Right location, right people, right price.”

If you're planning on visiting Kyoto, even if you spent the money getting a JR Rail Pass, you will be poorly-served by staying near Kyoto Station: much of what is beautiful and fun about Kyoto follows the banks of the Kamogawa, especially near the Hankyu Kawaramachi and Keihan Shijo stations (though you may not need them much if you like to walk or bike). The Khaosan Kyoto Guesthouse (I cannot speak from experience about the Theater, which serves as a more typical capsule-style hostel) is about a 5 minute walk from Kawaramachi station and the restaurants in Pontocho, 10-ish from Gion, 15-ish from Yazaka Shrine and Kodaiji, and 30-ish from Kiyomizu-dera (which is definitely a walk worth taking). If you want to head away from the river, you're maybe 30 minutes on foot from the Imperial Palace. The staff are a delight, and I'm probably far from the first to have had fun chats late at night. If you want to meet fellow travelers, they run a bar at their theater every night. But if you want privacy, the rooms are quiet, clean, and well-priced, especially for the location. Same spotlessness holds for the toilets/sinks/showers as well.

Excellent, Affordable Base in the Center of Kyoto”

It is my second time staying at Khaosan Kyoto Guesthouse and the services have since improved. Facilities such as the toilets and showers were well-maintained. The staff have been very helpful and friendly throughout our stay as well. The hostel is situated along Teramachi-dori and located near the Gion district as well as both the Hankyu Kawaramachi Station and Keihan Railway's Gion-Shijo Station. As such it is easy to get to Arashiyama, Uji, Fushimi-Inari (the famed torii gates) and Kurama if you are using Khaosan Guesthouse as a base. Furthermore, there are several bus stops around the Shijo-Kawaramachi area which connects the hostel to places like the Golden Pavilion and Kyoto Station. However, these transport services are not cover undered the JR Rail Pass (but covered under the Kansai Thru Pass) and while it is a good base to do exploration of Kyoto and some of its surrounding areas up to Nara and Osaka. It is not a good base if you plan to make frequent use of the JR and Shinkansen lines as you would need to get to Kyoto Station either via bus, subway (which requires a transfer) or via transfer at Tofukuji Station. Otherwise, the Khaosan Kyoto Guesthouse is quite a lively place with several good restaurants in close proximity and decent facilities.

Best Hostel in Kyoto, Great Fun”

As a solo traveller who has tried out numerous guesthouses in Kyoto, Khaosan Kyoto deservers a top-notch rating. The staff speaks fluent english, is helpful in giving tips, advice and directions for exploring Kyoto and are available to help out with any problems encountered during your stay. The guesthouse is superbly clean due to daily housekeeping schedules in the noon. Beds are double-decked but nevertheless extremely comfortable, with adjustable air con temperatures and a soundproof-ed corridor. I must also add in that free lockers are provided in each room. There is free wifi and 9 public computers for use. A lounge is available - a great place for guests to hang out and make friends, chill at the sofas, dining table, cook meals together and watch shows on a big screen TV. Activities are organized weekly with cooperation from Kyoto University (temple visits, japanese calligraphy course, goshamon tutorials) The hostel is also decorated with well-wishes and drawings left behind from previous guests. I loved my stay here and their promotional prices of 2000yen a night on specific dates makes it possibly the cheapest guesthouse available in Kyoto. There is a supermarket and convenience store within 5 minutes of Khaosan Kyoto, and Shijo Street, the main shopping district of Kyoto, is within 5 minutes of walking distance as well. Great location.

Excellent location, convenient and accessible, pleasant staff, clean accomodation, easy to find food”

Khaosan Kyoto is near Kawaramachi hanyu line station. Very near to Teramachi shopping and you will never regret choosing this guesthouse. Muslims can find halal indian restaurant and Kebabs kiosk at Teramachi shopping lane nearby. Accesible to many tourisitic areas and shoppings. Family mart ,Fijii Daimaru is just along Khaosan. Its right in the heart of Kawaramachi like Spore Orchard road and can stroll down to Gion. Very clean and spacious shared toilets but please have your own toileteries and towel as its a guesthouse not hotel. Staff can speak english and u can store your luggage while waiting for chkin time. Cosy pantry and resting area for guest to dine,watch tv or using PC. Will definitely stay at Khaosan again as it is so convenient. Small room but its ok for sleeping...coz most of the time you will be out. But like i said, big bright clean shared toilets is most important too. Complimentary map if u need and packet of small candy when u chkout for token of thank you. Awesome

