I stayed here 2 years ago and thought it was a nice property. The location is what it is. Food doesn't look like it has improved. $1200 a night is nuts. It was a pass for me at $600.
Still surprised by the food. I think the location is fine if you know what you're getting into; they don't really market it as a "central" Kyoto hotel so that's reasonable.
🌳 Thanks for posting another wonderful review. I considered staying here since I have the Aspire card; but I decided it’s too far from the tourist attractions for my first trip to Kyoto. I’m doing 2 nights at the new Hilton Hotel that opens near downtown in October 2024; and for another 2 nights we used Hilton points to book the Sowaka Ryokan in the Gion District. Sowaka is one of the new SLH properties that’s bookable with Hilton points/certificates. I think spending our last two nights in Kyoto at a traditional ryokan will hopefully be a respite from battling the tourist crowds in Kyoto.
Yep, definitely a skip if you want to be central. Let us know how you like Sowaka! We were going to do that for the last night but availability for FNRs dried up, so we just did Hyatt Regency Kyoto instead (pretty meh but fine for the price).
Just subbed your channel...and Im glad I did. You are a very very good in-the-moment natural presenter! And the way you produce your vids is EXCELLENT...next to no 'jump' cuts from theme to theme like most RUclipsrs...Im here for this!!!
We had the opposite experience for the greeting, they greeted us and promptly explain all the Hilton Diamonds benefits the LXR resort had to offer, weird that they did not have your info when checking in. 😮
Really unfortunate that you guys couldn't get into the Louran Restaurant, their mapo tofu and ebi chili is really good!! We were also able to charge the restaurant bill to the room to use our Aspire Resort credits; I believe it's do-able with any restaurant in the Shozan Group in the area. Spot on with the review!
Staying here in November for a night, and will use it as a relaxing/recuperating stay between transferring from Osaka to Tokyo. Hopefully there's some change of color in the foliage.
🌳love your videos! Question: between this hotel, Park Hyatt Tokyo, and The Mitsui, which did you prefer most? Mahalo for making such informative and enjoyable videos!
PH Kyoto / The Mitsui > Roku LXR. PH has a better location (and had better service during our stay). Hotel The Mitsui has a better vibe (middle area with water running = serenity) and thermal spring.
Heya Mandy how much was your Uber ride to the hotel and do you recommend any other taxi apps while over there? Looked like you and Sebby had a wonderful time can't wait to do the same!
🌴 to 馮先生和夫人: Me and my wife had stayed there for 1 night in 11-2022 as a Gold Member using FN NO Upgrade that was a not so pleasant experience so we actually complained to Hilton! We went again in 04-2023 fusing 3 FN as Diamond Member and UPGRADED to the Garden Room ( I did remind them in advance about my previous stay) so was treated better. If you go to Osaka, please try the W Hotel there. We almost had stayed in the Conrad Osaka but changed to W in last minute and we LOVE it! 😊
🌳I dropped the balmuda sound system and cracked it 🥲 was charged around $250 USD. Still works and we were allowed to take it home as an expensive souvenir but be careful y'all! It was plugged in and I didn't realize it
Sowaka SLH is part of Hilton now and might be worth considering :) Great value for points / FNCs and right by the Yasaka Shrine + close to Gion District.
I really enjoyed your thorough, candid review! As an Aspire cardholder, were you able to use the $200 resort credit at the Roku? Also, did you sample the offerings at the bar?
No way you eat in at a hotel if the food is just meh. There's too much good food everywhere else waiting to be found, especially in Kyoto. Calligraphy level: Sebby: beginner. Mandy: looked good at first, then sputtered to the finish.🤣
travel squad! 🌴🛫 it'd be interesting to see your final score of the kyoto line up @9:55 do you guys ever feel like ordering off the menu or in room is better than the buffet, even at ritz its just seems like wet eggs and cold sausages just beautifully presented lol but we've always found ordering off the menu or in room has been the freshest and hotest. LOLed at sebby after dark. you guys are adorable lol
Off the menu tends to be better, but depends on hotel of course :) In room is tough since there's usually a surcharge and it feels prohibitively expensive (at least to us).
@@MandyRoams I guess it depends on the hotel but our go to (key biscayne miami ritz) in room menu is the same menu as in the restaurants on property and luckily no surcharge
Good to know! Yeah, we've been to a few where there was an extra $25 "food delivery fee" - which is hard to stomach when it's $50 total for the food lol
I stayed here 2 years ago and thought it was a nice property. The location is what it is. Food doesn't look like it has improved. $1200 a night is nuts. It was a pass for me at $600.
Still surprised by the food. I think the location is fine if you know what you're getting into; they don't really market it as a "central" Kyoto hotel so that's reasonable.
Watching your videos have me amped up for my trip to Japan next year with my mom and daughter...😊🌳
3 generation trip! :)
I almost stayed here on an Aspire FNC...but my wife wanted to go to Niseko for snowboarding instead of going to Kyoto 🤐
I haven't heard good things about Hilton Niseko 🤐
🌳 Thanks for posting another wonderful review. I considered staying here since I have the Aspire card; but I decided it’s too far from the tourist attractions for my first trip to Kyoto. I’m doing 2 nights at the new Hilton Hotel that opens near downtown in October 2024; and for another 2 nights we used Hilton points to book the Sowaka Ryokan in the Gion District. Sowaka is one of the new SLH properties that’s bookable with Hilton points/certificates. I think spending our last two nights in Kyoto at a traditional ryokan will hopefully be a respite from battling the tourist crowds in Kyoto.
Yep, definitely a skip if you want to be central. Let us know how you like Sowaka! We were going to do that for the last night but availability for FNRs dried up, so we just did Hyatt Regency Kyoto instead (pretty meh but fine for the price).
