Hotels in Japan Revisited

So after returning from Japan I thought I would comment on the hotels we used for this trip.

The Hotel Villa Fontaine Hamatsucho was definitely an OK choice of hotel by my standards. The cost was under 100USD a night. A warning that you pay at check in, not check out, though. Still the rooms were clean and up to date. They had wired high-speed internet in the rooms free of additional charge. The bed was comfortable and the bathroom was a decent size and up to date. The mirror had a heated spot that wouldn't fog over with the shower. The TV only had a few channels, which is to be expected but it was a small flat panel LCD. The location of the hotel being in a familiar area was nice and it was only a few minutes walk from the JR station. Assuming the other locations are as clean and up to date I would probably try those as well.

The Kyoto Garden Hotel had a nice location but it was obviously an older hotel. The rooms were about the same size except the bathroom was much smaller. It was clean but there was a general run down feeling. They did have a restaurant that served very good Chinese food but you do not have to stay at the hotel to eat there. The TV was an old CRT and they had high speed internet available but you have to get a modem from the desk (of which they have only 20). I was able to get a modem and keep it for the duration of the stay but I would guess if you got there at the wrong time it might be tough. The connection speed on the modem however was not the best. There was however no additional charge for it. The bed was not comfortable to me and that was probably my biggest issue with the place. I generally didn't sleep as well as I could have while I was there. Though we were only a couple minutes from Karasuma Oike Station there were not a ton of restaurants around the hotel. The walk to the palace park was probably about 15 minutes for me with no one else in tow. Longer with others. I would say that for the price it wasn't terrible but I will definitely search for another place for my next trip to Kyoto and only settle for Kyoto Garden if I can't find someplace else where the price is right.