serfty

Brilliant!

Exactly what I was after, ^

Arigatou gozaimasu

darkfiber

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to thank everyone who posted on this forum it was a great help including all positive and negative comments!

I thought I would just post some notes on our stay here 3/22-3/25/09.

We traded for points to stay here (we are gold status) and despite trading for points to stay we got an upgrade from standard to deluxe room on the 9th floor.

1) Location

To us it was a good location. My wife and I were here on vacation 3 days in Kyoto. It's right next to the Tozai line (literally like right outside the hotel) maybe 250ft from the front entrance. From the Tozai subway line you can get to pretty much all the rest of Kyoto.

It is also close to Philosopher's walk and quite a few temples if you are willing to walk.

So in general if you don't want to stay right in the central of Kyoto this is a good pick.

We purchased the 2 day pass that includes tozai and 1 other subway line (excluding keihan line) includes all buses except the cable car shuttle/bus going to Arashiyama. It was good . With buses and subways you can go everywhere inexpensively! 2 day pass was 2000yean or ~20.00USD.

2) Hotel

The outside looks pretty toned down. You wouldn't expect very much from the outside. However we thought the inside is what you would expect from most Westin's. Elegant, modern and sleek. Of course this is subjective but we think we have "normal" taste having been to quite a few starwood properties.

We didn't notice very much noise although you can here some doors closing and chairs moving. Didn't bother us too much and my wife is sensitive to noise.

Quite a few restaurants although we only ate at the cafe downstairs which was good. Good quality food, decent prices considering it's Japan and in a hotel .

Concierge was helpful and was able to answer all our questions and help us with all our local traveling and dinner reservations.

Only complaint is that we didn't get to use the GOLD/PLAT line to check in and wasted like 40 mins checking in. We lined up where the sign for GOLD/PLAT is but the lady there made us go into the normal line. I was a little annoyed but we thought, "ok no problem, we'll just wait". However, why do you have a sign and a welcome mat that leads people to believe that there is a seperate line for GOLD/PLAT when there isn't??

Aside from that we are happy with the hotel. In general the inside is clean, modern and what you would expect from WESTIN.

We traded for points to stay here. 10,000pts per night for 3/22-3/25/09 FYI.

3) Getting to hotel etc.

Best way to get to the hotel if you come from Kyoto Train Station is by the Westin shuttle which runs every 30 mins @ 15 and 45 past the hour. Don't let the info booth tell you otherwise.

The info booth told us some crazy schedule and when we were at the station it was 11AM and they told us the next one was 1pm.

However we ended up taking the subway from Kyoto station using the BLUE line then connecting to the RED tozai line (exit T09 Keage) 2 min walk to the hotel from there.

You can take a taxi also but I think it would be expensive.

Anyway overall we'd give the hotel a 3.5 or 4 of 5 !

Good luck!

serfty

Hello darkfiber, welcome to FT. ^

Thank you very much for your post; it was quite informative.

When staying with my wife, I don't like to play the upgrade lottery so our point stay is 11,500 per night for a confirmed executive room.

Can you advise where you had breakfast as you did not mention this. Being upgraded I would have assumed you had it in the executive lounge.

darkfiber

Upgraded to deluxe room but not exec. We had breakfast outside the hotel!

kpc

The shuttle actually runs every 30 mins @ 0 and 30 past the hour.
http://www.westinmiyako-kyoto.com/access/#en01

another option but the bus is free

It cost me about JPY1200 when I caught the cab from the hotel to Kyoto station last week....this was at 630am tho so traffic was very light

kaka

Hi
I'm a newbie to this hotel, but not Kyoto. and am currently booked to a superior room in early august. Wont mind using a points upgrade for 2 nights(Lowly SPG member).
1. Which room would I be UG to? Deluxe? or it's a best available thing? Is Club level available for UG?

2. I'm on a cancellable rate but called the SPG hotline about the UG- no availability as yet, but operator suggested to ask upon checkin for a complementary UG for being a SPG member. will that work?(Still, I wouldnt mind using points for the UG)

On the other point, my current rate includes breakfast, but does anyone know how much the breakie is in the hotel that is included? (Thanks, I've found out it's 3045 yen/head) 3. cuz I'm thinking of possibly being unethical on the number of ppl in the room. is this logistically possible?

Thanks all for input

(4. PS.) rate is quite tempting at 31000 for 2 nights. Am I looking at temples or "substaandard" hostels at a marginal decrease in rates? Or is the room in the Westin substandard by itself? Or rate is normal? Thanks #2

kaka

refresh: any clues?
Thanks

RTWSTARALLIANCE

The Hotel has lots of different types of rooms. A e-mail to the Hotel never hurts to get you in line for a upgrade.

In terms of paying for the proper number of people in the room. I hate paying the extra money for additional people occupying the same space. That being said I never ever take a chance in Japan. I certainly would not have those extra people hanging around when I check-in. The lobby is pretty hard to "hide" in.

serfty

I had an "Speciality Select" award stay in April costing 11,500 Starpoints per night. We were given a 1 b'room 'suite' with lounge access.

I am SPG zip status.

kaka

!? for how many nights? i thought it's 10000 for suite upgrade?

Starwood Lurker

It would be an additional 10,000 Starpoints for a suite upgrade. An additional 1,500 Starpoints would get you a room with Executive Club benefits, however.

That isn't meant to disqualify serfty's comments about actually getting a 1 b'room 'suite' for 11,500 Starpoints. If it was a real one bedroom suite based upon having no status in SPG though, I would have to think that to be most generous and out of the normal realm for a Specialty Select award reservation.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

serfty

It was a simple "Specialty Select Select Rate" (see post #225).

I believe it was simply what I had booked - certainly it would pass as a suite in many hotels if it, in fact, was not.

kaka

that means for 1500 i could gt onto club floor as well? or it's just for a certain type of rooms?

Starwood Lurker II

Hi kaka,

This means using 1500 Starpoints you may get to upgrade to a Specialty Select room(subjected to availability) which in this case is the executive deluxe room that comes with Westin Executive club benefits.

As to what the benefits are, it is best to check with the property directly.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

kaka

I'd thought the suite upgrade would trump the need of a specialty select room upgrade... but anyway, i dont have that many points!
btw, is it true that I may not upgrade on a non-refundable fare booked on SPG's site? Also, I see that the lurkers to "promote" asking for UGs at checkin. What's the policy in SPG? if it gets rejected could I use SPG points?