Rihga Royal Hotel Kyoto

My stay at Righa Hotel in Kyoto. Oct.25-29, 2009.

The hotel located very close to the Kyoto train station with scheduled shuttle service to and from the hotel. You can hear the street noise. Matresses are very firm. The room with 2 single beds was small, but everything you need was there. Overall a good hotel.

Friendly staff and convenience

Convenient to Kyoto Station. Pleasant and comfortable.

Very good hotel close to station

The hotel is very conveniently situated in 5 min from a main train/bus station and metro. A couple of World Heritage Treasure sites are nearby as well as a park. Hotel staff are friendly and attentive and hotel rooms are clean and spacious compared to other similarly priced hotels nearby.

4 Beds in Japan!

This was the only hotel I booked ahead when my family of 4 backpacked through Japan for two weeks, as we knew it would be busy for the Gion festival. It was also the most we payed during the duration of our trip, but the hotel was very high end and close to the train station. Our only complaint was the extra cost for the use of the hotel pool which would have set us back $75 Canadian. Prepare your children that the pool is not available before hand to avoid the tears we experienced!

Backpacking with young children is easy and economical in Japan. Don’t believe all the guide books that tell you your foreign, fair children will be treated like super stars. The world is too small to warrant that kind of attention.

Close to Kyoto Station

The Righa Royal is close to Kyoto Station. They have a shuttle bus that runs back and forth to the hotel which is good with the luggage. It was not close to any of the sights but you can get a bus to most places right from Kyoto Station. Hotel was clean but dated. Its air conditioning is set on one temp throughout the hotel so you can not control it in your room. Service was very good as most Japanese hotels are.

Traveler's tip on recreational activities

Take a train (2 stops) from Kyoto Station to Fushimi Inari Shrine. The shrine hosts 10,000 orange Torri gates over a two mile walk. To me it was breath taking!!

Convenient location, excellent hotel

The hotel itself is huge, with lots of restaurants. The room was large and very comfortable. It is a 5 minute walk from the Kyoto Train station, which makes it convenient for sight-seeing.

Decent hotel, location not great for sightseeing

This hotel was fine. It was clean and the staff was very friendly and helpful. The room was very comfortable and immaculate, but a bit dated. The concierge in particular was fantastic. She could answer EVERY sightseeing question we had and gave very useful advice. She booked tours for us, and drew out travel routes on the free local maps the hotel provided. The one drawback was the location. While convenient to the Kyoto Station, the hotel is not convenient for sightseeing or nightlife, and there are few restaurants close by, aside from the many in Kyoto Station. On a return trip, I would stay closer to downtown or the Higashimaya area.

Traveler's tip on local attractions

The Righa Royal offers a free shuttle to and from the station. It’s within easy walking distance, but the shuttle is useful with luggage. However, we didn’t know the hotel had a shuttle until we were already in a cab on our way to the hotel! Our cab driver actually pointed it out. I’d highly recommend asking the concierge any questions about sightseeing or getting around. She even had a printed sheet with tips/train times for traveling to Nara.

Price is right if you are not a light sleeper

Traveling during peak season means high room prices. We got a great value for this room and they offered 4 people in one room. The room is literally next to the train tracks however the windows are double insulated. You can hear the faint rattling of the trains but I slept right through it. The staff was very accomodating and best of all they knew English well, what a relief when getting directions for the local sights. I would go there again - the price was right and it was within walking distance of the station where all the buses and trains were.

Traveler's tip on saving a few bucks

Department stores have prepared foods in their basement floors. Wait until 6pm to 7pm and the prepared foods get discounted.We always pack a small knife and plastic cutting board. We visit the local "combini", convenience store to buy light breakfast items and fruits. Eat a quick bite in the morning to get you out the door, have some cheap delicious food for lunch and dinner. In Japan, there are many food stalls along the way and sampling is a must!

Would highly recommend!

This hotel couldn’t have had a better location. Around the corner from the train station and the bus station. A block away from coin laundry. 2-3 blocks from those cozy little hole-in-the-wall local restaurants as well as expensive high end meals. The service was excellent, I always felt like a valued guest. A great place to stay if you’re interested in seeing central and eastern kyoto. I would definately go back!

Traveler's tip on getting the most out of your stay

Check out the National Geographic Traveler: Japan. It made the trip all it could be!

Nice choice near Kyoto train station

We selected this hotel because of its location near the train station and great Expedia price. The Kyoto station if very modern and is part of a huge complex which includes numerous restaurants and several dept stores. The hotel service is just excellent and the rooms well equiped and comfortable. One small complaint is that while the in-room tea is free, the coffee is the equivalent of $4. A better choice is to buy coffee drinks and other breakfast items at one of the many local convenience stores and keep them in the room refrigerator. For a slice of local life, take a stroll on Nishiki Street. It is filled with local food vendor and restaurants frequented by locals.

Traveler's tip on getting the most out of your stay

Be sure to find out ahead of time what the 17 "UNESCO World Heritage Sites" are and decide upon the ones you want to see. Amazing, there are 17 sites in Kyoto alone, it must be a record. One of our favorites was the "Golden Pavilion" and the "Nijo Castle". The Gion area (old area) is a must see as well!

I bet it was nice in the 80’s...

