Kyoto · Hotel shortlist
High end hotels near the main square in Kyoto
Mei-Lin Zhou Japan
These are my five favourites in Kyoto, out of the 35 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, all five scoring 4.7.
Cross Hotel Kyoto is the one I would book myself.
Highest rated of the five
Cross Hotel Kyoto
★★★★★4.7 from 2,362 reviews
Cross Hotel Kyoto comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.7 from 2,362 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.
It is a 4 star property, found under city centre and around $212 a night on the dates we checked.
35 hotels in Kyoto qualified for this list and five made it. Tomoya Residence Hotel Kyōto Nijō Takakura is the one I would book if the first is full.
Why it works for this trip
- Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
- Restaurantdinner downstairs on the night you land
- Family roomscots and larger rooms rather than a squeeze
- Step free accesslevel entry and a lift
All five, ranked
-
1
Cross Hotel Kyoto
★★★★★4.7 from 2,362 reviews
- Restaurant
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
-
2Tomoya Residence Hotel Kyōto Nijō Takakura
★★★★★4.9 from 107 reviews
- Bar
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
-
3 -
4THE MACHIYA EBISUYA
★★★★★4.8 from 256 reviews
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
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5THE HIRAMATSU Kyoto
★★★★★4.7 from 149 reviews
- Spa
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
How this list was put together
35 Kyoto hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.
Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.
The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.
What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.
Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.
Mei-Lin Zhou Japan
Works agency hours in Vancouver and spends all 18 vacation days abroad. One new country and one repeat visit per year. Five trips to Japan and a running list of ramen shops.
Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.