sfarah

EMD, thanks for the update on the hotel!

I'm going to be in Kyoto for 3 nights(arrive June 22nd) and I have not booked a hotel. A co-worker stayed at the Okura hotel and loved it but I can't get all 3 nights at the discounted rate of around $200. On the last night(Saturday), the rate is over $300 and I really did not want to spend that much for a room that doesn't even include breakfast. I can get a deluxe room with buffet breakfast at the new Hyatt for around $200 per night. It sounds like a great deal and the hotel looks lovely in these picture http://www.flickr.com/photos/66559596@N00/
My only concern is location. EMD and other frequent posters to the Japan board would you give me some insight?

I also considered staying at a Ryokan for one of the nights but I'll be traveling with my sister who suffers from severe migrane headaches and she sometimes needs to go back to the hotel and lie down during the day. I don't think that would work at a Ryokan.
Thanks for any help.

emd

WHOA!!! Those pictures of the new Hyatt Regency in Kyoto are just phenomenal! That room is absolutely lovely. Nice flat screen TV. Beautiful spa and fitness center. And it is all new. ANd the breakfast buffet pics make me hungry. If I could get that for $200 there is NO DOUBT in my mind that I would do it. It looks like it should much more than that.

It is on the edge of Higashiyama, btwn Kyoto station and Kiyomizudera temple (I am looking at the map on the Hyatt website). It is next to Sanjusanjendo temple. Map pg. says 5 min. walk from Keihan Shichijo station. That is good. So if you wanted to use the subway, it is only a 5 min. walk. I think they are saying it is a 15 min walk to the JR Nara Station (which you'd take to go to Fushimi Inari if you go there-- very close by). And cab it to Kyoto station as cabs are relatively inexpensive in Kyoto.

You are also right there in close walking distance to Kiyomizudera and my guess is you'll want to spend a day going from that temple (which is great and should not be missed IMO - panoramic views of Kyoto and the mountains from there) and shopping the wonderful streets in Kigashiyama as you make your way past all of the other many lovely temples in that area, and cross to Gion for dinner and can back to the hotel- that is a stellar day IMO.

For other places, days, and nights, you can cab it, or get to Kyoto Station or the subway to be on your way to whereever.

I'd go for it. Okura does have the subway right there, but that Hyatt looks nicer than the Okura to me, and you get that great breakfast buffet.

There are a few reviews already on tripadvisor.com and they rave about the location. Two earliest posters had employee problems at the hotel but later poster say this is being resolved.

WOW, that hotel looks good to me. Please let us know how your stay is if you stay there.

emd

Your sister can cab it easily to this hotel if she needs to lie down. Don't be too afraid of cabs- it is not like Tokyo where they cost an arm and a leg.

emd

Oh my, it has a spa too, w/10 treatment rooms (how about a little reflexology splurge after a lot of walking). Now I want to go back to Kyoto.

sfarah

That's exactly what I was thinking. I'm going to book it now and I will defintely write a review of the hotel when I get back.

Thanks for your help and by the way I loved your trip reports, very unique. Bravo!

emd

The best thanks you can give me is to give me intel on the Hyatt for my next trip! That is the way it works around here, it goes around and comes around.

Nevermind that I am planning on just going to the Inland Sea on the next trip- I might plan a last night in Kyoto to try out the Hyatt and expereince Kiyomizudera and Higashiyama again (I missed it on the last trip) before flying out of KIX, if the hotel is as good as it looks.

I am sort of surprised that there is not more buzz about this new Hyatt yet. Kyoto needed a new nice hotel like this, IMO. There is really just the Okura, Westin, and Granvia in this league, and I think this Hyatt will do well if the service is good. I expect those rates will be going up after it is open awhile too.

DIANAS

Wow!!!! I am not driving myself crazy... Am I?? I just read this and run in to Westin website. It will cost arund 30 US more per night that the GRANVIA... I think I will change my reservation. It looks beautiful.. Read some complaints about staff and service..but those reports are going to be two months old.... Emd: I Promise a full report! Sfarah are you getting your rate of their website?? Will let you know what I decide. D

emd

Dianas, did you go to the Westin website or the HYatt website? We are discussing the Hyatt- I threw in a comment on the Westin as a comparison...