Affordable stay at prime location”

Khaosan Kyoto Guesthouse is located at Kyoto's prime shopping and sightseeing street known as Shijo-dori. It's a short walk to shopping complexes such as Takashimaya and Daimaru. There is a Family Mart convenience store about 4 shop lots away. Walk another 5-10 mins east of Shijo-dori street and you'll get to Gion, Maruyama Park and many UNESCO Heritage designated shrines. Transport to the guesthouse is a breeze. Take Bus A2 and alight at Shijo-Kawaramachi. There are also subway stations located on both ends of the street at walking distance and plenty of bus stops to boot. Staff are friendly and well-versed in English. They can advise you on close to anything and are great to chat with. Hostel rooms are kept clean, albeit spartan with no mirrors, desk and chair for a Private Quad Room. Bathrooms and toilets are regularly maintained by resident staff. Laundry facilities are available - JPY 200 for washer and JPY 100 for dryer. Free coffee and tea available self service at the kitchen. Wi-Fi is adequate and poor at times due to high usage, so it's best to use when you're at the lobby.

Awesome Stay with Good Location, Value for Money”

We are in a group of 5 and stayed in a 6-bed private room and thanks Khaosan Kyoto Guesthouse to arrange us at the quiet floor which equipped with kitchen, lounge, and laundry area. We like the strategic location of it (only a few min walk to nearest subway station, 2-3 min walk to nearest bus stop, shops nearby) and the comfortable staying condition in the entire guesthouse. Staffs are all very friendly and always greet us warmly with very polite attitude! Nothing to criticize on the overall cleanliness (bathrooms, general area, bedroom & lines, etc) as they took very well care of it. Only thing to improve is the Internet access.. Wifi is not strong in the room, but general areas are OK! We will definitely recommend this stay to others!

Great Stay (Semi Double)”

This is our first time in Kyoto and Im glad we found Khaosan Guesthouse! Our flight arrive at night and we arrive kyoto around midnight, our check in time between 12am-2am, how convenient! Its near to kawaramachi shooping street, nishiki market, gion street and kawaramachi train & bus station. All within walking distance. This place is highly recommended! Friendly staff, great location, transport conveninet.

Best place with low price ”

I did have a very comfortable stay at Khaosan Kyoto Guesthouse. It's located in the center of Kyoto and from here you can easily catch the bus to almost every traveling spot in Kyoto. A lot of information and direction maps at first floor that you don't find any difficulties searching for the way to your destination. Also, the staffs are very friendly and willing to help you with your questions. Near the Guesthouse, there are many shopping streets so it's easy to have a walk and do window shopping :) I will definitely stay here again once I come back to Kyoto.

First hostel experience, and I really enjoyed it!”

I only stayed at this hostel one night, and wish I was able to stay longer. Khaosan Kyoto Guesthouse is incredible for the price. The staff is helpful and friendly, the washrooms and dorm rooms are clean, there are women only dorm rooms and washrooms which is a plus, there are lockers and luggage storage and the common room and kitchen are a great area to spend time and meet people. I highly recommend this hostel to anyone!

Too bad it was just a one-night stay”

We were a group of friends travelling from Malaysia last week. Since Kyoto was our first stop once we arrived in Japan, we wanted to make sure we will have the best headstart for our trip. We glad we chose Khaosan Kyoto Guesthouse. We find everything so nice, it was a very pleasant stay. Too bad we only stayed for one night. We stayed in a quadruple room, it was nice and comfy although not very spacious if you have huge luggage, but it was not much of a problem for us since we carry small bags. They even have lockers in the room. Plus, even if you have huge ones, they have a luggage store room provided. I personally love the common room. It feels so ... Japanese? :D The toilet and showers are clean, very good wifi connection, and most importantly, very helpful staffs. Due to change in our flight detail, we asked for the permission to leave our luggage after we checked out earlier in the morning. When we arrived back to collect our luggage, we also needed a space to pray (Muslim travellers). We only asked for a decent empty corner or any space at all for us to pray for a moment but they let us use one of the vacant rooms. I would definitely consider coming back here again, if I have to stay in Kyoto in the future. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and we wish you success in the future.

Great backpacker hostel at a great price!”

I had a great stay at Khaosan Kyoto Guesthouse. The hotel was comfortable, had nice bathrooms, and the beds were comfortable even in the 10 bed bunk room where I stayed. The curtains provided plenty of privacy, and the lockers were big enough to store my things. It was definitely a great place to stay for backpackers!

