Kyoto Next Door♡

Cozy, well-designed home with excellent access to Kyoto, thoughtful amenities, and a wonderful host

10.0

The location is excellent — peaceful and quiet in a small residential neighborhood, while still being very convenient for transportation. The property is close to **JR Otsu Station (JR 大津駅), around a 7–8 minute walk, and Kyoto Station is only about 10 minutes away by JR. It is also just a 2–3 minute walk to 上栄町駅 (Kami-Sakaemachi Station) on the 京阪京津線 (Keihan Keishin Line), which conveniently connects to the Kyoto subway system, making it easy to visit many major sightseeing spots in Kyoto without transfers. Since the room is very close to 上栄町駅 (Kami-Sakaemachi Station), you may hear trains running before around 23:30 and after around 5:30. If you are very sensitive to noise, this is something to consider. However, if you enjoy railways, it is actually quite special — you can watch trains running closely through the streets of Otsu, which is beautiful and unique. The accommodation itself is very thoughtfully designed and genuinely feels like a home. You can cook, do laundry, and almost everything you need is provided. There is even a vinyl record player to enjoy. Yoshi-san, the host, is humorous, friendly, and very easy to talk to. He provides excellent hospitality, and talking with him also helps you learn more about the local area. Overall, this is a warm and cozy place with amazing value for money. I highly recommend it — as long as you are comfortable staying near a railway line.

I was fortunate that the Otsu tourist information Center were so wonderful.

2.0

The house was not that great unless you are familiar with the city and stay there as a group. The city though is very nice. You can find Lake Biwa just by walking about half an hour from the train station.

− I got lost trying to find this hostel for at least 2 hours. Luckily, the Otsu tourist information center near the JR station had not closed yet but then even their local staff could not find its location. I wonder how anyone can find the place unless being picked up personally by the owner, If I showed up late evening as previously planned, I would definitely have to find another place to stay. Anyway, we finally called the owner and he readily showed up and walked me to his house and gave me all the necessary information about its facility. He was a nice cool guy but I will never stay there again. The funny thing is that he also asked me to xerox my passport info for him before I checked out. The next morning, I had to ask some nice lady who was copying her document at 7- 11 to help me doing that and walked back all the way to his hostel before I could leave the city. My room was next to the common restroom which was not ideal for a quiet rest. In addition, his house was very close to the subway station. You cannot expect to have a good sleep without being awaken by the noises.

yoshiさんの温かな接客に心地よさを感じました。

7.0

オーナーのyoshiさんが、とても親切で丁寧な対応でしたので、安心して過ごすことができました。大津駅からも近く、利便性が良いと感じました。

− テレビはなかったのですが、1人と向き合う時間になりました。（このような時間も大切と感じましたので、良くなかったという話ではありません。） 可能であれば、テレビが共同スペースにあると良いかもしれません。

Guest review

9.0

Good value for money. 20min from Kyoto. Yoshi, the owner is very friendly. Met with us when we arrived explained all that was needed.

− If you are a light sleeper, can be difficult to sleep because train or tram tracks are right behind the house.

Better than my expectation. Close to the station and easy to go to Kyoto. Quite relaxing place

10.0

The facility and charming interiors. The kind and attractive host willing to help.