DIANAS

Sorry.....yes that is what I meant - I check the Hyatt! It looks great... I am changing my reservation. Will let you know.
D

emd

The Granvia is a very good hotel too, gets good ratings on there. sfarah doesn't have much option on the other upscale hotels because she is going in 3 wks and has no reservations yet, so Hyatt is a great option for her IMO.

Granvia is inside the station which many consider a real benefit. So for anyone w/luxury of time and $$ and available reservations, I think there are still decisions to be made about pros/cons and preferences of Okura, Granvia, Westin, and the new Hyatt.

DIANAS

Just didi teh reservatinon at teh PARK HYATT! No comeback- PAid on line for the special rate. Will let all you know how it goes. D

sfarah

Well, I have changed my plans a bit. My planning is cockeyed on this trip because I'll be arriving in Tokyo on June 16th to meet up with an old friend who is Japanese (originally from Tokyo) but lives in Paris. My flight departs Kansai on 6/25 so I decided to work the trip backwards and spend at least the last 3 days in Kyoto. I'm still not sure what I'll be doing at the beginning of the trip but I will be staying with her family so I don't need a hotel.

Since my last post I booked Yoshi-ima
Ryokon in Gion for the last night (6/24) of the trip. It's yen 18,000 per person with breakfast and dinner. For the other 2 nights (6/23& 6/23)I have a choice of the following standard rooms, no breakfast: Okura $186, GranVia $149 and Hyatt $167, adding breakfast to the price was ridiculous at all the hotels. I may just try it one morning as we are not big breakfast eaters. So now I need to decide which one to book. By the way the Hyatt rate I first quoted with breakfast was an error on the agent's part, too bad. What rate did you get DIANAS ? Did it include breakfast?

DIANAS

Sfarah and emd, just to clarify the hotel we are talking about is the HYATT REGENCY not a PARK HYATT. Anyway.... I got Jun8 18900, Jun9 21600 and jun10 27000; not including breakfast. I got the rate on their website.
We are leaving tomorrow will give you all details in 10 days.Hyatt and Yoshima.
THANKS FOR EVERYTHING

DIANAS

Hello! I am writing from my room at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto. It is beautiful!!! Great location!! Internet from the room is great. No laptop charge and maximun of US20 for internet acces for 24 hours! Spa prices are HIGH. We decided to go for the in room massage, beacause of teh hours. The spa is only open until 10 pm. Yoshima was good, GREAT LOCATION, food was nothing special! More details later!!

emd

Glad you are enjoying the new Hyatt and like the location. You sound happy. Have a great time there! Have you had shiatsu massage before? That is probably what you are getting in the hotel right? You keep your yukata robe on and they use a lot of thumb pressure. I had two at hotels in Japan also...very different from regular therapeutic massage.

I hope you are enjoying Kyoto.

DIANAS

Emd, I am sure you will love the hotel. Staff seems OK, I read a couple of dramatic reviews! Yes we we got a couple of Shiatsu msgs in Kyoto; they were great!!! I ahave a Q? for you. HAve you been in Hakone? Were you the one talking avout YUnessen. We are thinking about spending our last night in HAkone. We tried the ONSEN in Nikko and what to experience another one.Can we drop Nara?? Is 1/2 day OSAKA worth it??

emd

YEs, I have been to Haknoe and yes, i covered Yunessun in my recent trip report. We really liked it, but it is not a traditional onsen at all. Very diferent, like a spa resort, but we really had fun there.

see their brand new website:

http://www.yunessun.com/english/

emd

this page has god pictures of the baths we went to:

http://www.yunessun.com/english/yunessun.html

emd

re Osaka: If I had a reason to go there, somethign in particular to see 9for me it was baseball game and a sumo tournament) I'd go, but otherwise for me it is just a big city.

I have not been to Nara. Some consider it a must-see. I get my fill of temples in Kyoto though, and I've seen the tame deer in Miyajima. I've never had a desire to go to Nara.

DIANAS

Emd, Just what I wanted to hear about Osaka and Nara. Could not agree more for both cities!!!! I will check the pictures and the website, it seems to me that thats what we are looking for. MANY THANKS!