BJ Family House

Pluses: * decent location - not superb really. * clean * wifi Minuses - ranked from most annoying to least - * the shower water pulses badly. One second it may flow OK yet another second it slows to a trickle. IMO this house was not retrofitted with a commercial hot water system that can handle all guests. * staff was slightly rude when giving me instructions on the entry-code system to the place. She practically wanted to grab my fingers to show me how to operate a keypad. * staff was rude again - when checking in I looked over at the sign on the shared bathroom that said, "press green button before entering." I didn't say anything but the staff snapped in Chinese to me, "that's not something you need to worry about!" Note, for point of comparison, a typical Japanese hotel or minshuku staff is ridiculously courteous! * while talking to me the next day, the staff person spent the whole time rubbing a skin-smoothing machine on her face. I found that rude / gross. * the laundry facility takes "5 hours" for wash and dry for 100 yens. The hotel description does not say anything about having to pay for the laundry machine. Around the corner about 200 meters away a commercial laundry mat can wash+dry in 1 hour for about 500 yens. * the towels are washed in the house and hung around downstairs throughout the living area on clothlines to dry. Not a pleasant sight. Not a pro operation. * the rooms are TINY, even versus Tokyo.

My partner and I stayed here for 2 nights and it has destroyed our first impression of Kyoto. If you want a nice pleasure experience in Kyoto, this is the place NOT to go to. First of all this place is SMALL, by far the smallest of all the places we've stayed in. Tobu hotel in Shibuya was small, but this place is about half that size! 2nd - Car noises from the road. The hotel is situated next to a main road and it is constantly noisy. 3rd - Far from all places including transport. If you have a JR pass, you'd have to walk 15 minutes to Kyoto station. 4th - Overpriced for what they offer. 5th - Owners are not Japanese. They are chinese. So if you’re looking for a traditional Ryokan experience, you won’t find it here.

BJ family house is close and convenient for Kyoto station and buses. You can come and go as you please and the staff are very nice. You can use the kitchen if you want, which we did not but would be handy if you were on a tight budget. The rooms are very small and you can hear everything in every room in the house including the bathrooms! Overall I would say that it is value for money in a great location but not the most private place to stay.

My friends stayed at this hotel over New Year, the rooms are quite clean and the Chinese staff was friendly, although somtimes a bit loud. Guests may use the the kitchen, which can be convenient. The main problem is that the rooms are so tiny that even with only 1 piece of lagguage the futon cannot be completely laid out...

My priorities for choosing this hotel were price and location. The price was really hard to beat. The location is pretty good, about a ten minute walk from Kyoto train station, a few minutes less by bus. This is essentially a small house converted into a six or seven room guest house. The rooms are small, typical for Japanese home, and have tatami floors and futons. Having lived in Japan before I was very comfortable with the room arrangement. The staff speak almost no English, but are very kind and try hard to be helpful. They'll do your laundry for a very reasonable price. There are bus stops very close by -- the south-bound stop is almost right outside the guesthouse door. After a short bus ride back to Kyoto station it's very easy to transfer to any of the other city bus routes or even the Shinkansen bullet train to the rest of the country.

This is a very small, traditional style "hotel." In fact, amenities like blow dryers, TV, and internet were only available in the common areas. The rooms and bathroom were clean--and cleaned daily. The first night of our stay was noisy from a partying group, but it settled down the next few nights.The proprietors do leave at night.

We just stayed for one night at this ryokan... the place was clean and quiet...the owners were very nice and the location was close to Kyoto Station...very convenient. Overall a good place for the money.

The management is friendly and location is as per stated. Quite convenient. But the room is quite tiny, satisfactory for just a rood over the head.

The bedroom was small - I had expected that, but there was nowhere to put clothes other than three hooks on the wall or leave them in the suitcases on the floor. When the futon was unrolled, there really was no place even to stand because the suitcases were taking up all the available floor space. I had no problem with sleeping on the futon and even the notorious pillow was O.K., but the main drawback regarding sleeping was the noise from the traffic outside. Apart from the busy road the location was acceptable; close to Kyoto station, near subway and other stations and buses and walking distance to most of the main places of interest. Staff were friendly, if short of English, and there was free use of internet. The main reason for staying here is the price - a lot less than most hotels, but you only get what you pay for. Recommended for the budget minded traveller.

This place is not exactly a hotel or a hostel; it felt more like a family home. The owner was very friendly and helpful. The hotel is walking distance to the Kyoto station, which was convenient (about 5-10 min walk). We stayed here for one night only and the rooms are traditional Japanese style with tatami mats and futons. There is AC/heater in the room. The bathroom came with shower gel and shampoo/conditioner. Depending on the room you book, it may or may not come with a private bathroom. If it doesn't, there is a shared bathroom. We got lucky and had a room with a bathroom so it wasn't too much of an issue for us. The bathroom was really small though. The room does not have any amenities (i.e. TV, dresser, etc.) that you would find at a typical hotel. However, there is wi-fi available and owner has a laptop that you can use. I would recommend this place if it's at a good rate and if you're only planning to come back to sleep.