The Screen
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Hotel Details
Location
604-0073 Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Nakagyo Ward, Ebisugawadoru Agaru, Shimomaruyachō, 545-2
Japan, East Asia
Location
The Screen · Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
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Key Highlights
- ✓Exceptional Service: The staff receives widespread acclaim for being friendly, helpful, attentive, and accommodating.
- ✓The Screen boasts an excellent central location in Kyoto, described as being in a "great neighborhood."
Expert Review: The Screen
The Screen in Kyoto, Japan, a Michelin Key Selected property, is consistently praised as a luxurious boutique hotel offering a unique and highly satisfying experience.
1. Overall Rating & Sentiment
The Screen garners exceptional overall ratings from guests, with scores frequently in the "Excellent" range, such as 8.9/10 on Booking.com and Trip.com, and an impressive 18.9/20 on the Michelin Guide's own scoring system. The general sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, with many guests considering it one of the best hotels they've experienced in Japan.
2. Key Highlights
Guests consistently highlight several standout features of The Screen:
- Unique Design: Each of the 13 rooms boasts an individual design, providing a distinct experience for every stay.
- Exceptional Service: The staff receives widespread acclaim for being friendly, helpful, attentive, and accommodating.
- Spacious Rooms: The rooms are notably large, a significant advantage in Japan where hotel room sizes can often be modest.
- Amenities: High-quality amenities, including advanced in-room entertainment systems and luxurious bathroom products, are frequently mentioned.
- Rooftop Terrace: The open-air "Sky Lounge" or rooftop terrace is a popular feature for relaxation and cocktails.
3. Room Quality
The Screen is renowned for its luxurious guest rooms, each meticulously designed by a different Japanese or international designer. Rooms are described as "super comfy and huge," "spacious," "modern and clean," and "effortlessly stylish." They seamlessly blend contemporary design with traditional Japanese elements, sometimes featuring tatami floors and shoji screens.
Standard room features often include a king bed, 42-inch flat-screen TV, iPod dock, BOSE speakers, coffee machine, and refrigerator. Bathrooms are also a highlight, frequently equipped with bathtubs or spa tubs, and supplied with high-quality amenities like REN cosmetics and bathrobes.
4. Dining Experience
The hotel offers a delightful dining experience with several options:
- Bron Ronnery: This restaurant serves creative French fusion dishes using local Kyoto ingredients for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
- Lounge Sunsun: Offers café dishes and drinks.
- Sorayuka Shoki: Provides dinner meals on an open-air terrace from May to October.
Guests particularly enjoy the "fun" Japanese breakfast experience and the delicious food offered at the restaurant, with cooked-to-order breakfast available daily.
5. Service & Staff
The service and staff at The Screen consistently receive top marks, with a staff rating of 9.5 on Booking.com and 9.1 on Trip.com. Guests frequently use terms like "amazing," "incredibly friendly and accommodating," "very nice and helpful," and "attentive." The staff is praised for providing excellent recommendations for local attractions and restaurants, and for offering services such as concierge assistance, bicycle rentals, and even a traditional 'macha' tea ceremony with the kimono-clad manager. Multilingual staff are also noted as a significant benefit.
6. Location & Accessibility
The Screen boasts an excellent central location in Kyoto, described as being in a "great neighborhood."
- Proximity to Attractions: It's just a 3-minute walk to the Kyoto Imperial Palace and a 5-minute walk to the Kamo River. Other nearby attractions include Nishiki Market (around 1.4 km), Kyoto International Manga Museum (around 0.9-1.6 km), and Teramachi Street.
- Public Transport: The hotel is conveniently located within a 7-minute walk of Jingu Marutabashi Train Station. It's also a short walk to various bus stops and subway stations like Marutamachi, Shiyakusho-mae, Gojo, and Karasuma Oike, providing easy access to explore the city. JR Kyoto Station is also reachable within a 10-minute walk.
- Neighborhood: While central, it's situated in a quiet area, allowing for a peaceful stay, yet still offering many shops and restaurants within walking distance. The hotel does not have its own parking lot, but hourly-rate parking is available nearby.
7. Value & Pricing
While potentially seen as a "splurge" compared to the average hotel in Kyoto, guests generally consider The Screen to offer "exceptional quality and great value," making it "worth every extra dollar." Typical rates can vary significantly based on dates and room types, with some starting around JPY 13,852 (approximately S$143). Given its unique design, spacious rooms, and high level of service, guests find the pricing reasonable for the luxurious experience provided.
8. Common Complaints
Recurring complaints are minimal for The Screen. The most notable issue mentioned by a few guests relates to room lighting, specifically "lights outside shone through the paper doors all night." Another guest mentioned noise that "sounded like an airplane going off" from machines outside their "windows," although the hotel offered to change rooms. One review also noted difficulty reaching the front desk via phone for a period. The hotel does have a customer harassment policy in place to protect its employees.
Sources
Google Reviews
209 reviews
Recent Guest Reviews
Lisa Charbonneau
Was very happy about the room size and it was also very nicely decorated for my birthday! The room was very clean and the tub with jets was great. The only issue was it was very noisy with some air conditioning jet sounding noise system outside our “window”, but ear plugs helped. I just recommend a full length mirror in the room, especially as it has the space. Overall it was better then expect...
Judith Rivera
Starting by the location of this cute little boutique hotel, walking distance to the imperial palace and not far from train station. It was a pleasant surprise to find chocolates, drinks and matching pajamas in the room for us, completed with origami to top the cake. The staff was very accommodating of almost anything we wanted. Very recommended.
Claire Butcher
Absolutely wonderful experience at The Screen. We stayed 5 nights and we were so happy we did. The room was huge, stunning and very well equipped. The team here are so devoted to making certain their guests are happy and we were. Very. They catered for Gluten Free with a fab breakfast and they helped us with taxis and questions. Seriously, stay here. It's amazing! As we left, the team came to wav...
Alin Ionut
An unforgettable stay – exceptional service and hospitality We had an absolutely wonderful experience at The Screen in Kyoto. From the moment we arrived, the staff were incredibly kind, professional, and attentive. The rooms are spacious, beautifully designed, and very comfortable – a true blend of modern luxury and Japanese elegance. The food was outstanding – fresh, beautifully presented, and ...
Mark DeLucia
We rented 2 rooms, both completely different. All rooms were designed by local artists, very eclectic. Rooms were clean, staff was friendly, and hotel is in a great location. Bus stop just a few minute walk and subway is about 10 minutes away.
Michael Nightingale
Stayed here in March 2023. It's a lovely hotel, and my room was gorgeous - huge, with a couch and a record player, an incredibly comfortable bed, and an enormous bathroom with good water pressure - so lovely I thought I might have been given a free upgrade. Western breakfasts were very good (in the slightly strange way of all Japanese Western breakfasts) and the Japanese breakfast was excellent. ...
Marriott
