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Reviews of Guest House & Hotel Shijo Omiya

2.5 out of 5
Guest House & Hotel Shijo Omiya
263 Matsumotocho, Inokumadori, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto

Reviews

8.4

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 95 out of 203 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 74 out of 203 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 21 out of 203 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 6 out of 203 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 7 out of 203 reviews" "

8.8/10

Cleanliness

8.4/10

Staff & service

8.0/10

Amenities

8.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
It is very quiet. The property owner communicates very well.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2019

2/10 Terrible

Choco

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service
More Than Double Advertised Price, Poor Quality
Worst hotel of my travels in central Japan. This was supposed to be the cheapest place, but ended up being the most expensive. Somehow they snuck in extra fees, which no other hotel on this site did, and those fees were actually higher than the initial fee! I asked hotels.com what this was about and was told it was for "city taxes". The manager sent me several emails leading up to my stay, which was annoying, telling me about the various rules I would have to follow. Obviously he didn't pay much attention because he kept asking how many people would be staying too. The room had someone else's hair on the bed and bathroom floor. The soap was practically gone. Various small things were lacking that most hotels have (even cheap ones). Breakfast was a joke. You walk to another building which is full of other people, with barely enough space to sit down. You are allottedj 2 pieces of white bread. I didn't see any butter, jam, or condiments, so ate dry toast. The drink machine dispenses questionable water when you push the "orange juice" or "cafe au lait" buttons. You can just have black coffee or bright green children's melon soda. Each visitor is allotted 1 egg, and they are raw, so you have to cook them, but the stove is slow and people are waiting to cook. I didn't have the patience to wait to cook my 1 egg, so left it. You need a code to open the door. They don't tell you that you have to open the casing around the number pad.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2019

2/10 Terrible

Diane

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Horrible hotel.
For the first 2 nights, we had a smaller room. I’d wanted to book 4 nights but could only book 2 and 2. I was not particularly happy with this hotel. Although they say it is 24 hour desk, that is not true (there was only people at check in). To get to our room, we had to load the luggage in an elevator but we could only use the stairs. The windows have coverings in front of them so we can’t open them and look out. The room is an okay size but the beds are so hard! The bathroom is oddly configured with a step up and the floor feels flimsy. The pipe to the shower/bath is from the sink. And they tell us not to use the toilet while showering. There is a safe but not nearly enough electrical outlets. There is a laundry machine for use. I wouldn’t stay here again. The free breakfast was 1 egg, one roll and you had to wash your own dishes. Shower curator moldy. No new towels or bed making. Will be glad to leave. I’d hoped the larger room for the second reservation would be better. It was much worse. The room stank of ammonia, there was hair imbedded in the carpet which the man at the desk tried to vacuum up but was not able to do so, and there were stains in the carpet. Also mold around the bathroom sink. I checked out early as this was totally unacceptable.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2019

2/10 Terrible

Keivan

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Mold all over bathroom. Don’t rely on the listing
We stayed in amazing hotels in Japan but this one was a scam and the guy is a disgrace to all other Japanese hotel owners. Breakdown of mis-stated “facts”: 1. Non smoking property! Lobby was full of smoke smell and we thought well our room is non smoking but even there the bathroom was smelling of smoke and took continuous fan and sprays till morning to get rid of it (or maybe get used to it idk) 2. Mold all over bathroom under the sink, on shower, the curtain was nasty (pictures attached) so now shower for us. 3. Free continental breakfast! You get 2 medium bread rolls per person and ONE RAW egg that you can cook by cleaning the dirty pan yourself! There is a coffe machine no milk or cream I know continental has a loose meaning but this one was really stretching it. 4. 24 hours front desk, nobody was there in the morning to complain to. We dropped the key and checked out and found another hotel. 4 agents from Hotels.com customer service tried to reach to them and couldn’t find them till 10-11 am. And they guy refused to do a refund for the other two nights. This is a scam, I seriously doubt all the other reviews on expedia related sites at least nobody leaves “amazing breakfast” unless it is a paid review. More disappointing was how hotels.com handled this and refused to give my money back at least for the remaining nights. I sent them these photos too but apparently they are okay with molds in bathroom and owners lying on their website. 0 customer protection
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2019

