese rooms, but still comfortable. The staff were very helpful and were always with a smile.

I liked the location, was within walking distance to Gion neighborhood, pontocho alley, etc. Check in was easy. We were a little early but the room was already clean so staff allowed us to get into the room earlier. Bed was big enough for my partner and I. The only thing I did not like was the washroom had a sort of wet smell.

clean, nice location