ralphs

Suiran is a Starwood property on the western side of Kyoto. We stayed at both Suiran and the Westin Kyoto on the same trip. The Suiran was much pricier and nicer, but the Westin was a good value and met our needs as a base camp for touristing around town.

Condition One

I was told to go to Aquablu (sp?) for breakfast. Did not know about the Chinese restaurant option!

And Ralphs is correct - I totally blanked on the Suiran, even though I looked into it. I passed primarily due to its location. That's what I get for writing reviews at 4am

spellbound2

Great stay in a big suite here. The rooms aren't refurbished, but it was a welcome change from a small room at The Art Hotel in Hirosaki! Everyone is very friendly and the breakfast at Aquablu is very expansive. We dressed in local kimonos and used the garden as our backdrop in some photos- very pretty! We ate at Le Sodoh and had a really nice dinner with friendly waitstaff.

PWMFlyer19

Finished a 3 night stay at this hotel with 1 adult and 2 children (1 pre-teen & 1 young teenager). Booked 2 singles on points in base room. Was upgraded to a 3 singles family room - 50+ sqm and was definitely like a junior suite. It was perfect for us and enjoyed by all. I was a platinum so I did not pay any additional points or $ for the room upgrade. Buffet breakfast was comped in Aquablue for all 3 of us - hotel said not to worry about paying for the young one. Also had lounge access with no issue. As a platinum, the sort-of typical Japan pool fee was waived, so that was another good savings (4 days * 3 people * 4,000 yen = 48.000).

The hotel just started a refurbishment so hopefully the tiredness will be addressed as well as the showers. I can see if someone spent $200+ per night they could be disappointed.

Any questions, I will try to address, cheers.

bocastephen

It doesn't look a typical hotel in Rome anymore?

Antonio8069

This is great news that the hotel is undergoing a refurbishment.
I recall (from my 2011 stay) it was not in good shape. Many tour groups. What it had was a transfer bus from the train station and a fantastic set of pools and a spa?

PWMFlyer19

It still is a typical hotel - nothing special...they are refurbishing public spaces now...I hope they get to the rooms sooner (or maybe were already doing rooms on floors I did not venture too).

Basically, yes. The subway (Keage) is just next door too which made it easy to get into town or go to Inari - and there are a bunch of temples/shrines within a short walk. A taxi is not bad from Gion / Pontocho (<1000 yen) after dinner (the shuttle will drop you off as it goes back to the train station - but wont pick you up). I would say the pools were very good - not fantastic. Did not try spa - the restaurants are overpriced - of course.

I will say the service was excellent in general, from the front desk to pool attendants to housekeeping.

Cheers.

MasterGeek

XFer2

Same here. Trying to book 2 or 3 nights at Westin Miyako for early March 2019 and there are less than 10 dates are available for rewards booking in the first 6 months of 2019, and none for the 2nd half! Same story with Suiran (another legacy SPG hotel). Checked about a month ago and there were lots of availability, and the next day there were all gone. But the Ritz has wide-open rewards availability.

Could Marriott actively block members from redeeming points at legacy SPG hotels?! Can we expect more award availability to open later?

MasterGeek

It seems that the hotel is in the process of renovating their standard rooms. They currently have 2 room categories for them: standard and renovated rooms. The standard rooms are being phased out progressively as renovation advances, but the renovated rooms are not considered "standard" rooms for the purpose of SPG redemptions.

MasterGeek

nevermind

XFer2

They just opened a bunch of award space this past week with the "renovated room" being the standard room. I was able to find my target dates available for points booking. However, when attempting to make the reservation (tried both online and calling Platinum reservation), they said the standard room only accommodate 2 people, no matter what the bed configuration is. The Marriott website if I put 2 adults and 1 child, it only gives me the choice of Executive 2-bedroom connecting suite.

Has anyone had experience with this hotel not able to accommodate more than 2 people in a room? In particularly in the renovated room?

liamg

I can't find any availability – I want to book points, but there aren't even any rooms paid with cash – for October 2019. Am I missing something?

MasterGeek

I noticed too that they release award availability and they also migrated their reservation system to Marriott so I cancelled my SPG-based which cost more points because it wasn't a standard room and was able to snagged a 10 days reservation during CHERRY BLOSSOM 2019 I will now be able to attache my Travel Package Category 5 certificate to it !

I am going with my <1 year old baby and made a reservation for two adults (room details say crib permitted) assuming there will be no problem at check-in

However, I have Suite Night Awards but Marriott.com says I cannot apply them to the reservation

Smiley90

Tried to look for next summer bookings - NOTHING available past December 2018. It seems like this property, like many other Japanese properties, only allow bookings very close-in... disappointing for those of us who like to plan&book early!