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Worst Experience Ever in Japan
Absolutely disconnected from the guest house owner. We arrived in front of the guest house door at 4pm (checkin time) but no one there to open the code locked door and we stayed on the street freezing with kids for 50 mins. Kept calling the guest house emergency phone but no one pick up. This was the worst experience I have never had before in Japan. Before we arrived Kyoto a week ago, we started to contact by phone, by email, by hotels.com the guest house owner to confirm the checkin arrangement BUT they just ignored us and no one picked up. I really don't recommend anyone to choose this guest house or you choose to take your own risk. Even hotels.com CS couldn't help us to reach out the staff there as well. I suggest hotels.com to ban this guest house to further hurting travellers.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 6 nights in Nov 2018

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2018

8/10 Good

Igor

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2018
Response from Tomoaki on 16 Aug 2018
It was our pleasure to host this lovely people. They were very friendly and polite, and left our place in a good shape. Definitely 5 star guests！ I　would like to host again. Thank you so much!!

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
We got a family room for 5 and the room is spacious. Breakfast was simple but great to have them.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2018
Response from Shijo Omiya Guest House on 9 Jul 2018
Thanks for your lovely comment!!!

10/10 Excellent

Veronica

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2018
Response from Shijo Omiya Guest House on 6 Jul 2018
Thank you so much!

8/10 Good

Minchi

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2018
Response from Guesthouse & Hotel Shijo-Omiya on 7 Jun 2018
Thank you for your nice score!!! Have a good day ^-^

8/10 Good

Nicholas, Sydney, Australia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice quiet location close to subway station with friendly staff and breakfast was a welcome addition to our stay thank you. Rooms were clean and having a place to sleep a family (3 beds - 4 people) was welcome. The dryer didn't seem to work well and lack of places to hang towels/clothes was a bit of a problem to dry these items.
Stayed 4 nights in May 2018
Response from Shijo Omiya Guesthouse & Hotel KYOTO on 31 May 2018
Thank you very much for your kind comment! We hope you had a wonderful stay! We never had a problem with dryer, you could have told us so that we could help you out! If you have any chance in the future, please do come back again!

10/10 Excellent

Wilson

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good spot to stay
Great accommodation. Although not indicated in our booking we were provided free though simple breakfast of bread and an egg. Facility was easy to locate and short walk to Omiya subway. A few restaurants, shops including a Daiso near to subway stn. The rules requires separation of trash for easy recycling. Price a bit on the high side but quite worth the value.
Response from Shijo Omiya Guest House on 21 Apr 2018
Thank you very much for staying at our place! Hope you had lots of fun in Kyoto! Wishing you all the best ^-^

10/10 Excellent

Chee Leong

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Response from Guesthouse & Hotel Shijo-Omiya on 16 Apr 2018
Thank you very much for your lovely review! We are very happy to host you and hope you enjoyed your stay ^-^

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Response from Taka on 8 Apr 2018
Thank you so much for staying at our guest house. We hope you could enjoy your stay.

10/10 Excellent

XUE XIA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
good
Response from Taka on 8 Apr 2018
Thanks for your full-star-review! Please come back anytime.

10/10 Excellent

Kerrin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Well designed, exactly what you need.
After reading many impressive reviews, we decided to give this guesthouse a try for five nights. From the moment we arrived, we knew we were in good hands when four smiling staff members rushed to help us get a broken strap on our day bag repaired locally for a pittance. This hotel has been methodically designed to anticipate your every need. Just like an Apple computer, most things are intuitive. The self check-in is a breeze, just follow the easy emailed instructions. We would highly recommend this place.
Response from Guesthouse & Hotel Shijo-Omiya on 4 Apr 2018
Thank you very much for your sweetest comments on our guesthouse! We are very happy to hear you felt comfortable in our place. Receiving such comments encourages us to improve more and more. And having guests like you makes our job worthwhile :) Please come back again in the future!

