I was on a buisness trip and decided to stay at Granvia hotel in Kyoto. Other hotels were not at the "main station", but as I was supposed to commute every day, I thought why not... I was a bit surprised to see the size of the main station complex, of which Granvia Hotel was one part... Just there was a huge great store, underground shopping center, dozens of restaurant everywhere in indescribable cleanliness and order! The location turned to be great - whatever you want to do (sightseeing, shopping, etc) you are on the main knot... Just great. You just needed to take an escalator! The room I got was looking outside at the Kyoto tower. It was very clean, quiet and the bed was great (I always have problems with hotel beds!). The air-conditioning was not loud and was let on during the night (a rare thing in any US hotel for us Europeans!). Breakfast buffet was great - a nice mixture of Western and Japanese style, of course with Japanese touch! Since the coffee came out of German WMF machines, there was definitively nothing to criticize! Hotel restaurant are great, in particular the sky bar with the magnificent view over Kyoto! However, if you want to eat good teppan-yaki style food go to Westin Miyako Hotel. This is an experience you will never forget! For great sushi go to Iwa Sushi (prices are as the served fish quality high, but it is worth it!)

We stayed in this hotel towards the end of our Honeymoon in May 08. While the hotel is very nice and certainly very conveniently located we did encounter one problem which unfortunately is our lasting memory. On booking the hotel i specifically requested a non smoking double. On arrival (10am) we were told that there were only non smoking twins and smoking doubles available. After advising the receptionist i had reserved a non smoking double i was abruptly told that online requests were just that, requests, and could not be guaranteed. Now i understand this might not have been a problem for a lot of people but as a none smoking honeymooner i found it highly annoying at the price we paid to not have the room we thought we'd booked. That aside this is a nice hotel. Theres a few nice cocktail bars on the top floor and loads of restaurants and shops around. We had a nice view for our room, which was massive by the way by Japanese standards. All in all we’d recommend this hotel to anyone, just be wary of the above.

We stayed at the Granvia Kyoto for 2 sets of 4 nights in June 2008. This hotel is conveniently located in Kyoto main station. Like all Japanese stations there are all kinds of shops; from department store to boutiques and coffee shops. We had a standard room, which was a good size with modern clean decor and a small bathroom but again new and clean. Check-in was very friendly and fast. We travelled with our baby and had requested a crib which was already in the room plus a nappy bin (nice touch) when we arrived. For us the location was very good as the station connects you with the train system and taxis are always available. The other benefit we enjoyed was the food court in the department store Isetan, which provides excellent food which you can take up to your room. I can recommend this hotel as it provides good value for money. We paid between 15000 and 23000JPY per night.

This hotel was perfectly located for convenience and sightseeing. After a tiring day of travel, it was a relief to arrive at the station and take a short escalator ride to the hotel. We picked up delicious food in the basement of Isetan department store (a great experience to visit in any case) and had dinner in our room. Our room was spacious and extremely comfortable. If you book quite far in advance, check the website before going to see if any special rates are posted. For example, summer special rates were posted a few months ahead of time.