Kyoto Karasuma-gojo Super Hotel

I'm tempted to book the Kyoto Super Hotel my upcoming trip. But the web site seems to indicate that the "super room" for 2 people has one semi-double bed plus one sofabed. How comfortable is the sofabed? Also, I'm used to tiny hotel rooms, but exactly how tiny is the "super room"?

Hi, Onibaba--

I'd be interested in hearing whether anyone has any direct experience with this particular Super Hotel, but if all you get is a loft bed plus a sofabed, I'd say you are really taking your chances. The Super Hotel web site doesn't seem to have a photo of the room in the Kyoto hotel, although on the Japanese web site, they show a photo of a couple of sofabed rooms in their Hakodate hotel: Kyoto.http://www.superhotel.co.jp/facilities/hakodate.html

To be honest, the sofabed doesn't look especially comfortable. As for the loft bed, it is a convenient place to put your bags, but I wouldn't consider sleeping on one.

I've stayed in a standard Super Room (semidouble bed plus loft) and it was pretty tiny, but with a sofabed room maybe there's more space, when the bed is folded up. (There is in the Hakodate pictures, but Kyoto might be different.)

It might be fine, but to be honest, I'd think twice if I were you. A bad night's sleep or a sore back can have a nasty impact on your trip. If you can consider spending a little more, I recommend the Karasuma Kyoto Hotel as one option. It's pretty basic, but nicer than a low-end business hotel. They have an English web site with a booking interface.

I'm not sure what happened, but the window I was typing into closed prematurely. No idea whether my reply got sent or not.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks, Uma, for the warning! The Kyoto Super Hotel looks much too Spartan for us.

On the other hand, the Kyoto Karasuma Hotel looks perfect but a little bit beyond our budget of 5000 yen per person per night. (We were hoping to stay at Toyoko Inn, but they're full.)

I'm going to try the Palace Side Hotel next. If I can get us a room there, I think I'd better take it.

If you know of other low-cost options in Kyoto that have nonsmoking, air-conditioned twin or double rooms, please let me know!

Thanks again,

--Onibaba

It's pretty tough if you're limited to English. Rakuten Travel's Japanese interface shows numerous options at or below 10,000 (prices depend on when you're there, of course), but these are not available through their English interface. If you have some Japanese ability, you can use Rakuten to identify potential hotels and then try to follow up with the hotels directly.

I'm afraid this price bracket is not something I'm very knowledgeable about. I was in Kyoto earlier this year and spent a lot of time researching hotels but was fortunate to have a slightly higher budget.

You can definitely do better if you stay in Osaka and commute, but of course that's a real trade-off. Staying in Kyoto is fun! I'd say keep trying; I believe there are a few places but you really have to look around. Hopefully the Palace Side will work out for you; I've read many favorable reviews.

Uma-san,

Many thanks! We looked at Rakuten and found places that looked good. But in the end we decided to try BJ Family House, an immaculate-looking new guest house, after we found a good rate for it on Expedia.

Cheers,

Onibaba

Thanks for the news. That does look like a nice place at a very good price. I'd be interested in hearing how you liked it.

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

So dear Onibaba,

Have you experienced already the BJ Family hotel in Kyoto ?
We are looking for a hotel and would like to benefit from your experience

Thanks a lot,
Marc.

We found the BJ Family Hotel to be friendly, clean, quiet, and conveniently located. And it's all nonsmoking, which was terrific. However, the room was quite small. And one of the other guests monopolized the free internet computer for 2 or 3 hours one night. Also, doing laundry was problematic, because they only have a single all-in-one machine. This means that you can't start a load of laundry until the previous load is dry -- and the combined cycle takes from 2 to 3 hours. Oh, and the last load must finish by around 10:30 or 11pm so as not to disturb the live-in manager. Which is fine as long as you know about it in advance and can schedule around it. In our case, it put us in a bit of a bind until the other guests generously offered to hang up their laundry to dry instead of machine-drying it. On the whole, I prefer Toyoko Inn. But I'll keep BJ Family House as a backup for when Toyoko Inn is full.

hi,
do u guys know if this hotel is close to kyoto station? as i will arriving late at night from KIX. Is it safe for female walking alone?
thanks

The BJ Family Hotel is a 5 or 10-minute walk from Kyoto Station. The neighborhood appeared to be quite safe for a woman walking alone at any hour.

thanks Onibaba..