Hyatt Regency Kyoto

The Hyatt Regency is a lovely hotel on Shichijo Dori Street that occupies the affordable end of luxury. Mewby and I have a special fondness for this hotel because we stayed there on our wedding night. Imagine this – after a very happy, but of course very busy and honestly quite nerve-wracking day, we arrived at the hotel tired and relieved to be greeted with warm smiles and were told we had been given an upgrade! A big old Deluxe Balcony King was ours with a complementary bottle of wine to boot! This particular room features a balcony overlooking the hotel garden (very nice garden!), and a massive hinoki cypress wood bath which we were particularly happy to soak in whilst enjoying the aforementioned wine. It was the perfect end to our day, so to express our thanks, a brief review of this fine establishment is the very least I can do and certainly well overdue.

Our room on arrival with wedding gifts strewn across the comfy sofa!

The Hyatt Regency has three basic room types which are on an ascending scale of price and comfort: Standard, Deluxe, and Suites. All rooms have the same distinctive style of interior decor which manages to be simultaneously both modern and traditional with stylish lamps, colorful silk kimono tapestries hanging behind the bed, and simple wooden furnishings. Standard rooms come with either a King sized bed, or twin beds and have everything you need: free Wi-Fi, a writing desk, a minibar, a TV with cable and satellite channels, a closet, a safe for your valuables, and a private bathroom with a decent sized bathtub. Deluxe rooms have seating areas with sofas and some of them also have those fantastically huge hinoki baths. Book a suite and you get bigger windows, better views, and (depending on the suite) separate living/dining or sleeping areas. Some suites also feature tatami matted tea rooms.

The first floor dining area overlooks the garden.

Breakfast is served in the ground floor dining area which overlooks the hotel garden. It’s a buffet breakfast and one of the better ones with plenty of fruit, salad, cheeses, smoked salmon, eggs cooked to your preference, and freshly baked bread. The hotel has three main dining areas: an Italian restaurant, a traditional Japanese style restaurant, and a grill serving juicy burgers, steaks and seafood. There is also a pastry shop for sweets and a cozy bar where you can try cocktails made with the locally distilled Ki No Bi dry gin. Happy hour is between 17.00 and 19.00.

Reception. High praise to the staff at the Hyatt Regency for their warm and friendly service!

The Hyatt Regency also has room service; a fitness gym; a spa offering a variety of massages, aromatherapy treatments and enzyme baths (!); a business centre; a souvenir shop; and a 24-hour concierge service with staff who can help you with restaurant reservations, currency exchange, booking tours, or ordering taxis.

This hotel is convenient for the National Museum (just across the street), Sanjusangendo Temple, and is an 8 minute walk from Shichijo Station. This station gives you access to the Keihan Line which runs north to south through Kyoto and so makes it easy to reach the city center, sightseeing locations further north such as Shimogamo Shrine, and also further south such as Tofukuji, Fushimi Inari, and Uji.