hotel · Downtown — Kawaramachi & Shijō
Hotel Okura Kyoto Review
A large Western hotel of 320 rooms on the Kawaramachi-Oike corner, at the northern edge of the downtown grid.
Best for
Why it stands out
The corner it stands on. In a city where the sights are scattered and the buses are full, being on top of the interchange is worth more than a view.
Main trade-off
It is a big-hotel stay in a commercial centre. Nothing about the building tells you which city you are in, and the atmosphere people come to Kyoto for starts ten minutes east.
Why we recommend it
Best all-round central base
Our strongest all-round pick because it stands on the Kawaramachi-Oike corner, which is the point Downtown's transport and its restaurants meet: the subway is underneath, Pontochō and Nishiki are a walk south, and the Higashiyama temples are across one bridge.