Fujita Hotel
city: Kyoto
Good:
Location. Right next to the river. Short walk from several major sites.
Great staff.
Best breakfast of any of the hotels we were at.
Nice rooms. Even with 3 shoehorned in.
Bad:
No internet in the rooms (I know...engineers. Still, everyone likes to check email) Computers are in the lobby - 2 - at 1000 yen for 10 minutes.
2 outlets in the room. And 1 was for the TV.
1000 yen TV cards
1 KEY per room (that's right, no cards)
Emus Business Hotel
Shin-Fuji
Good:
Price! about $50 a night. Cash only though.
Free wireless
Rooms were good for the price. Think Motel 6.
Roof access (view of Mt Fuji)
Bad:
Long walk from the station (not my complaint) and signs were in katakana.
1 Room smelled smoky (cigarettes)
Owner spoke no english (not a problem for us but...)
Takayama Best Western
Takayama
Good:
Great location
Good staff
Good Breakfast
Bad:
Spendy . Well over $100 each a night.
No exchange service (but post office nearby)
Staff spoke little/no english (Yes, I know this is Japan. Still, this is a tourist area)
Comfort
Toyama
Good:
Location. Close to station.
Clean.
Staff (remembered us and our room numbers right away)
Bad:
1 card per room. With room number on it. (I mean it wasn't a disposable card)
Small rooms.
Pillows were horrible. Weird things about an inch thick...with instructions on how to use them. Still, for some unknown reason Mark liked them.
No exchange service. (in a business hotel? Come on...)
Manten Kanzawa
Kanazawa
Good:
Ummmm.....the Japanese bath on the second floor.
Good staff.
Bad:
Tiny rooms.
No exchange
Expensive breakfast...and POWDERED EGGS for gods sake.
Bit of a walk from the station
Rihga Royal
Kyoto
Good:
Best rooms. Especially at the price :)
Great Staff
Shuttle bus
Biggest tubs
Great location for travelers. (right next to the station)
Really good restaurant (Top of Kyoto) according to Jo. But expensive.
Bad:
1000 yen fee for most services (internet, pool, hot tub, etc...) I think they keep the room cost low but they do it by nickel and dimeing you for services.
So the verdicts are:
Best hotel - Rihga Royal
Best for price - Emus (really)
Stay away from - Manten
Could be better still - Fujita. And all it needs is a bit of moderizing. Like more outlets, wireless access, and keycard doorlocks. Other than that it was great.
So there you have it. That's the quick rundown on the hotels. We all liked the Rihga best. And I'd surely stay there again. If I wanted to be closer to the center of the city I'd probably use the Fujita again. But since I like to take day trips out of the station I prefer the Rihga.
Next post will be lessons learned - 2008 edition.
