Arrived here and had an odd, slightly unpleasant experience at the Westin Kyoto satellite concierge office at Kyoto Station. But, after that blip everything went smoothly and got a great upgrade to a luxury suite without asking.

About the concierge satellite office. I read that they had a satellite office at Kyoto Station where you can leave your suitcases for the staff to take it to the hotel for a small charge of 360 Yen per suitcase. Anyways, we arrived on a train from Kobe with two suitcases and were ready to drop it off. The staff at the satellite office seemed determined for me to keep the suitcases and save me some money by taking the suitcases myself. Yup, I could have strolled to the hotel shuttle bus stop a few feet away with the suitcases and wait for the shuttle bus and have the driver take my suitcase and then a bell boy at the hotel take it to my hotel and save the 360 Yen charge, but I was tired and wanted to get rid of the suitcases as quick as possible. So after going back and forth with their staff about 3 times, they finally understood I wanted to pay the extra charge and have them take my suitcases.

Besides that blip everything else went smoothly. The upgrade to the luxury suite was awesome on their part and I didn't ask about an upgrade at all. The amenities like the Bvlgari bath products wowed me as well. Also, the suite has a balcony with two comfortable chairs to stare out into the city of Kyoto, nearby mountains and a temple (Nanzen-ji ?).

Hotel is gigantic in terms of width. The bird watching trail which is accessed from the 7th floor should not be missed. There is a convenience store on the basement level which you don't see if you don't know about it. Also a block away if go left once you exit the hotel, there's a Lawson convenience store. Lastly, Kyoto is an amazing city and I don't remember ever snapping so many pictures of a city before. Just wow!