$175 vs $3,800 Hyatt Kyoto Comparison | Worth it?
in today’s video we will be exploring Hyatt’s three different hotels at three different price points in Kyoto First up is the budget option Haya Place Kyoto which is located steps from the Kyoto National Garden and on top of the Kerasuma subway line [Music] Hi come on in Welcome to the high place Kyoto So this room is probably marginally better than your typical high place In terms of amenities um we got some pretty standard stuff Tea with coffee in the lobby Um and then a fairly decent size fridge Something that’s better than most high places in the US at least is that these guys will give you pajamas and slippers Another cool amenity is the combined humidifier and air purifier We got the one king bed as you can see And then like most high places uh bit of a couch Let’s go on into the bathroom So like most Japanese hives we got your vid Pretty standard Nothing too fancy about this one Um they give us some toothbrushes makeup mirror and blow dryer And they have a walk-in shower with rainfall shower head Okay so in terms of the cost it costed us 9.5k World of Hyatt points per night We were staying here for two nights Uh at the time of booking the cash price was $176 total per night Uh and one thing to note about this hotel is it’s a really good location because it’s right on top of a subway station Okay So and some additional things to note Unlike most high places in the US this um the breakfast at this high place isn’t offered for free However I have heard that the breakfast is of higher quality than most standard high places Um but I probably wouldn’t recommend getting the breakfast just because there’s uh a lot of restaurants within walking distance of the hotel um that are likely better and the hotel actually gives you a list of recommendations Um yep And then another thing to note is that uh this hotel has outofunit laundry on the first floor Um so there’s three combined washer and dryers and they only take 100 yen coins Um so you should know that beforehand Uh they’re very very difficult to get Um so difficult that the it for the hotel put together this user interface uh tracking um the statuses of each uh combined washerdryer Here I am modeling the pajamas They’re nice and comfy Um both sets are like this shirt dress style [Music] We found the high place Kyoto had a convenient location being a short walk away from the Kyoto Imperial Palace and a short subway ride away from Kerasuma Station with attractions such as the Nishiki Market the Pokémon Center and the Doniote store Nishiki Market was definitely your typical tourist spot Crowded and expensive However it is still good to see Here are some of our favorite eeries nearby Nishiki Fuku Juan is a tea brand that has a storefront with casual tea tastings The tea was paired with desserts only cost about $11 each and didn’t require any reservations Macaka House is a matcha dessert store The matcha latte was better than any matcha I found in the US The Kyoto National Garden did have some decent cherry blossom spots and the Royal Palace was interesting but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to see it as a foreigner One nice benefit is that there is free admission since it’s the Japanese government’s way of advertising about their history Next up is High Regency Kyoto This is Hiatt’s mid tier option in Kyoto Although it was somewhat luxurious the hotel is definitely dated as it is the oldest hotel out of the three in today’s video [Music] Hi come on in Welcome to the Hyatt Regency Kyoto So starting off in our room we’ve got the bathroom So pretty standard stuff Couple glasses of water Um in terms of amenities they give us bath salt and a body towel And then pretty standard amendy kit lotion razor shower cap stuff like that For the toilet you’ve got your standard Japanese bedet Nothing super fancy about this one The shower is a pretty good size actually but it is a bit dated No rainfall shower head and then full size bathtub They also give you a stool to use in the shower for more of a eastern style uh shower Now coming into the room we’ve got a bit of a weird closet space right here in the entrance way If you open up the closet it does make the entrance way a bit cramped but there’s a good amount of storage space here And then they gave us some pajamas too Okay so coming into the room we’ve got some standard amenities espresso coffee maker and then various snacks at the bar for purchase And then they also have a mini fridge However the drinks in here are only available for purchase The room also came with slippers which is pretty nice Other than that um we got a one king bed and a bit of a new You can see over here there is a line of taxis waiting So these taxis are from MK Taxi Company The hotel has a partnership with MK taxi company where you can get a one-time complimentary ride uh with this taxi company from the Shin Kyoto station to the hotel So that’s pretty nice you just have to go to like what’s equivalent of the MK taxi stand and wait for a taxi to come pick you up So now that we’ve settled in and kind of looked around a bit I will say the hotel is a little bit dated just because compared to the other hotel options in Kyoto that we stayed at It’s a little older and it’s also in a little bit of a weird location There’s not as many things to do and it’s not New York transit But when we checked in they gave us this little card which was nice Uh it shows all the little options that they offer such as afternoon tea bike rentals uh art performances and they also had a variety of restaurant options that were in the middle tier not too cheap but not expensive either Uh that includes an all day American style restaurant a Japanese restaurant and an Italian restaurant which we booked for tonight Okay So um also what’s nice is that as an explorist they gave us a couple of drink coupons Um so we’ll be using those tonight when we eat at the Italian restaurant on property In terms of pricing we’re staying here for one night And again we got the king bed Um at the time of booking it was a cat five And since we’re at peak season right now with the cherry blossoms we spent 23,000 World of Pay points for the one night However since then um the category has increased so now it’s a cat 6 so it’s going to cost more on points Um I booked this like really last minute um about 2 weeks before the uh date so the cash price was pretty inflated Um but at the time that I booked it it was $817 to book uh the equivalent room We had dinner at the Italian restaurant on property and the food was quite good We used the drink coupons to get two fresh squeezed fruit juices And if you’ve ever been to Japan you know that fruit is quite a luxury [Music] [Music] And finally we have the Park High Kyoto Located in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto this luxury hotel is a destination in itself In 2024 it was awarded one key from the coveted Michelangeling guide [Music] Ko got some champagne some nuts
