Kyoto Royal Hotel & SPA (Kyoto, Japan)

Kyoto Royal is located near some of Kyoto's most popular destinations, with its doors just minutes away from the entrance to one of Kyoto's busiest metro stations. This metro line can ferry you to some of the nearby attractions as well as the more distant sites sprinkled throughout Japan.

The guest rooms offered at Kyoto Royal are quite large, by traditional Japanese standards. They include plenty of space for stretching your legs, setting down luggage and other belongings, and even hosting small gatherings, if desired. The bathrooms, too, are of an adequate size by western standards.

The views from the guest rooms and public areas of Kyoto Royal are breathtaking, looking out over the urban beauty of Kyoto and some of its surrounding territory. The in-house restaurant offers some of the best views of downtown Kyoto, allowing you to relax and take in the majesty simultaneously.

Kyoto Royal presents a luxurious and welcoming stay, but its price may be considerably higher than what you would expect to pay at a similar city-based hotel. The services are adequate for their price point, but some of the amenities are too sparse to justify the cost.

Although advertised as having a full spa, there are considerably limited treatment options available at these facilities. Very few of the spa choices are traditionally Japanese in origin, which is somewhat disappointing given the hotel's design aesthetics.

The breakfast options, while passable for what they are, tend to be quite constricting. They consist largely of a few western dishes, typically hot, with a mix of fruit and some prepackaged items to round out the assortment. This feels a bit too basic for such a hotel.