PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

The main reason to stay here? Location, location, location. In the heart of Kyoto on Kawaramachi Dori, this typical tourist hotel has a friendly staff, was stylishly renovated in 2001 to achieve a top-class atmosphere, and added a spa in 2005 -- yet it still can't compete with the facilities and grandeur of Kyoto's other top hotels. However, it's a convenient base for sightseeing and has an information desk to answer guest questions. Chic blonde-and-black furnished rooms feature focused bedside reading lamps, but they are otherwise fairly basic. Note that most single rooms and some doubles face an inner courtyard, which cuts down on noise but also on sunshine, while rooms that face the Kamo River have better views but are minuscule. Again, the best reason to stay here is location, though the spa might help you get over jet lag.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Japan, 9th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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