Hotel Review: Hotel Granvia Kyoto Japan

I booked the Hotel Granvia Kyoto for our recent family holiday and it was a superb choice.

When we visit cities as a family days are spent exploring – the hotel becomes somewhere we sleep, rather than somewhere to lounge. First preference is to find a hotel room to comfortably accommodate our family of four now the boys are ‘tween’ sized; rather than going down the interconnecting room route. We discovered the hard way that many hotels do not guarantee this room style, (it is not useful to have the family in rooms on different floors…).

LOCATION

Perfect location for families as the Hotel Granvia Kyoto is part of the JR Kyoto Station building (where the Bullet train from Tokyo and local trains hub). Our visit to Kyoto came after a ski holiday, several heavy suitcases later we were patting ourselves on the back for choosing a conveniently located property – within 15 minutes we were off the train, up a few escalators and in our room!

We were able to walk to plenty of shops (big electronics store across the road); for trips across town the local bus stopped at the front (lots of fun to travel with the locals and a very cheap way to get around town).

Before

Why did you visit this property?

Family holiday visit to Kyoto.

Was the property easy to book?

Yes and no. I found it tricky to track down where in Kyoto to stay with kids. A bit of investigating on Trip Advisor and this property came up…our Travel Agent priced it and booked direct with the hotel on our behalf.

During

Was the transfer seamless?

See above.

First impressions?

How was Check-In handled?

Efficiently. This is a business style hotel, staff are used to looking after non-Japanese speaking guests.We were shown immediately to our room.

How may we help you (service and staff)?

Very friendly, very Japanese. We availed ourselves several times of the Concierge services, they were able to recommend several restaurants which we enjoyed – supplying us with very handy maps.

Rooms

Ta da – how was the room?

Huge and well appointed. We had been warned to expect tiny rooms throughout Japan, our ‘family room’ was an exception. The layout of sleeping/lounge and bathroom worked really well. Two large windows afforded fabulous views of the city landscape, piece de resistance for the youngest – the outlook over the train tracks.

Welcome – anyone saying this?

We escorted ourselves to the room (which did take several attempts to find). Not because we are directionally challenged (although I have been known to look at maps upside down…shhh), simply because this is a huge property and some of the corridor signage could have been clearer.

Sleep – bliss or blah?

Truly bliss. The beds were surprisingly magnificent, I say surprising because when you book a standard family room you don’t expect sleep to be a highlight.

Unpacking – is there room for everything?

Plenty. Huge walk-in wardrobe as part of the bathroom, which is very convenient with kids.

WI/FI – techie bright stuff.

Free WI/FI. Happy tweens.

All the usual business amenities available.

Made to feel at home (robes, bottled water, tea/coffee).

All of the above, although the coffee set up was rather challenging, we made do with the Starbucks across the road.

Keeping it clean – bliss or blah (amenities, decent hair dryer)?

Huge bathroom with separate singing toilet (the youngest was lost in there for hours deciding which tunes should accompany his, ahem, business). The loo also sprayed water, massaged, and dried – honestly Japanese toilets need their own Postcode they are that well equipped. The shower was styled along the lines of a Spa (overhead and wall mounted spray), the bath perfect for soaking.  An extensive ammenties selection, complete with body loofahs, hairbrushes, combs, clothes brushes. I travelled with my own hairdryer.

Restaurants

The Hotel Granvia Kyoto offers 12 food and beverage outlets. We only dined in-house at Le Temps for a buffet breakfast which had a super selection of European and Japanese cuisine and was well priced (about AUD$12.50 for the kids for a full hot/cold buffet). The hotel location was so well located for dining options we tried somewhere different for every meal.

Action/Relaxation – what activities were on offer?

The pool and gym are only accessible for guests over 20 years of age at a charge of approx. AUD$12.

Cost…

At the time of stay (January 2015), our room rate was approx. AUD$500.00 per night.

Would I stay at this property again?

Yes due to the location, however for our next visit to Kyoto we would also include several nights in a traditional Ryokan.

FIND OUT MORE

Hotel Granvia Kyoto website

DISCOVER THE DESTINATION

Japan National Tourism Organisation – Australia