Just subbed your channel...and Im glad I did. You are a very very good in-the-moment natural presenter! And the way you produce your vids is EXCELLENT...next to no 'jump' cuts from theme to theme like most RUclipsrs...Im here for this!!!
Glad you like it :)
We had the opposite experience for the greeting, they greeted us and promptly explain all the Hilton Diamonds benefits the LXR resort had to offer, weird that they did not have your info when checking in. 😮
Maybe we arrived after shift change? That's my going theory that most people get there earlier...
@@MandyRoams Yea, that may be the case.
That was an unfortunate experience for the both of you :(
Really unfortunate that you guys couldn't get into the Louran Restaurant, their mapo tofu and ebi chili is really good!! We were also able to charge the restaurant bill to the room to use our Aspire Resort credits; I believe it's do-able with any restaurant in the Shozan Group in the area. Spot on with the review!
Thanks for the insights! That sounds really good. Will try to go when Louran is open next time!
Heading here next year, so excited ☺️🌳
Edit: after watching the video thinking maybe i should have booked a different one
Depends on what you're optimizing for :) Good way to de-compress towards end of the trip!
“My mom gonna yell at me, don’t look” lol, gotta love Asian parents 🐅 😅
😅😅😅
Staying here in November for a night, and will use it as a relaxing/recuperating stay between transferring from Osaka to Tokyo. Hopefully there's some change of color in the foliage.
I think that's the best way to do it / use it :) Love Kyoto, but this is a nice change of pace to reset.
Great review! How would you rank all of the Kyoto hotels?
S-Tier = PH, HTM, Ritz (in no specific order, and all for different reasons)
B-Tier = Roku
🌳love your videos! Question: between this hotel, Park Hyatt Tokyo, and The Mitsui, which did you prefer most? Mahalo for making such informative and enjoyable videos!
PH Kyoto / The Mitsui > Roku LXR.
PH has a better location (and had better service during our stay).
Hotel The Mitsui has a better vibe (middle area with water running = serenity) and thermal spring.
Great review! How did you get the onsen room? Did you get upgraded because of your Diamond status?🌳
Thanks! Yes, we got upgraded because of status. We booked the standard base room.
Heya Mandy how much was your Uber ride to the hotel and do you recommend any other taxi apps while over there? Looked like you and Sebby had a wonderful time can't wait to do the same!
IIRC about $25 or $30? We mostly used Uber, so can't really speak to the other apps :)
🌴 to 馮先生和夫人:
Me and my wife had stayed there for 1 night in 11-2022 as a Gold Member using FN NO Upgrade that was a not so pleasant experience so we actually complained to Hilton!
We went again in 04-2023 fusing 3 FN as Diamond Member and UPGRADED to the Garden Room ( I did remind them in advance about my previous stay) so was treated better.
If you go to Osaka, please try the W Hotel there. We almost had stayed in the Conrad Osaka but changed to W in last minute and we LOVE it! 😊
W Osaka (and also the Conrad) are on the list to review for next time :)
🌳I dropped the balmuda sound system and cracked it 🥲 was charged around $250 USD. Still works and we were allowed to take it home as an expensive souvenir but be careful y'all! It was plugged in and I didn't realize it
Dang! Glad it still works :) Was it a big crack? Just knocked it down by accident?
🌳 I had this resort booked for 4 nights but after watching this video, I’m looking for another resort. What would be your recommendation?
Sowaka SLH is part of Hilton now and might be worth considering :) Great value for points / FNCs and right by the Yasaka Shrine + close to Gion District.
I really enjoyed your thorough, candid review! As an Aspire cardholder, were you able to use the $200 resort credit at the Roku? Also, did you sample the offerings at the bar?
Yep, the Roku codes as a resort! Didn't happen to try anything at the bar, but it looked nice :)
Great🙂
Thanks :)
No way you eat in at a hotel if the food is just meh. There's too much good food everywhere else waiting to be found, especially in Kyoto. Calligraphy level: Sebby: beginner. Mandy: looked good at first, then sputtered to the finish.🤣
Yeah, definitely a skip (but figured we'd do a review so other people know 😅) Definitely would skip if I could go back in time!
How would you rate their breakfast?
Pretty good, especially if you have status and it's free :) We'd probably pay $20 to $25 if we were back at home.
🌳
👋
🌳🌳🌳
I've never been to Kyoto 😔
Next trip :)
travel squad! 🌴🛫 it'd be interesting to see your final score of the kyoto line up
@9:55 do you guys ever feel like ordering off the menu or in room is better than the buffet, even at ritz its just seems like wet eggs and cold sausages just beautifully presented lol but we've always found ordering off the menu or in room has been the freshest and hotest.
LOLed at sebby after dark. you guys are adorable lol
Off the menu tends to be better, but depends on hotel of course :) In room is tough since there's usually a surcharge and it feels prohibitively expensive (at least to us).
@@MandyRoams I guess it depends on the hotel but our go to (key biscayne miami ritz) in room menu is the same menu as in the restaurants on property and luckily no surcharge
Good to know! Yeah, we've been to a few where there was an extra $25 "food delivery fee" - which is hard to stomach when it's $50 total for the food lol
*park hyatt kyoto
If you have Hilton Aspire certificates, this is still worth checking out :) There's also Sowaka which is another option!
Are you writing curse words in Japanese? Only thing I think you would blur. lol
Chinese name :) First character is your last name (that's already public). Didn't want to dox myself for the rest of it lol
🌳 🌴 🌲
康小姐的書法比馮先生要強多了吧? 👍😄
😂