10/10 Excellent

Sio Hoon

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing Stay at Kyoto
This place is a gem. Conveniently located and with 5-star hotel comfort at 3-star price. The room was big by Japan standard with very good design - bathroom and wc are in separate area. There is also a communal kitchen and on-site laundry in the ground and third floor. Good WiFi also. Strongly recommended.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2017
Thanks for your perfect review. We are really glad to hear what you felt staying at our guest house. Please come back anytime and we will see you again.

10/10 Excellent

Mayy Ho, Singapore

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good location and convenience on transportation
The locations was good, easily to take local buses or train to tourists places. The owner was very nice. We are happy to stayed with Guest House Shijo Omiya.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2017
Response from Taka on 12 Dec 2017
Thank you so much for your kind comment!!! We hope you had a great stay here. Please come back anytime！

10/10 Excellent

maureen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful Kyoto
Great location handy to trains, subway. Staff when at office very helpful quieter area with easy access to everything loved Kyoto
Stayed 4 nights in Nov 2017
Thank you so much for loving our guest house & Hotel. Please come back anytime.　We hope you had a pleasant stay!

10/10 Excellent

erica

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing location
Amazing hotel! Excellent location! Fantastic customer service.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2017
Thank you so much for your full-star-review! We are glad to hear you had great times here. Please come back anytime.

6/10 Okay

Heather, okinawa, japan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
Exactly what I expect from a budget hotel - small, clean, quiet. However, the bed was so so hard!!
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2017
Response from Shijo Omiya Guest House on 27 Aug 2017
Thank you very much for your kind review :) Hope you had a great time in Kyoto!

10/10 Excellent

Alice, Omaha, NE

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great hotel, but take along your navigation system
This new, clean, convenient hotel is located along a street that people from the US would consider an alley. It was tough for us to find in the dark in the rain, but worth the search. You can walk to the Nijo Jo Castle from the hotel, and we tested two restaurants within two blocks of the hotel and they were both great. The hotel staff pointed us to the second one, or we might not have gone down the stairs at night to check it out. They also provided city transportation maps. The room isn't huge, but it's bigger than the one that we had in Tokyo! Everything you need in a room in a very compact space, plus little extra snacks.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2017
Response from Shijo Omiya Guest House on 27 Aug 2017
Thanks Alice for your lovely comments! We are happy that you had enjoyed your stay in Kyoto and at us! If you have chance to come back to Kyoto again, it would be nice to have you then! Wishing you all the best ^-^

8/10 Good

Hsiao Min

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
3 nights stay with my family, Friendly staff and super location to all spots!
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2017

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Clean/Comfortable Guest House Close to Amenities
The place is very clean, modern and comfortable. A room for 4 people is very spacious. Staff very friendly and helpful. Best to take taxi in Kyoto. Guest house is a few minutes' walk to a taxi stand, very convenient. It is also a safe location. Thank you.
Response from Taka on 20 Jun 2017
Thank you so much for your detailed review. Maybe this review is going to be a good tip for next guests. We are glad to hear you had great times here. Sorry about the towels, we will think about it. Thank you so much

8/10 Good

Farisha, Malaysia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice room to atay
The hotel is only 5 minute walking to the nearest subway - omiya & shin omiya. Near family mart, 7eleven and also daiso. The room is very clean and comfy.
Response from TK on 5 May 2017
Thank you so much for your great review. We are glad to hear you had pleasant stay here. Please come back anytime!

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Rooms are kind of small but cozy. Very clean and the service is excellent.
Thank you very much for your review. We are sorry about the room size, but hopefully you had a great time here.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Convenient, clean bargain accommodations
This is a well located (15+ min walk to Nishiki Mkt, Gion, etc), very clean, and simple small hotel. Friendly staff, clear communications and the price is hard to beat!
Thank you very much for your review. We are glad to host you here. Please come back anytime.

8/10 Good

phoebe, malaysia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good location
Get to most of the tourist attractions easily as the bus stop , subway and Randen( small train to arashiyama) are nearby
Response from T on 28 Apr 2017
Thank you so much for your review. Yes, this guest house is close to subway, bus stop, and Randen. We hope you had pleasant stay here.

