THE JUNEI HOTEL Kyoto Imperial Palace West in Kyoto

One female staff member provided exceptional customer service based on her alone, the experience would have been a 10/10. Unfortunately, the rest of the stay declined quickly after check-in.

The carpet in our room felt very dirty and visibly stained. The rest of the room was as pictured. We were placed in a first-floor room right by the lobby, where all guest traffic passed directly by our door, making it consistently noisy. The front door to the hotel was a sliding door pretty much next to our room wall/window and imagine it sliding open and shut constantly.

Due to the age and boutique nature of the hotel, the walls appeared to be extremely thin. Normal walking from the upstairs room was very loud, and any dropped items or luggage movement could be clearly heard. As a result, I was unable to sleep.

When I contacted the hotel to explain that we couldn’t sleep, the response I received was that another guest had complained about my children being loud. This was an inappropriate and disappointing response rather than addressing the issue or offering a solution, it felt like a defensive attempt to dismiss my concern. There was no resolution offered.

The situation was later blamed on a language barrier, which I do not find acceptable. Emotions, tone, and gestures are universal.

I do not recommend it for families with children, light sleepers, non-Japanese speaking, or those that pick their hotels based on Michelin guides - as I pick my hotels based on that always.