gengar

That e-mail address is handled by FD so it is the appropriate one for upgrade requests. They may contact you with availability closer to arrival.

Pseudo Nim

It’s interesting that the breakfast has not substantially changed since the pictures posted earlier in this thread. However, please, do NOT compare it to the Regency one - Regency’s was completely not memorable, and to the point where I had bones in my fish, which is a profound no-no in Japanese breakfasting.

I am absolutely and completely wowed by PH Kyoto’s service, location, everything. I am fairly tough to please - especially as the room rate increases and the hotel level increases, I demand progressively more, and do not hesitate to complain over the smallest things (not for compensation - just to hopefully help improve service for subsequent visits). I ripped Seragaki apart because of idiotic things like the welcome attendants constantly offering us to pick up our baggage and help us check in (this is three days into the stay), constantly forgetting stuff for a baby (forks, chair, you name it), etc etc etc. - some were minor issues but I feel were worth mentioning to the AGM.

For PH Kyoto, my complaint machine is coming up completely empty. It is a feeling I’m completely unaccustomed to.

- The AGM stayed back a day to welcome us - was supposed to leave on vacation but stayed to say hi
- We were not asked our names on arrival. The moment we drove up we were greeted by name as the opened the car doors.
- It was no problem to get four breakfasts to the room. It was a little bit hectic because there was SO MUCH FOOD, but everything was done.
- Our preferences were remembered from the first go, without any mistakes. Number of juices, customisations for eggs Benedicts, etc.
- they not only brought tools (forks and plastic cups etc) for a baby, unprompted, but also baby chair, towels, bathrobe, shampoos, etc. - the last hotel I saw go to these lengths was The Savoy.
- the less obvious, more subtle things. When opening bottles(btw, the free Kyoto water is great - and is in glass bottles!), the staff remove the metal shavings and leave the cap. When we inquired about where we can buy the Hirano glass teapot that (it turns out) was custom-made for the hotel, they left us a teapot in the room to admire after breakfast - they obviously replaced it with a clean one, but one wasn’t initially in the room.
- F&B is pretty good. We ordered a lot of in-room (easier with kids...) and it was very good.
- we stayed in the Ninenzaka house (corner suite). I’ll be honest - I don’t like it, and it being the corner suite doesn’t help. People keep taking pictures of you since they can totally see you from the street just outside. I would reject the 3rd floor room in the future.
- The architecture and the location of the hotel are out of this world. From the (dark) corridors reminiscent of the hisashi corridors in a Japanese home to the roofing done in a style similar to the neighbouring houses, to even the roof line being generally of a similar slope as the surrounding hillside, this is an absolute masterpiece - I can only guess the horse trading and the back room dealings that the permits would’ve required, but it’s an absolutely gorgeous property well integrated into the surrounding area. I don’t think it’s going to pay itself off for many, many years

All said, I am unusually completely and totally blown away by the property. Service is impeccable (more so considering the comments upthread, and that the property is relatively new). I’ve already booked our next stay. This is so much better than the Regency that there’s absolutely no reason to even compare them, though I do like the Regency too (but it’s a more “regular” hotel).

Martellus

Are you a VIP paying some insane cash rate? To have a hotel employee delay their vacation just so they could greet you seems... really strange.

Service-wise we were much less impressed - there were definitely some inconsistencies though we did stay about a week after opening. The hard product was absolutely amazing - quite possibly the most tastefully designed hotel (to my tastes) I've been to.

Aventine

Sounds like they used the corona period to iron out some of their issues.

I think the HR comparison is still valid in the Hyatt forum. Nice to have more Hyatt options in Kyoto now.

Pseudo Nim

Not a VIP (that I’m aware of, I don’t know what Hyatt has me flagged as except an uber-complainer), but it was an amazing gesture that I won’t forget.

I did hear the service was a total hit and miss at the beginning, but that’s consistent with EVERY Japanese Western hotel - I’ve been to most of the “new” openings (IC Beppu, the new Marriotts/Laforets, Iraph Sui down south, the couple of new Hyatts, etc) and it’s a consistent theme. It’s MUCH worse in the resort-ey areas like Beppu and Okinawa as they can’t find the people to staff the new openings - but it’s not much better in the more densely populated areas either because the good employees stay loyal, and the “floatey” ones create the service issues you mention. For this reason, I’m very impressed at how much has been smoothed out in the interim months.

OsakaWino

princesakura

I have my first stay planned for Daimonji weekend this month. That's all.

Pseudo Nim

Except there’s no Daimonji this year.

gengar

Just to note, there is more than one "Ninenzaka House" so it's not necessarily a corner. I do agree that they are far too exposed to the frontage road and the front entry driveway of the property. It doesn't help that the sheers basically do nothing.

