Stayed here in mid Oct. Was given a room with 2 double beds. Asked if they have a King bed, was told no, they are sold out.

The room was decent and clean with a nice view to the castle. Elevators are large and frequent enough.

At reception when I mentioned I am Platinum, she quickly gave me 2 bottles of water (but no drink voucher). I asked if they have a lounge. Was told no. The hotel did not have a pool or sauna. Did not find CNN but found BBC as one of the very few English channels.

It does have a sauna, it's some kind of an onsen, and it's quite expensive. I got free access as a Spire, and to the so-called lounge as well, on reward nights last August.

When I asked the reception, the lady said no they don't have a pool or sauna. Also said they don't have a lounge.

Don't know why the lady at reception told me they don't have any. She did give me 2 bottles of water for being a Platinum member.

Lack of English proficiency maybe. Saying "No" is easier than giving explanations.

Possibly. After she replied several "No", I asked if they have English newspapers, she said yes and went to get one for me.

They seem to understand English well enough, but don't speak well.

Any recent stays? I'm thinking about staying here in about a month for just one night.

This hotel has a mixed setup for the windows.
Some rooms have windows which can be opened, and in other rooms the windows are fixed and do not open at all.
You need to ask beforehand in your reservation, or confirm it at the time of check-in if you want a room with a window that opens.

It seems at this hotel some floors have been fully refurbished/rennovated recently (however I think it's only the top floors like 7 and 8) and other floors (floor 6 and below) remain in the old 1980s style decor. However, I didn't see all the floors so maybe a few other floors have been refurbished too.

The refurbished/rennovated rooms are sold as "superior", "deluxe" and "executive".

How to best get to the hotel from itm ?
Arriving late evening, i found out there is an airport bus to kyoto... Is there a stop close to the hotel ?

Hotel seems to be good value on points

I stayed here earlier this month for 2 nights. and really must stress how terrible the non-refurbished rooms are. I booked a standard room last minute and as a Spire Member was given a non refurbished "Deluxe Twin Room". The room was incredibly dated, carpet in the bathroom, sagging mattresses that really have no place in a Crowne Plaza. I cannot think of a worse IHG property I have stayed at. The real kicker though is that the air conditioning does not work properly in these rooms, it was impossible to get the room below 24celsius(75f). Checking tripadvisor, this is a widespread problem at the hotel. I had to get a fan which made sleeping just about bearable in the very humid Kyoto summer.

I complained the next day about the room and was told the only refurbished rooms available were suites which I would have to pay a significant extra cost for. I said that I would be following up this stay with a severe complaint to IHG as I did not feel the rooms were close to Crowne Plaza standard and non functioning air conditioning is not acceptable for this brand. They then immediately apologized and gave me a refurbished junior suite at no extra cost. The new room was amazing, it was like moving from a Travelodge to a Conrad. And most importantly, it had working air conditioning.

So in short, this hotel has a Jekyll and Hyde problem, at least until all floors are refurbished. I suspect all elites (and probably most westerners) will get refurbished rooms as long as they book well enough in advance but just something to be aware of.

You will find this problem ALL over Japan with different hotel chains. It's very common for hotels in Japan to only refurbish only 1 or 2 floors instead of the whole hotel. It's a 100% Japanese being as stingy as possible thing....not really an issue related just to IHG properties.

That said, there are plenty of normal sized refurbished rooms (that are not suites) on the 7th floor...as a spire member you really should have been automatically allocated one of these at check-in, unless the hotel was full.

I was not given a room on the 7th floor nor was I given access to the "lounge" despite room availability and spire status.