and a warm towel
Oh yeah And warm towel [Music] and welcome to the park Hi K All right so first off we can go over the generous amount of closet space that they offer Here’s closet number one which is pretty standard The luggage space and some drawers and hanger hangers for our clothes In here is more shelf space with a safe a steamer for your clothes and then the slippers that they gave us along with our yucatas that we’re currently wearing right now Okay here is closet number three Tom’s closet to hang all of his sweaters And then same size my closet They have a wide variety of drinks for us with a pre-filled Kira egg machine tea kettle a special parket Kiyoto water that looks like sake a tea set and a full menu of their bar items So down here is the complimentary non-alcoholic beverages with several different loose leaf tea options the Nespresso capsules more tea bags and then another teacup set And here is the wine selection with multiple glasses And here is the refrigerated bar section Pulls out Come check out our bathroom We have his and her sinks with Lelay Labo soap and Lelay Labo lotion Over here behind this fulls size mirror we’ve got a pretty nice bedet with a dryer and air deodorizer The hotel provides two bathroes and for the walk-in shower and bath they give some more leavo soap and bath salts The toiletries are also wilavo And there’s a rainfall shower Okay so the hotel also provides an amendy kit in this nice wooden box There’s a razor with shaving cream a comb shower cap cotton swabs um cotton pads and a toothbrush Okay so we’re here at the Parkai Kyoto for two nights We booked with World of High Points The Parkai Kyoto is a cat 8 property and we’re here during cherry blossom season So it’s definitely peak season right now Um because of that we booked with uh World of Five Points at 45,000 points per night So two nights 90,000 uh World of Five points total And then I booked probably like 2 months um before our stay And at that time um the equivalent room cost 7.8k um USD for the two nights stay Um another thing to note when we got here the uh assistant front desk manager uh wrote us a handwritten welcome note So that’s pretty cool And then they also gave us some snacks [Music] We had lunch at Kyoto Beastro the casual restaurant at the hotel The prices were a bit high but the food was good However the service was definitely slow [Music] This is the locker room and although it is small it was never crowded during our stay When we were there we only ever saw one other person using it It is fully stocked Each locker had a Robin slippers And there was also your standard amenities like shaving kits hair brushes and cotton swabs Lotion face wash and face mist are all provided They are made by a local Kyoto brand and the green tea scent in these was really strong This is the dry sauna and this is the wet sauna There’s a cold plunge and a hot tub The showers were really cool There’s a rainfall shower head but there’s also these front-facing faucets that you can run simultaneously And they also provide a stool if you prefer a more eastern style shower Here’s the soaps and shampoos They use the same local Kyoto brand with a really strong green tea scent This is a quick shot of the gym equipment It’s there but we never saw anyone using it and we didn’t use it ourselves either since there’s so much to do around the area If you are a first-time visitor to Kyoto I can’t think of a better location to stay at The hotel is off Nin Zaka and Sonen Zaka streets These streets are famous online for their old feudal look Due to the hotel’s prime location we were able to get up super early and check out the alleys before anyone was there Here’s some footage of it without people And here’s some footage of the crowds starting to come in At peak times in the afternoon it was packed shouldertosh shoulder Kioida is a Buddhist temple nearby which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and Yasaka Pagota is a short walk away and provides iconic Japanese views Both of these locations are incredibly popular so if you want to see them without crowds you’ll have to wake up early [Music] We spent time at Maruyama Park a 5 to 10 minute walk away from the hotel The cherry blossoms there were great and at night there were vendors selling food [Music] Okay so we just got back from a little walking around and dinner and dessert Um turned down service made the bed all the standard stuff But they did leave nice little amenities for us They made a little origami sakura And this looks like a little dark chocolate some more water And they even filled up this uh ice box for us We even asked for some more um amenities and they were right behind us Like within like 2 minutes it was at our door So that was pretty nice Okay so it’s my birthday to do this trip Technically yesterday but Thomas says it’s today I don’t know
Because of the time change she wasn’t actually 28 years old
He just forgot
No that’s not true That’s not true
And then we found these really cool cakes at Starbucks which they don’t have in the US So I thought I would share This one is a mang or I think it’s a orange citrus cheese tart which looked really cool And then Thomas really liked his Sakura stuff So we got this uh Sakura chiffon cake Look how cute it is So overall which hotel is worth it I’d say for first-time visitors to Kyoto or for a special occasion the park height is worth the splurge The park height is right next to several of Kyoto’s most visited tourist spots The location allows you to see these sites without dealing with shoulderto-shoulder crowds However there aren’t any good transit options nearby and once you see all the tourist spots by the park Hyatt I don’t think it warrants a return trip If you’ve already been to Kyoto I would recommend the Hyatt Place Along with being budget friendly the convenient location on top of the subway line allows you to explore other parts of Kyoto with ease I don’t really see a use case for the High Regency besides if you’re staying there on business travel The rooms in the Regency are a bit dated and the public transit options aren’t as good Although there are bus stops outside the Regency the bus lines in Kyoto are very crowded and primarily used by locals However there are several Buddhist temples by the Regency if that interests you If you want to learn about the rest of our Japan trip click the link on screen now
Come up with us as we compare all three Hyatt hotels in Kyoto, Japan during our April 2025 stay!
Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:18 Hyatt Place – Room Tour and Hotel Info
3:48 Hyatt Place – Nearby Activities
4:54 Hyatt Regency – Room Tour and Hotel Info
10:23 Hyatt Regency – Nearby Activities
10:42 Park Hyatt – Room Tour
16:42 Park Hyatt – Property Tour
18:22 Park Hyatt – Nearby Attractions
19:47 Park Hyatt – Turn Down Service
21:36 Recap
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