Guesthouse Soi

Being in Kyoto for the first time and staying in this guesthouse was such a nice experience. In my opinion it was quite clean, the rooms are reasonable sized and sleeping on the floor with Japanese mattress was an amazing feeling! I was well rested :) A pity it’s a bit far away from the city centre but you can get a bus to everywhere.

The staff was very friendly, the place was cool and clean. It has bikes to rent which is very useful as it's located pretty far from downtown but it's a good distance to do by bike.

It was a great breakfast. We were three of us and we’ve slept well.

It was my first time staying in a guesthouse and I enjoyed the experience. I was a solo traveler from Canada and I got to meet people from France, Scotland, Shanghai, and Japan. The reason I chose Guesthouse Soi was its affordability and that it was located in the Higashiyama District where I was going to do the entire day historic hike to the Silver Pavilion. With that said, if you don't enjoy hiking/walking or your health is questionable, I would suggest a different accommodation closer to a JR station. The closest JR station is the kyoto station, approximately 25 mins of walking. Otherwise, the location was perfect as I dined in the Gion district often. Maki and her staff were pleasant to talk to. Their cooking skills for breakfast were great. The room I stayed in was a Japanese-style room with a tatami mat and it was clean and comfortable. My reason for the cleanliness rating was that some of the shared facilities such as the washroom & showers could be better, but that wasn't the fault of the guesthouse or staff. It has more to do with the behaviour of the other guests you'll be sharing with. Other than that, you'll always have a nice hot shower. I would book again.

Brilliant! The staff were super nice and helped us gather our bearings! Beautiful tatami room which gives it an authentic Japanese vibe! Would stop again 100%!