Hotel Zizi Kyoto Gion

Decent room. Fantastic shower. Bizarre bathroom set-up where you have to get dressed in the same space as everyone else. And it’s really loud, at least when we stayed. People stomping down the stairs talking on one side at 5am. People on the street partying at 1am. Would be a two star except for the shower - very good shower!!!!

Hotel ZiZi Kyoto Gion was one of the best hotels for children I have ever stayed in. Hotel rooms are hard with a 10 month old and a 3 year old, but Hotel ZiZi was so children friendly it made it easy. Even with being on the fourth floor, we were able to park our double stroller under the stairs. The staff was incredible. We got there early and they let us check-in and leave our bags while we walked around and went to a Tea Ceremony. Anytime we needed to get to an address the staff just put it right into our phone. At the end of our stay we checked out early and were able to leave our bags there while we went for photos and the Kimono shop. The hotel room was clean, and so comfortable for a 10 month old and 3 year old to crawl around and play. The shower/bath combination was perfect for a family of five where you could get ready while someone else was showering. The hair products in the bathroom and face spreads were luxurious and we were surprised by a full Dyson hair dryer and curling iron set. We also had two children with extreme jet lag from the USA so it was a safe area to walk at 2:30am and 5am on our family walks so we didn’t wake up the rest of the tenants. On our early morning walks we always stopped at the family marts that are open 24 hours for snacks and coffee. We would give this hotel a 10 out of 10 stars, and tell any family to come to this hotel!

Please be aware, this hotel has no elevator and the stairs are a bit on the narrow side and pretty steep. Check-in was fairly easy and completely contactless. Actually, I did not see one hotel staff person on my entire 3 night, 4 day stay. The hotel did send me instructions ahead of time and there was a note stuck on the door when I arrived. It wasn’t an inefficient process but definitely impersonal. The room was pretty nice. It would have been nice to have some extra pillows as there was only one to each bed and the pillows were pretty small. There were some throw pillows as well but those weren’t as comfortable to use. It also would have been nice to have some additional outlets throughout the room. The bathroom has most general amenities as well and beauty products. But the products were all in large bottles that have lasted through a number of guests that I’d prefer not to think about. The q-tips and beauty pads were not individually packaged so that wasn’t great either. A couple of pros to this hotel… The hotel offers free bottles of water in the mini fridge which is always great! The key code access throughout is quite convenient so you don’t have to worry about losing a key card.

Absolutely the best location - easy to get to so much of the treasures of Kyoto. Enjoyed sleeping on a tatami mat and futon in a room set for three. Towel size was fine for me, but a little small for larger folks.

Low key establishment. 6 rooms in this hotel so it feels cozy. Beautiful room and close to all my favorite things to do… cafes, historical sites, and shopping.

This is well located with nice rooms and good atmosphere. There is no elevator so if you have accessibility issues, it is not for you. In Gion but on a quiet street so you can get to restaurants and shops but still get a good night's sleep.

The room was extremely large for Japanese hotel rooms. There are stairs (we had to walk up 3 flights), but it does say they will carry your luggage. There were plenty of restaurants nearby and the main shopping street was about 10 minutes away. The only negative for us was that they say they will hold your luggage after checkout, but there really isn't a secure area to hold your luggage. The two areas they said we could leave our luggage, it was still accessible to other guests who had a passcode to the building. Other than that, we really enjoyed our stay and would stay again.

Rooms are large which was nice for Japan.

We stayed in the Wakamatsu room. The heating unit for this room is outside, but less than a foot from one of the windows. So while the unit in the room is quiet, the one outside the window is audible. If you are a light sleeper, you will hear it. I cannot speak for any other room. Other than that, and the fact that there is no elevator, this place is great.