I wrote earlier about my indecision of where to stay for our three-day trip to Kyoto. As much as I disliked the location of Hyatt Regency Kyoto, we ended up staying here because I got a free upgrade to a bigger room that fit five people in my party.
Beautiful lobby at Hyatt Regency Kyoto
We took MK Taxi from Osaka Kansai airport to the hotel. The outside of the hotel was nothing out of ordinary. But as we stepped into the lobby, I immediately noticed how peaceful it felt being here. The lobby was simply gorgeous with a very unique roof!
The bellboys took our luggage and I was led into the lobby to check in. It was only 11am but fortunately our room was ready. I provided all our passports, and oddly I was initially given only one key for five of us (three were adults!). I had to ask for two more keys. The lady asked me if I would like late check-out on the last day, which I didn’t. We were planning to leave after breakfast.
The odd design of the Hyatt Regency Kyoto Deluxe Twin room
We were given room 1107 at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto, which was located on the first floor, just down the hall from the lobby area.
Hyatt Regency Kyoto Hallway
Up until now I had no idea what my supposedly upgraded deluxe room would look like. I did expect it to be a little bit more spacious than the basic room. There were five of us, so I was hoping to have some space to spread out our luggage. Well, upon entering the door, we were slightly disappointed.
Slumber party anyone?
We were surprised that the two double beds were put together into one giant big bed. We later asked them to separate the beds which was done by the time we returned from dinner.
Besides the beds, there were a desk and a TV credenza on the opposite side of the room, and two chairs. There were not enough room to lay out our luggages but we managed to make it work. There was a very narrow closet by the entrance, so narrow that you couldn’t put any bags in there!
And the strangest thing had to be the bathroom. Entering the front door, immediately to the right was the bathroom area. There was no door! The toilet area was to the right. It had a sliding door that did not lock! Adding to the oddness, directly across the bathroom area was a mirror on the closet wall. So someone sitting in the bedroom area could technically see from the mirror of everything that was going on in the shower area! We had to keep the closet door open in order to block the mirror.
The bathroom has no door! it has one sink in there. Behind the glass door is the shower area with a tub.
Hyatt Regency Kyoto Breakfast buffet was very good
The Grill, which is the restaurant in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Kyoto, serves a breakfast buffet every morning starting at 6:30am. Because we had a packed itinerary, we started our day every morning as the Grill opened. As a diamond member, breakfast was free for all five of us. We provided our room number before being seated, and we never saw the bill.
The Grill, located in the lobby, serves breakfast buffet every morning.
Pancake, waffle, and eggs. You can also order custom-made eggs in any style.
The pastries were really good! The croissants were among the best I had outside of Paris!
Fresh salad bar
Among the hot dishes, I loved the mushroom (2nd from the right) and the Japanese spinach.
Cheese and fruits
Welcome drink for Diamond members
After breakfast every morning, we were out all day sightseeing and didn’t return until late at night. As a result, we didn’t stop by at the hotel’s two other restaurants – the Italian restaurant Trattoria Sette and the Japanese restaurant Touzan. We did stop by the Touzan Bar the first night for our free drink as diamond member.
Touzan Bar is located downstair below the lobby
My friend Lisa ordered a drink, and I chose hot tea.
While we were talking, a Maiko (an apprenticed geisha) came over to say hi and asked if we would like to have a picture. We asked instead if we could take a picture of her because she looked so lovely! Apparently, everyday at 6:15 pm, a Maiko from Kyoto’s Miyagawa-cho district offers a magical and elegant traditional dance in the hotel lobby. After the performance, the Maiko would be graciously available for photos in the Lobby as well as the restaurants and bar until 8 pm. We missed the dance both nights, but so happy that she stopped by the bar!
Conclusion
In general, we had a pleasant stay at Hyatt Regency Kyoto. Even though it is not located near any subway line (closest subway station is about 7 minutes away), the location worked out OK for us because we ended up taking taxi everywhere during our three-day visit. As far as the room goes, it was a little disappointing, especially with the strange design. However, it did fit the five of us, and I paid 40,000 points for two nights instead of paying almost $1,000. We barely spent any time at the hotel, so we didn’t check out their exercise room or the garden either. Will I return again? Maybe. I won’t say never, but it won’t be my top choice when I come back to Kyoto again.
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Huh. I had the opposite experience there– I had a great room with probably the best shower I’ve ever had in any hotel anywhere, I experienced truly epic service, and I found it a really good location (it’s like 20 steps away from a bus stop from which you can get anywhere– which is good, because Kyoto attractions are so scattered)… but I thought the Grill was meh at best and Touzan downright disgusting (we asked them to comp the meal, something I’ve never done before… and they happily complied [see: service]).
I think it’s perhaps the best western-style hotel in Kyoto. It’s no ryokan, obviously, but those come with their own pros and cons.
I saw some review with awesome big room, big shower and big balcony. I used points, so that was probably why even as Diamond I didn’t get a great room. But I paid for one room instead of needing two rooms, quite a bit of saving. We survived. 😉
IIRC, I used Cash & Points at a pretty great rate… maybe 10k points + $150, as opposed to the $700+ rooms were going for during cherry blossom season.
That being said, I was there with only one other person, so my needs were obviously different than yours.
Hope you enjoyed Kyoto! Did you make it to Koyasan? It’s magical.
No, next trip! 😉 Kyoto is a city that I know I would go back to. So I wasn’t in a hurry to see everything in the short 3 days I spent there this time.
We stayed there (2 adults and 2 teens). The deluxe room is way too small, I don’t know how you did that. While the location isn’t near a station it’s located across the street from the Kyoto national museum and 1/2 block from Sanguansendo temple with 1000 statues. Both are worth a visit.
yeah the room was really disappointing! we only really used it for sleeping and showering. Other than that, we were out the entire time.
To judge the size of a hotel room on its ability to comfortably accommodate 5 people isn’t really fair to me–that seems excessive. I don’t mean to sound rude at all, just doesn’t seem like it would ever be comfortable…or serviceable.
The hotel does market the room as it would fit 5 people. I am not being critical of the hotel. For the most part, everything worked out.
That room is for 2 adults and a small child. Man people are cheap. That would ruin my vacation. Need some space at the end of the day
We stayed in November last year as a couple. Room was perfect, the shower fantastic and there was plenty of room for luggage etc. Breakfast was indeed great – and you’re right, the croissants were brilliant…!!! I’m concern why people think that a 7 minute walk to the subway station puts the hotel in the “nowhere near transport” category. We used the trains to get everywhere (including Fushimi Inari) and the whole journey took us less than 20 mins from the Hyatt door to walking through the first orange gate (plus the Fushimi Inari station is cute as was the market that you walked through to get to the temple)
Good to know the walk to subway station from Hyatt is not bad. We had so little time in Kyoto so we just taxi everywhere. The sites in Kyoto are so scattered!
It’s actually very walkable to several places in good spring or fall weather like Kiyomizu-dera, Philosopher’s walk, Kyoto Station and Tofuku-ji. The hotel was a rebuild of an older Japanese hotel so it has many quirks like the doorless bathrooms, weird elevator entrance to the spa, etc.
I’m curious what the breakdown of the people in the room were. I’m not trying to sass at all here, but I think it’s slightly odd to judge a room’s quality/functionality based on it’s ability to sleep 5 people. While I understand travel for families can sometimes lead to creative lodging, it seems like that would more be the exception rather than the rule when designing a room. In any case, I hope you enjoyed Kyoto! 🙂
I once had a hotel room in Tokyo with 5 single beds – all in a row. So, your bed configuration doesn’t surprise me.