The hotel rooms are ok. The staff I spoke with for check in/check out were ok.
However, there were a number of issues which left me deeply disappointed.
First, the hotel claims to run a convenient shuttle between the hotel and Kyoto station. The management of this shuttle is terrible. We once tried to take the shuttle from the station. As we came up, the shuttle left before scheduled departure time. I ran to catch up and get the driver’s attention. He saw me, waved me off, and drove away. On another day, we tried to take the shuttle from the hotel. Because it was raining, the shuttle filled and we weren’t able to get a spot. Instead of providing a second shuttle, they told us to get a taxi. They care about being able to say they run a shuttle but not about actually making things convenient.
The bigger issue came after. (Please bear with me. This is not about the hotel, but it is relevant) The hotel set us up with a taxi to the station. We asked to go to the front of the station. The driver decided to take us to the BACK because there is a clearer Shinkansen entrance there. When I saw he was going the wrong direction, I told him we needed to go to the front. He dismissed me. When we arrived, he kept the meter running as he unloaded. Very scammy.
Since the hotel probably contracts with cabs, I wrote to the hotel with the name of the driver and told them what happened. They wrote back saying it was reasonable for the driver to ignore our instructions. Disgusting!