The staff was very nice and helpful but the overall appearance of the hotel was dated. The radio station channels built into the nightstand with the room lights was probably top technology many years ago. The only upgrades that I noticed were the addition of flatscreen TV’s into the rooms.

Traveler's tip

If you show up at the train station, look for the free shuttle to the hotel. We tried to take a taxi to the hotel, but the taxi drivers told us about the free shuttle. How nice!

Nice Hotel, Close to Kyoto Station

Hotel doesn’t look too impressive from the outside, but it was very nice on the inside. Rooms are small by American standards, but was one of the larger rooms I had while traveling at in Japan. Hotel is only 5 min walk to Kyoto train station, so it is a convenient location to stay if you’re going sight seeing around Kyoto.

Not impressed! Will not stay here again.

The hotel is within walking distance to the Kyoto station,but it is not as convenient as it sounds. You will have to walk thru a busy street with bad air polution,and to get to the metro/train/bus platforms, you will have to walk through a lot of shopping area. The hotel area seems empty and has bad air. There isn’t any place to eat/see unless u walk into the kyoto station. The hotel provides a bus to go between Kyoto station every 30min, but it only runs until 9pm. The hotel lobby looks nice,but disappointing once you walk into the room. We stayed there on December when it was cold, but we felt unconfortably hot inside the room. The knob on the wall is for adjusting the fan speed between off/medium/high,so the same warm air circulat the room. The window only opens very little. The bed is also too hard for us. For internet, they charge 1000 yen/24 hours. All the other Japanese hotels we stayed at in this trip gave out free internet.The instant coffee package in the room also cost extra. If I go back to Kyoto next time, I would want to stay around the Gion area. It is where all the exciting things/places are. I only booked this hotel because of good rate, and I thought we would make day trips to Osaka/Nara/Kobe, but we ended up touring Kyoto for the 4 days we were there. If you are planning to hang around Kyoto during your stay, I would suggest to get a hotel in the Gion area instead.

Traveler's tip on local attractions

Best way to get around Kyoto use bus AND metro. 2 major Metro lines: one north/south & one east/west. Each metro stop has buses going to local attractions. The 2-day m/b pass(2000 yen)works great for us. Expesnive to pay for each ride(220 yen per bus ride) There is also a bus ONLY pass 500/day, metro ONLY pass 600/day. Sold at ticket machine next to metro entrance@kyoto station. Most temples close at 4pm,watch ur time if u want to see more then one a day. Most restaurants/shops close@7pm.

Worth every penny!

We enjoyed our stay at the RIHGA. Great service, great price, very convenient that it was close to Kyoto Station. We took advantage of the complimentary shuttle when we arrived with our luggage. The only negative thing about the hotel was that the bed was too stiff to our liking. But, we appreciated the hotel even more when we went to Sapporo and stayed at a similarly priced hotel that turned out to be subpar.

Generally very good.

Only negative. They initially said I do not get breakfast included. After I showed them my confirmation with Expedia, they later gave me my breakfast.

Great location

Just around the Corner from JR Station and less than a block away from the Subway. This was a wonderful hotel with excellent customer service and helpful employees.

First Class Service

From the moment we arrived at the hotel we felt really welcomed. The staff is most helfull and very friendly. All of our needs were looked after. The location of these hotel is great (10-15 min walk to Kyoto sta.) or just take the hotel shuttle. Overall, this hotel is really something to write home about.

Worth every penny!

I was suspicious of RIHGA because of the cheap room rate with the thought of "it’s too good to be true," but this hotel has exceeded all my expectations. The close proximity to Kyoto station with shuttle and the always friendly and courteous staff were major pluses. I would definitely return to RIHGA next time I go to Kyoto

Traveler's tip on dining

We ate at GROTTO, a small restaurant that serves kaiseki ryori - a prix fixe menu that uses local and seasonal ingredients. It was the one meal I had in Japan that I thought was UNDERpriced. It’s about 5-10 minutes walk from Ginkaku-ji, about a 45-minute trip by bus from Kyoto Station.

very small rooms

This hotel is adequate though nothing special. It is walking distance to the train station which is it’s main attraction. The rooms are extremely cramped though they are clean. The area around the hotel is so-so. This hotel seems overpriced.

Decent hotel; excellent service

The hotel itself was okay - the only great attribute is the service.

solid B

Overall decent hotel, fairly close to the Kyoto station, good eats within walking distance as well, clean rooms but a bit on the small side.

Fell like a tost !

The hotel was nice , clean , pretty good swimming poll , close to the main station and the mall , people at at the hotel was nice and very polite but the problem was the airconditioner doesn’t work properly and we fell like inside an over like tost and we were there at the winter !I dont recomend this hotel to pay and fell like that !

Traveler's tip on getting the most out of your stay

Get the hotel in front of the KYOTO Station or the one inside the station , better location and easy to eat and shopping and get the trains !

Great time in Kyoto

The hotel was pretty convenient if you want to be near Kyoto Station. It’s about a 10 min walk from the back of the station, or you can take a hotel shuttle that runs every 7 minutes or so. Staff was always courteous and willing to help. The rooms were clean and there is internet access in the lobby. We got a good rate through expedia so we were pleasantly surprised at the nice quality of the hotel.

Traveler's tip

Don’t order coffee in the lobby. It’s really expensive! Oh, and if you want "real" coffee, you need to order the "blend" coffee, not the "American" coffee. The "American" coffee is actually watered down.