Hotel Monterey Kyoto

The dark, sometimes opulent English-style decor at Hotel Monterey is a bit like a theme park. The lobby features lots of black marble, exposed brick, and a large square chandelier made up of tiny lights. The Cafe & Bar, with its Scottish plaid carpeting and books and teacups lining the shelves, is designed to resemble the formal library of an Edinburgh home. Filled with arches and stained glass, the St. Simon Zelotes Chapel, a recreation of the same church in Upper Chelsea, London, has been plopped in the middle of an inner courtyard, and tips the scale toward kitsch. A sleek top-floor spa with spring-fed pools showcases views of Kyoto from large windows, but access is an additional fee.

The hotel is centrally located on a main road, surrounded by restaurants and chain stores, including two Starbucks. It’s a five- to 10-minute walk to either the Karasumaoike or Shijo subway stations, and it's then a 10-minute ride to Kyoto station, the main rail station in Kyoto. It’s a five-minute walk to Kyoto International Minja Museum, a 10-minute walk to the Nishiki market, and a 20-minute ride on public transportation to the historic Gion District across the river. Nijo Castle, Heian Jungu Shrine, Kiyomizu-dera Temple are within a 15- to 20-minute walk. Osaka International Airport is about an hour's drive, or an hour and 20 minutes by public transportation.

The 327 air-conditioned hotel rooms come with flat-screen TVs, desks, tea- and coffee-making facilities, mini-fridges, hairdryers, pajamas and slippers, and free Wi-Fi, along with an LAN connection. European-style decor is either mostly gray with dark-blue-and-cream-colored stripes or red-based with crimson-and-cream stripes. Rooms range from compact Standard and Superior Singles and Doubles to Deluxe Corner Twins and Family Rooms with sitting areas. Rooms with king-size beds are available. Some of the rooms can feel cramped with luggage, and pillows have a buckwheat-hull filling, which some guests find hard and uncomfortable. Compact, boldly striped bathrooms come with small sinks, which in the Superior Single and Twin Rooms are wedged between the narrow shower/tub combos and the toilets. Shampoo, conditioner, and a body wash are provided in pump dispensers. 

The hotel has two restaurants, a French establishment called Escale and a Japanese venue called Zuientei, which are both open for lunch and dinner. The Cafe & Bar ("the Library") serves tea from the morning until the late afternoon and drinks well into the night. A breakfast buffet with Japanese and Western dishes is available for an extra fee. Guests must pay an entrance fee to use the hotel’s top-floor spa, which has hot baths filled with natural spring water from below the city, along with various spa treatments. The on-site English-style wedding chapel hosts wedding ceremonies. There are two banquet rooms and a small meeting room, and free Wi-Fi is available throughout.