Carta Hotel Kyoto Bettei

The staff were so lovely! Super smiley and helpful, organised our Yamato delivery and gave us washing pods etc, whenever we needed. Very calm welcoming environment 😊

The one thing I would say is the rooms could benefit with more pillows and the beds need a headboard, I like to sleep elevated and I struggled due to the wooden slab above our beds.

We were a family of 5 so booked two rooms which worked well, great location. Staff very helpful as we had our luggage forwarded on from a previous hotel.

Nothing, we really enjoyed our stay.

Most tourists in Kyoto will consider the location near the intersection of the major streets Oike and Karasuma ideal: easy to reach from Kyoto station using the subway, very quiet in a small side street, just a few minutes by foot away from the park Kyoto goen with the old Imperial Palace, from Nijo Castle, from the banks of the Kamo river, shopping districts, etc. Even large parts of the Higshiyama district can be reached by foot. Some attractions, like the Golden and Silver Pavilions, require using public transportation or a taxi, however. I did not have many points of interaction with the staff, but they were always helpful and friendly, with a more personal touch than in larger hotels (Carta Hotel Kyoto Bettei has only 12 or 16 rooms). The reception is not staffed around the clock, but the key card allows one to enter at night. Even though I traveled alone, I got a large room with two good-sized beds (some will consider the mattresses on the hard side, but I slept well), a desk, bathroom and separate toilet. A wooden wall/ceiling behind and above the beds give the room an unconventional touch – I liked it. Of course, there is air conditioning. The view from the window across the narrow street is not great, but much better than what I have experienced even in some decent hotels in Tokyo. If you travel in summer, an eye cover like those often used in airplanes might be useful because the curtain does not shut out the light completely. This small hotel does not offer breakfast, but there are plenty of restaurants and cafés nearby. In addition, there are several "kombini" (convenience stores open 24/7) and a decent food store within a 100 m. There are a kettle in the room and a microwave oven in the lobby. Finally, I have to mention that I am almost ashamed about how fabulous a deal I got for my one-week stay...

I had to work in the room for long hours for several days; a real chair instead of the two small stools would have been more comfortable. But this will hardly matter to "normal" tourists. A nice feature is that they provide complimentary tea bags. Me being a tea lover and this being Kyoto, the taste of the green tea was a little disappointing. The problem was promptly solved by buying some powdered tea in the food store around the corner...

The room was spacious and functional. The two beds were nice and big. The location of the hotel is convenient. The metro station is around an 8 min walk, and busstops are a 5 min walk. The area was quiet but close to the lively center.

The bathroom was a wet room, which would be fine, but it was carried out terribly. Instead of putting the shower head above the bathtub they put it in the middle of the room. So you could not shower without getting everything wet, including for example your towel. This was terribly inconvenient. The advertised amenities were disappointing. To start off there is no garden, which is advertised. The 'laundry room' was just one washer and dryer, tucked away in a closet next to a hotel room. The so called 24h reception was also inaccurate. We stayed here for a full week and we did not receive any housekeeping. If you want clean towels you have to put them outside to request new ones. The luggage storage was in the middle of the reception area. This felt highly unsafe, seeing as the reception was not 24h and the hotel doors were open to everyone. If you want a spacious and functional room this hotel will do, but be aware some of the advertised amenities lack severely.