Hotel Granvia Kyoto

One of the most convenient hotels in Kyoto for anyone traveling by train in Japan. The Granvia Hotel is located at the Kyoto train station!

We actually stayed here on two separate occasions on our trip to Japan--first for one night as a stopover before our visit to Amanohashidate, and second for two nights when we toured Kyoto.

On our second stay, we were upgraded to a "premium" floor--the top floor--where we had the most luxurious bathroom! There was a full tub alongside a larger tiled area that had three water jets for full-body massage and an overhead rain shower head. Amazing--I never wanted to leave the shower!

Rooms are very clean, modern, and upscale. Every room has wired Internet access and a great view of the Kyoto skyline.

There is a restaurant in the hotel which serves a delicious breakfast buffet (not included in the price of the room). The hotel also has a coffee/tea shop near the hotel's entrance from the train station. But at the train station, there are a multitude of restaurants, both in the attached department store, in the train station itself, and in the underground mall. There is no shortage of dining options to suit all budgets.

To further emphasize location as the selling point of this hotel: Most city tours depart from the train station, and there is never a shortage of taxis waiting there. Nearby day-trip destinations such as Nara and Fushimi-Inari are also accessible by local trains, which depart from the Kyoto station regularly (at least every hour).

Regarding noise levels from the train station: Even on the top floor, we could hear the P.A. from the train station, but it was easily ignored as I'm a heavy sleeper.

The fact that the hotel is over a train station may deter some people initially, but don't let that happen to you! You will not feel the trains rattling beneath the floor, and the Kyoto train station is a destination in itself in my opinion.

This is a very nice hotel, a little on the large side! So we had to walk a long way to get to our room. After checkin, they had us wait for a bellboy (who was a girl) to take us to our room. There were little art pieces all over the hallway but they were all sort of similar, by the same artist, at least the ones we saw were. We did not wander over to all the floors!

There are a ton of restaurants nearby, both in front and underground or in the wings of the huge station complex via MANY escalators and in a shopping center. It goes without saying that shopping opportunities abound.

There is also a skyway across the length of the station near the top, with great view of Kyoto city and there was an art exhibit along the skyway showing Japanese woodcuts when we were there.

The room itself was just fine, not a flat TV, but the bathroom was large and had both a Japanese style shower and a tub with a glass wall separating it from the sink and toilet area.

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for convenience and a futuristic setting. Our room was about $200 per night not including any means, but including tax.

I will start out by advising any of you who would like to stay at this hotel to book it online first. We booked our room about a month in advance through hotels.com and got a much better price than the amount it normally costs if it is booked in Japan. We got a really nice room with two pretty large beds for a rate of $120 a night. It would have been a lot more if we had booked it in Japan. The hotel itself is really nice and pretty upscale. It is located directly above the Kyoto train station in a huge complex filled with restaurants, shops and places to get coffee. There are many tours and day excursions offered by the hotel, as well, but I recommend purchasing tours in advance from viator.com (a site spealilizing in affordable tours all over the world). We went on English-speaking guided tours all over Kyoto and Nara (AMAZING!!!). The pick up for these tours is at a hotel directly across the street from Hotel Granvia. Since the hotel is right next to the train station it is a great location for trains and buses to other areas of Kyoto. The service at the hotels is really good and there are several fancy restaurants in the hotel. The only thing that I didn't like about this hotel is that they charge you extra if you want to use their indoor pool or fitness center. Aside from that, I would definitely recommend staying here.