4/10 Poor

Mike

Disliked: Staff & service, room comfort
The room was very small
Thank you for your review. We are sorry that you felt so.

10/10 Excellent

Peter

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
10 out of 10 would stay again - perfect stay!
We absolutely loved our stay here. We booked a family room and it was large, spacious, clean and comfortable. The pillows are my IDEAL pillows. Heavenly. Check-in and check-out were seamless and quick. It felt very safe in the area and in the building as even the main door requires a code to enter. The hotel is in a very convenient location, close to many bus stops, subway stops and walkable to main shopping areas and such. On our last day, we left our bags behind the desk with locks that the hotel offers, and all our belongings were safe and sound when we retrieved them. Even with all these great compliments, the BEST part of staying here was the spirit of the staff. Each person we encountered was so helpful, kind, thoughtful and sweet. How often can you call a hotel staff member sweet?? Nice or friendly maybe, but sweet is rare. But these people were the definition of sweet! Can't wait to go back.
Thank you so much for your great review. We are really glad to read your comment. We are also glad that we could have you as our guests. Please come back anytime. We are looking forward to welcoming you next time!

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Convenient and Clean
They were really welcoming

10/10 Excellent

Jeanette

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Convenient, clean and friendlyhotel
Very nice, friendly and helpful reception and cleaning ladies

8/10 Good

HO

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Service
Great service from owner upon arrival. Very helpful indeed as he try to provide his best service to us

8/10 Good

EM, HK

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very friendly and helpful staff
Clean room with nice facilities are basic requirement to most people, here you will have this. The most impressive is the very nice and helpful staff, able to communicate in English. Love to stay at this quiet residential area, yet very convenient in transport, not hard if you choose walking to the shopping spot.

10/10 Excellent

Shuk Yin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Felt treated as a guest.
I felt I was treated like a guest. I got what I wanted without asking .

10/10 Excellent

YP, Singapore

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice and cozy hotel
This is quite a new and cozy hotel. The staffs are very friendly and helpful. Room for 3 persons was a bit small, but it should be quite comfortable for 2 persons. It is accessible to 2 stations.

10/10 Excellent

mina, Melbourne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice place.
Great place to stay. We stayed for a few nights and staff were really friendly and accommodating. Made us feel very welcome. Place was very clean and well kept. They also gave us a free bottle of water and some free snacks. The only thing was WiFi was a tad slow. So much so that it was sometimes unusable. But otherwise a very comfortable stay. Location is also not far from station which is a bonus.

10/10 Excellent

nice guest hous

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very clean. Friendly English speaking staff member
Very clean room with private bathroom and toilet in room -easy to get in and out of the hotel. English speaking staff Member

10/10 Excellent

Siong Weay

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good location
The hotel location is very strategic, close to bus stop and train station. Located on the main street. Family mart and Daiso just steps away. Staff were very friendly and helpful. However, there is no housekeeping for the 2 nights that I stayed.

10/10 Excellent

Lim

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Clean and comfortable
No lift, so not advisable for those who cannot climb the stairs

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Handy. Position but taxi driver couldn't find it.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Kyoto Jewel
Hotel was excellent, larger than most in Japan. Good directions and description by owner. If only taxi drivers could read!!!

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
great
everythiNg is good. Good room, facility and breakfast

8/10 Good

Swati

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Convenient and clean
Great service, wonderful location.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
浴室の排水、上手く流れず排水溝から溢れてしまい、トイレ部分の床がびしょびしょになりました
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2019

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
受験の宿として利用した。サービスを提供する側の人に日本語がわかる人がおらず、大変困った。玄関の扉の開け方、暗証番号がわからずテストに遅れそうになってしまった。日本語が通じないのなら、日本語の張り紙などを増やして、困らないようにしてほしい。
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
部屋が臭いがこもりやすい。 朝食の場所が生ゴミの臭いがきつくて、とてもいられなかった。
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2019