Great location, nice staff”

i really enjoyed my stay in kyoto at khaosan in winter. the location is a quiet side street just off the main shopping street but more importantly this is where most buses (and some local trains)leave to the famous temples and shrines. very easy to navigate and coffee shops and restaurants near by. the staff at khaosan are very helpful and organise social activites and introduction to japanese culture. my single room was small, very clean, easy to heat and very quiet. staff is knowledgable about moving around in the city and have prepared list of recommended places, folders and pictures to places to see. khaosan even offers an written introduction to the correct use of the famed japanese toilets!

Good stay!”

Khaosan Kyoto is near the Kawaramachi station, which I recommend you take to in order to access the hostel. I arrived by the main line Shijo station, and walked a good 20-25 mins pushing a full luggage. From Kawaramachi, the hostel is only 3-5mins away. I booked a solo room, which was spacious enough for me to open my luggage on the floor. Bath and toilet facilities are shared. Cleanliness is good, but it is an older building, so you when you first enter the level, you might get a musty smell. Windows for common spaces can’t be opened, but for solo rooms you can, so I just left the window open to air the room. Khaosan Kyoto is located 2 mins away from Shijo-dori, the main shopping strip in Kyoto, and access to Yasaka Temple or Gion are walkable distance. So it is a good area to stay if you are looking to shop and visit the temples nearby!

Best hostel in Kyoto”

Loved our stay at Khaosan Kyoto. 4 of us stayed in two rooms that were bunk beds. Rooms were clean and well looked after. Very impressed with the memory foam pillows. The staff had great English skills and were super friendly. Highly recommended. Better than some hotels I've stayed in. If you want to explore Kyoto, this place is where you should stay. Thank you Yuki and team :)

Clean, comfortable, excellent location”

The location of the hostel was in Kawaramachi, very centrally located, and I shopped a lot in the streets opposite the hostel. Also, the hostel was very near the bus-stops which you could take to the various sightseeing places in Kyoto. I liked that the hostel had a lift, which served me well as my luggage was pretty heavy. Also, it provided lockers with keys so that we could store our valuable belongings. My only gripe would be that the WIFI in my room was extremely weak. I often had to proceed to the common areas to use my devices, not a good thing for someone planning her trip on a day-to-day basis. Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend this hostel to anyone going to Kyoto for a few days!

Nice place to stay”

Khaosan Kyoto Guesthouse was located at a very strategic location with few convenience stores nearby. It also offers a public area where you can meet other tourists. The only down side is that the room size was bit small, but it definitely worth your bucks.

Comfortable, clean and cheap!”

Our stay at the Khaosan Kyoto Guesthouse was excellent! Would absolutely stay here again. Very central location, with easy access to all sites and a very knowledgable an helpful staff to help you get around.

A great place to stay for such a cheap price”

our room was double room so it's a little bigger than expected and the bed was comfortable. Although there's no private bathroom, the shared bathroom is big, clean and I never had to wait to take a shower or wash my hands. The common room (living room) is the nice touch of the hostel. You can sit around on big pillow seats, talking to people from all around the world, or surf the free internet. The hostel is really close to a huge shopping street where you can find all kind of souvenir or traditional food. We really enjoyed our stay there. I'll definitely stay at Khaosan again if I ever go back to Kyoto

Good place ”

Kyoto was pretty booked so I found space at Khaosan Kyoto Hostel. Very nice folks. Very minimal digs and at age 65 was probably the oldest person by several decades. Had private room w/ Shared bath/shower, etc. Very basic housing ... and probably can save mucho cash by booking directly vs. Agoda that marks up prices by about 100%. Nice staff ... met some good folks there. Excellent location in terms to access to trains, buses, etc but absolutely best way to see kyoto is by bike. rent a bike and everything is within an hour ride. lots of close and good resturants. I thought that the local scene was more designer and high fashion vs. more local kyoto neighborhoods (that I eventually moved to). but all good.

very clean hostel with good location”

before my stay i am quite worry about the cleanness of shared bathroom. but Khaosan Kyoto Guesthouse gave me a big surprise! thou the room is rather small, all area including the shower room and toilets are very clean and tidy. also they provide detailed information about the restaurants around the guesthouse which is very impressive. i will definitely stay in this guesthouse again when i re-visit kyoto!