Hotel Anteroom: Great Find in Kyoto
Hard to say I am the most budget conscious person in the World but I for years postponed my trip to Japan thinking it would be too expensive. I finally gave up in September 2012 and I am glad that I did as a trip to Japan turned out to be way less expensive than I thought it would be (followed by another six trips and then eventually moving to Tokyo). I skipped Tokyo and directly flew into Osaka and took the fast train from the airport to Kyoto where I based myself for about 8 nights while visiting the various parts of Kansai region. If you have been following up some of my earlier posts – you may know that quality of accommodation is quite important for me and my mood greatly depends on it (i wish i were more flexible in that department). Out of all the hotels I stayed in – Hotel Anteroom in Kyoto may be the best one in terms of the price/quality parity. The hotel cost (eight nights) came down to a total of USD 700 for me (same rates are still available). If you have been in Japan – you know that this is an incredibly hard to get hotel rate without giving up too much from quality.
Anteroom: Affordable Yet Stylish
Hotel Anteroom – although I am sure many may also prefer ryokan style accommodation while in Japan (those are usually more expensive by the way) – had a very cool and modern design. The room was of course small (we are in Japan!) but was so well designed and decorated that it could even fit a sofa attached to a desk that I used for photo editing at nights. The hotel also offers free bikes that you can use throughout the day. Hotel Anteroom is located about two subway stops away from the main train station. It is in a residential part of Kyoto rather than the touristy part but I could still walk to the hotel in about 30 minutes from the city center and in about ten minutes from the Kyoto main train station. The hotel has a very spacious common area for everyone’s use where the wifi is also freely available along with some computers (the rooms also have free and reliable wifi). Hotel Anteroom also has a gallery space that is regularly used to host art shows. Since we are talking about Japan – there is probably no need to mention how helpful and polite the entire hotel staff was. If you do not care about staying right in the middle of all the attraction (I definitely don’t) and are into design hotels, Hotel Anteroom will not disappoint you.
