Sotetsu Fresa Inn Kyoto-Kiyomizu Gojo

This hotel is, without a doubt, the worst I've ever stayed in, in several aspects. First, upon check-in, we were given a room on the third floor that was damp and smelled of mold. The hotel provided a list of recommended restaurants nearby, claiming they were all excellent and highly rated on Google. At first, it seemed thoughtful, but after visiting two of them, it was clear that wasn't the case. One was an eel restaurant that was a total rip-off; they only had the most expensive items on the menu, nothing affordable. A single dish for a child cost ¥4000. I've never encountered a place so desperate to make money; there were only two other customers in the entire restaurant. The other recommended place wasn't even open when we arrived. It was incredibly frustrating to waste time and energy walking around with a child. On the first night, there was a strange, intermittent noise in the room that kept me from sleeping almost all night. Even more astonishing, when I went to the front desk the next day to request a room change, it took a long discussion for them to reluctantly agree, and they showed absolutely no apology. A Japanese front desk lady even insisted on checking the room, implying she doubted my complaint, and said they couldn't solve a non-existent problem. She also urged us to move quickly because they needed to clean it and sell it to someone else. I argued they should investigate the issue before selling it, not just sell it as is. The hotel staff seemed completely indifferent, and the cleaning staff appeared to be entirely Indian. The whole experience was awful; I felt a profound sense of coldness, inflexibility, irresponsibility, and extreme perfunctoriness. It was completely unlike my impression of Japan, utterly terrible, a waste of time, mood, and energy – a hotel that will make your trip miserable.

The room was quite spacious, which I really liked. The transportation was also convenient, with Kamo River right nearby. Although the breakfast wasn't extensive, it was definitely enough to fill me up. Overall, I'm satisfied and would book again next time.

The room isn't huge, but it's perfectly adequate. Opening luggage wasn't too difficult, though the desk was a bit small, making it feel a little cramped for belongings. The window faced a wall, so it was pretty much like an inner-facing room. The hotel lobby, for a hotel of this caliber, was quite spacious. Check-in can be done via machine, but there are also staff available to help. It's a bit of a walk to both the Keihan train and the subway, but there are supermarkets and convenience stores nearby, which is handy for shopping.

The bathroom was larger than I expected, which was a pleasant surprise.

The room was great, and the front desk staff even gave me a larger room, which I really appreciated! The check-in experience was excellent. Although there were people speeding down the road on loud motorcycles in the middle of the night, overall it was still very good.

Ms. Sakai arranged a room with an amazing view for me, thanks a lot, haha! The only issue was the housekeeping lady knocking on the door so aggressively, she practically scared me awake. Everything else was fine. It would be even better if they could add a water dispenser or bottled water. All in all, I had a great time in Kyoto, haha!