Higashiyama House seems a little bit better but hard to tell from the video in the linked post. It is in the rear building and on the other side of the property, away from the entry drive, which should both help.

Others have mentioned preferring a garden view over the city view for these reasons and it seems odd the PH doesn't distinguish garden/city for the Park Suites.

krazieman

I had this hotel booked during my Olympics trip. I guess whenever Japan reschedules the olympics, I'll try to take another detour here.

princesakura

I read that the fires lit for 大 will be six instead of 75 this year. And only one fire for the other characters 😂. But looking forward to a few peaceful nights in Kyoto; been trying to maximize my time there this year while tourism is down.

Pseudo Nim

It was mind-blowing. I haven’t seen some of my favourite places in Kyoto this quiet in ... forever. Of course, the major attractions are still busy - Kinkakuji looked like it had hordes of people (though still far less than usual), Teramachi was crawling with people, but the Philosophers Path was completely empty. And the area around the PH was completely empty.

Pseudo Nim

Yep. They have two Ninenzaka House suites, and they’re adjacent to each other. The one I had was 308 which not only has the driveway, but also the window to the road on the side of the PH; that’s probably the worst of the two. The other one would be a _little_ better as it would at least avoid having people walking by taking pictures of you, and the only ones who would would be those who are on the main driveway of the hotel. Marginally better. The Yasaka pagoda view is really worth it though, so tough choice.

Pseudo Nim

So a couple of further comments. I was obviously so impressed with our last stay that I thought I’d try something - I thought I’d try coming back a few days later just for another night and see how the experience resembles / differs. Because obviously the first stay was powered by the AGM, so to say, so since he was absent the second time I was curious to see how the place would function.

- when we arrived, everyone was ready for us. No name asked at the entrance, of course, and several people came out to greet us.
- room ready of course, and check in in the room, not at the front desk (same as before though)
- we got the _other_ Ninenzaka house this time. I prefer it to the second one - it’s adjacent to the first but it’s not a corner, so it’s much more private. I recommend this one. (306). However! I went to check out the regular “garden view” Park Suite, 307, and I was blown away - it’s a REALLY nice suite. Not all are the same, though - due to the nature of the hotel, the roof slopes, so Ninenzaka suites have a very low ceiling. The Park suites at the back of the building have probably a 5m ceiling, and I’m probably only slightly exaggerating. 307 also has a nice terrace to a private Japanese garden. It’s obviously darker, since no sunset, but it also has a view of the 150 year old tea house that belonged to the restaurant (though it’s up on the hill, so unless you stare up all the time, I wouldn’t exactly call it a “view”). Also, you can’t eat on the terrace (since, well, it’s a Japanese garden). But it’s VERY nice. I believe the two adjacent Park suites have a similar layout but lower floor ones would likely not.
- we got welcome drinks this time. Not sure why, but it was nice, and even had the same champagne as the LH F FCT. Nice touch. No sparkling here.
- last time when we stayed, I asked if there were any wagashi (Japanese sweets) we could procure. It was late at night that day and their restaurant wasn’t able to accommodate, and all stores were closed, so they apologetically said they couldn’t. It wasn’t an issue, I didn’t think twice of it, but ... our table was set up with (very good) Japanese sweets.
- new gifts for kids. Totoro plush, origami book, etc.
- breakfast preferences were retained. “Would you like the same thing at the same time?”
- In casual conversation, I mentioned we went to Nara to try the new JW. The next day, a _different_ staff member asked me how the JW experience was. Definitely impressive communication.
- I asked for Japanese tea in the evening. Oddly, there isn’t any in the room - only odd artsy creations (“african solstice”? “blueberry merlot”??...). i thought of being a bit mean and asking specifically for gyokuro, but decided against it. i just wanted some green tea to go with the sweets. they brought actual room service tea; I said I didn’t intend to _order_ any, I just wanted some tea. The bill instantly disappeared, and an apology was offered. Yeah, I admit it was a bit cheap on my part, especially since room service tea seems to be 600 yen (I only found out later, by reading the menu). Still. And btw... it turned out to be gyokuro. Hah.
- ran into Mark several times during the stay (and on checkout, though the latter was probably intentional on his part). Had a good talk with him.

All in all, I’m really impressed. Frankly, this is a level of service i’d expect from an Aman - not a traditional “chain”. I also acknowledge it’s COVID, so it’s low occupancy, so probably easier to take care of people. But nevertheless - really good experience.

princesakura

Thanks for the interesting write-ups. Looking forward to staying soon. Any recommendations in Kyoto, especially for a couple? I usually visit alone, so I'd like to try/eat some nicer things this time than I usually do.