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-   -   Hotel Mume Lovers - questions for you (https://www.fodors.com/community/asia/hotel-mume-lovers-questions-for-you-1676626/)

alison Jan 18th, 2020 01:59 PM

Hotel Mume Lovers - questions for you
 
This is for that sub-set of Fodorites who have visited Kyoto and reported back with RAVES about Hotel Mume being an absolute must! I have been following the Japan forum for years and we are finally going for 2 weeks in May. I knew to book Hotel Mume as soon as we had our dates and could only get the Moon Room 8 months in advance. Unfortunately, the available Moon room is the one that can't be made up as a large bed -- only as two twins pushed together. (Mysteriously, one Moon room can be made up as a large bed and the other can't....) For five nights, we do have concerns about how small and dark the room is, as well as preferring one large bed. (I do realize that the larger, brighter rooms all have beds pushed together.)

TA reviewers indicate to stay there even if Moon Room is only possibility -- that the hotel is that exceptional. But now there are many new hotels and other boutique options in Kyoto and so I'm wondering whether it's really worth it to stay at Mume in such a tiny dark room.

Other options we are considering are Cross Hotel (more a typical hotel, but very well-reviewed, and just east of the river rather than in Gion), Celestine Gion, and Hotel Ethnography Gion Furumonzen (also a small, guest-focused property).
Hope that Mume lovers will chime in!

Also, any comments appreciated about pros and cons of staying right in Gion (with its authentic "charm") or just across the river closer to Sanjo Station and more convenient to subway lines, Pontocho Alley and Nishiki Market where some have noted is not so charming, but very lively. I realize this part of Kyoto is very compact and we can easily walk from one area to the other in 10-15 minutes.

I will post itinerary questions in another planning thread!

Thanks, as always, for input.

MinnBeef Feb 28th, 2020 08:55 PM


Originally Posted by alison (Post 17048477)
This is for that sub-set of Fodorites who have visited Kyoto and reported back with RAVES about Hotel Mume being an absolute must! I have been following the Japan forum for years and we are finally going for 2 weeks in May. I knew to book Hotel Mume as soon as we had our dates and could only get the Moon Room 8 months in advance. Unfortunately, the available Moon room is the one that can't be made up as a large bed -- only as two twins pushed together. (Mysteriously, one Moon room can be made up as a large bed and the other can't....) For five nights, we do have concerns about how small and dark the room is, as well as preferring one large bed. (I do realize that the larger, brighter rooms all have beds pushed together.)

TA reviewers indicate to stay there even if Moon Room is only possibility -- that the hotel is that exceptional. But now there are many new hotels and other boutique options in Kyoto and so I'm wondering whether it's really worth it to stay at Mume in such a tiny dark room.

Other options we are considering are Cross Hotel (more a typical hotel, but very well-reviewed, and just east of the river rather than in Gion), Celestine Gion, and Hotel Ethnography Gion Furumonzen (also a small, guest-focused property).
Hope that Mume lovers will chime in!

Also, any comments appreciated about pros and cons of staying right in Gion (with its authentic "charm") or just across the river closer to Sanjo Station and more convenient to subway lines, Pontocho Alley and Nishiki Market where some have noted is not so charming, but very lively. I realize this part of Kyoto is very compact and we can easily walk from one area to the other in 10-15 minutes.

I will post itinerary questions in another planning thread!

Thanks, as always, for input.

I’m surprised that after more than one month you have not received any replies. Yes, Hotel Mume is wonderful. And I’ve stayed there twice. Hisako and her team have never been tipped for kindness and service in any of my travels. You are lucky to have gotten a reservation. Keep the Moon room and ask them to put you on a wait list if another room opens up. That’s how I got into Mume on my first trip. Months after they put me on a wait list, they actually emailed me with an opening.


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