Kyoto · Hotel shortlist
The best hotels in the university district, Kyoto
Mei-Lin Zhou Japan
These are my five favourites in Kyoto, out of the 89 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, all five scoring 4.6.
Ace Hotel Kyoto is the one I would book myself.
Highest rated of the five
Ace Hotel Kyoto
★★★★★4.6 from 1,558 reviews
Ace Hotel Kyoto comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.6 from 1,558 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 5 star property, found under the university district and around $501 a night on the dates we checked.
89 hotels in Kyoto qualified for this list and five made it. MACHIYA:SAUNA KYOTO 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
- Bara drink without going back out
- Family roomscots and larger rooms rather than a squeeze
- Gymopen to guests, not a partner pass down the road
All five, ranked
-
1
Ace Hotel Kyoto
★★★★★4.6 from 1,558 reviews
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Pet friendly
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
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2MACHIYA:SAUNA KYOTO
★★★★★4.9 from 465 reviews
- Spa
- Bar
- Kitchen
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
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3THE GENERAL KYOTO Bukkoji Shinmachi
★★★★★4.9 from 171 reviews
- Restaurant
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
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4PIECE HOSTEL SANJO
★★★★★4.7 from 1,790 reviews
- Bar
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
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5Hotel Legasta - Higashiyama Sanjo
★★★★★4.8 from 257 reviews
- Restaurant
- Air conditioning
How this list was put together
89 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.