During our trip to the Kansai region of Japan earlier this year, we stayed in Kyoto for 3 days! Since we were only here for 3 days, we picked a very central location to stay at. You can read my review on the hotel, Grand Bach Hotel Kyoto, here! A major plus was that we were close to so many food options such as Nishiki Market and Teramachi Street!

Here’s some of what we ate during our time in Kyoto! I didn’t include all the places we ate at because I don’t remember the name of or didn’t take a picture (gasp!).

Freshly Baked Melonpan: Yes, this is the name of the food stand! Melonpan is a popular type of Japanese pastry which is a bun topped with sugar in the shape of melon, hence the name. I saw the Freshly Baked Melonpan stands quite a few times throughout the trip, and it did not disappoint. The melonpan was warm, fresh, and so delicious. You can also add soft serve!

Sugi Honey Shop: This was located in Nishiki Market, where there are tons of food stalls! Although this place specializes in premium honey (which was very good, by the way), they sell soft serve on the side drizzled with their honey. We really enjoyed the yuzu honey soft serve and came twice during our 3 day visit!

I contemplated including this place because this was the only picture I had (why didn’t I take a picture of the soft serve?!), but in the end, I want to look back at my posts and remember this lovely shop!

Yakitori Kanazawa: Since we were a mere 20 footsteps away from Teramachi Market, the fiance looked up some yakitori places around there and picked Yakitori Kanazawa. Props to him because it was a great find! The yakitori was juicy, delicious and full of that grilled, smokey flavour.

One of the chefs/waiter (it was a very small place, probably only fit 10 customers) was really funny and liked to scare customers. He would talk normally and then all of a sudden, scream AH!!!!! which was startling to us, but then entertaining as we saw him do it to other customers, LOL!

Katsukura: Oh my GOD, the best meal we had in Kyoto! We still talk about Katsukura to this day. Katsukura specializes in tonkatsu. The tonkatsu was so delicious and the best we’ve had so far. I ordered a set that came with shrimp tempura above. Just writing about this makes my mouth water and I’m hungry again.

A Happy Pancake: A Happy Pancake isn’t new to us, as we tried the location in Tokyo in 2018. We were happy to see a location in Kyoto and came here for lunch before heading back to Osaka. A Happy Pancake is known for their fluffy pancakes. The pancakes were delicious here as well but be prepared to wait! Luckily we came right when they opened so there wasn’t a line yet.

To be honest, I didn’t enjoy Kyoto as much as I thought I would because the city was over crowded with tourists. I don’t want to be one of those people who complain about tourists because I am also one, but it lacked an authentic vibe to me. However, the food was really good and memorable.

I enjoyed the quieter cities of Kobe and Kurashiki more. I published my post on Kobe earlier this week, which you can read here. I will be publishing a post on Kurashiki soon!

Last month, the fiance and I went back to Japan for vacation! This time, we went to the Kansai region, which includes Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, and Himeji. We stayed mostly in Osaka, but went to Kyoto for 3 days. This post will talk about our hotel in Kyoto, Hotel Grand Bach!

Background: While looking for a hotel in Kyoto, we wanted somewhere central because we would only be here for 3 days. In the end, we chose downtown Kyoto because there was more to see in this area, and was also within walking distance to Gion.

I don’t remember the exact price but it was about $100 CAD a night, a very good deal considering how central we were and how classy the hotel was!

Location: The location was VERY convenient and central! We were a block from train stations, Nishiki Market, and Teramachi Street which were great for meals and shopping. We had many great meals on Teramachi Street!

Gion District, the historical area was about a 10 minute walk. Department stores were about 2 blocks away.

Room: Since the hotel was on the main road, I was worried about the noise. However, the room had great soundproofing and we could not hear a single thing from the road!

The room was average sized for Japanese standards, which is considered small for Western standards. Japanese hotels usually have two twin beds with wheels, so you can choose if you want to sleep separately or together.

The room was comfortable enough for the two of us although we had to keep our luggage upright for space. It wasn’t a big deal for us, but just a heads up if you haven’t stayed at a Japanese hotel before.

There was a rainfall shower and body jets. I would have preferred a tub, but there was a bathhouse in the hotel where I was able to soak and soothe my sore muscles, which I’ll talk more about below.

A nice bonus was that they offered free movies in English. The other two hotels we stayed at in Osaka only had Japanese cable, so it was nice to have a movie playing in the background while relaxing.

Amenities: I really enjoyed the bathhouse in the hotel. The bathhouse was always very relaxing, spotless and clean. In addition, the products (shampoo, conditioner, foam face wash, face oil, night cream) they offered were really good quality.

Some people may feel uncomfortable going into a bathhouse because you have to be nude, but this is a norm in Japan so no one cares that you’re naked. Just be sure to follow the rules (no phones, rinse before, don’t put face towel in the water, don’t cause a ruckus) and no one will judge you.

There was also coin operated laundry, which we took advantage of. When you’re travelling for 2 weeks with limited clothes, it’s a must!

Atmosphere: The atmosphere was very calm and classy. It felt more like a 4 star hotel than a 3 star hotel. Since this hotel has a Bach/classical music theme, there was always classical piano playing in the lobby and hotel!

The staff were polite and helpful. This is embarrassing but after checking out on the last day, I realized I had forgotten something in the hotel! We quickly went back to the hotel, where the front desk called housecleaning to grab it for us. They came down within 15 minutes with the item.

Cons: I really can’t think of anything bad about this hotel. The only con I can think of was the awkward entrance. Although the hotel was located on the main street, you have to enter through the side street which confused us during check in. Once you get in, the first floor is awkward with a dark hallway and elevator. You have to take the elevator to the second floor lobby.

I am very glad we stayed in downtown Kyoto and would recommend Hotel Grand Bach. The location, atmosphere, and amenities were great and honestly I think we underpaid for what we got! Shh, hehehe.

This review is not sponsored.