We find out if Anshin Oyado lives up to the great reviews.

If you’re looking to stay at a cheap capsule hotel in Kyoto, Anshin Oyado is a chain that will likely pop up in your searches. With five locations in Tokyo, one in Nagoya and one in Kyoto, it’s a trusted chain — “Anshin Oyado” translates to “peace of mind lodging” — and every branch is located within two minutes’ walk from a station.

Having stayed at the Tokyo locations, which are largely for men only, with the exception of the Ginza Shiodome location, which is a women’s only inn, we were keen to try out the Kyoto branch of the chain, seeing as it’s the only location that accommodates both men and women. Located about a 90-second walk from Exit 3 of Karasuma Station on the Kyoto Line, or Exit 19 of Shijo Station on the Karasuma Line, this hotel has received rave reviews online, and it offers an artificial hot spring, mist sauna, lounge, soft drinks, and alcohol, all free of charge.

As it turns out, the location exceeded our expectations, with spacious lockers and comfortable, modern capsule rooms, so let’s take a look at the hotel in more detail, starting with the reception area, where visitors are required to take off their shoes and place them in lockers at the front before slipping into a pair of slippers.

Stays here start at 5,000 yen (US$33.44) a night, excluding the 200-yen per person accommodation tax charged by the city, and though the men’s and women’s sleeping quarters are separated, there are shared spaces where everyone can spend time together.

▼ Baths on the first floor, lockers and lounge on the second floor, women’s capsules on the third floor and men’s capsules on the fourth and fifth floors.

Soft drinks and alcohol are free, and for an additional 1,000 yen per night, you can enjoy all-you-can-eat morning curry and a daily late-night snack in the second floor lounge.

After checking in, you receive your locker key and then you get to pick up some in-house wear and any amenities you need before heading up to the lockers on the second floor.

Many capsule hotels don’t offer lockers, so this area is a godsend for travellers with large luggage, as the lockers are super wide and roomy.

After placing your bags in the locker and changing into your in-house wear, you can stop by the free lounge to see what’s on offer. When we visited, they had free bean mochi sweets from Demachi Futaba, a famous traditional sweets store in Kyoto, so we filled  up on a couple of them before heading to the baths.

The hot springs are artificial, which means they’re not pumped up from the ground on site, but they do contain hot spring minerals, sourced from the region of Tochiomata Onsen, Niigata Prefecture. With mist saunas and an unlimited selection of amenities such as shampoo and face wash for guests to use, the public baths are surprisingly high quality for a capsule hotel.

After bathing, it’s time to head to your capsule, and the rooms are spacious, with dim lighting that creates a relaxed ambience.

The capsule rooms are spacious and clean, and we’d rate them higher than a lot of other hotels we’ve stayed at within the same price range.

The lighting and ventilation can be controlled with a touch panel, which is another perk you don’t always find at capsule hotels, and chargers, outlets, earplugs, and a safety box are also in the capsule for guests to use.

With cables for charging your electrical devices inside the capsule, you could even leave your own cables in the locker so you don’t need to keep a lot of stuff with you in the sleeping quarters.

▼ As for the bed, it comes with a firm feather pillow, but you can change it for a softer one by simply requesting it.

Checkout is at midday, which makes things easy and relaxed for guests the next day. In many ways, this is a better alternative to staying at a business hotel, in terms of the perks and value-for money, so next time you’re looking to stay at a capsule hotel in Kyoto, we can confidently recommend Anshin Oyado. It really is a peace-of-mind place to stay.

Hotel information

Anshin Oyado Kyoto Shijo Karasuma / 安心お宿京都四条烏丸店
Address: Kyoto-fu, Kyoto-shi, Shimogyo-ku, Ayanokoji-dori Higashinotoin Higashiri Shinmei-cho 239-1
京都府京都市下京区綾小路通東洞院東入神明町239-1
Website

Related: Rakuten Travel
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