Agora Kyoto Shijo

The room is incredibly well-designed and fully equipped. The location is fantastic, with a bus stop right downstairs and a subway station a short walk away, making it super convenient to get anywhere.

The hotel isn't too far from business and tourist spots. You can walk there in 20-30 minutes, or catch a bus right outside the hotel. They also offer a free breakfast with standard bread, coffee, and juice, which I thought was a nice touch.

This was the second hotel we stayed at during our Kyoto trip, and I booked it last minute on Ctrip, but it turned out to be an amazing find! First off, the room was really spacious, especially for Japanese standards. A big plus for me was that the bathroom didn't have a bathtub and had a separate wet and dry area – I really appreciated that. The whole room layout was very well-designed. Secondly, a pleasant surprise was the complimentary breakfast offered by the hotel. It typically included small pastries, jam, coffee, and tea, among other things. The location was also excellent, very close to both bus stops and subway stations, making it super convenient to get around. Right below the hotel, there's a supermarket open until midnight, which was incredibly handy for picking up essentials, and there were plenty of restaurants nearby. Overall, this hotel is one of my personal favorites in Kyoto. It wasn't expensive, offering great value for money, and I would definitely stay here again on my next visit.

The front desk staff were super friendly; they helped me find something I left in the room and were happy to store my luggage. Plus, you can enjoy free flow lemon tea at the bar and even try making matcha. All in all, a pretty great hotel.

This was my second stay at Agora, but the experience was far from as good as last year. Firstly, the front desk staff acted as if I owed them money. When checking in or passing by, only a very polite few would nod, but most would ignore me or glance up and pretend no one was there, even when I proactively greeted them in a friendly manner. I didn't feel welcome here at all, which was quite annoying. Secondly, the windows couldn't be opened, and on rainy days, there was a constant sound of something hitting the glass from outside. Since this huge frosted glass panel was right by the head of the bed, the noise was unbearable throughout the night. However, if that were all, it wouldn't be such a big deal. The biggest problem was that during those rainy days, the pillows and bath towels provided after daily cleaning all had a musty, sour smell from being air-dried, and they were also a bit damp, which was shocking. After going downstairs to discuss it on the first day, I received dry and clean pillows, but on the second day, the replaced pillows were smelly again... I understand that fabrics might not dry properly on rainy days, but isn't it possible to get clean pillows? Don't the supervisors check if the replacement items are clean during cleaning?