Hotel Review of Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo: clean, comfy, central – and on budget

Slowly but surely I am reviewing every place I ever stayed in Kyoto, save for that very cheap business hotel somewhere near Toji many years back. And, I am pleased to report I never happened upon a bad place in Kyoto. So, for those of you who want hotel but on a budget… trust me for an unbiased review of what is mostly very reasonably priced hotels and small inns. So, let’s talk about the Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo!

Please excuse the absence of photos here. As much as me and my walled liked the stay here, the Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo is comfy, bright and clean… but it is not exactly… instagrammable.

The Hotel

The Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo is a mid-sized new hotel with about 130 rooms in the Northern Downtown Kyoto, a stone’s throw from Teramachi Shopping Arcade and Kyoto City Hall. It is part of a small national Japanese chain, with hotels in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Atami, Miyazaki and Naha.

Given these destinations and locations, I think they are trying to appeal to both international and national business travellers as well as tourists with multilingual web sites, memberships, mobile check-in with providing comfortable hotel rooms at competitive prices while saving on staff.

Location of Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo

Even though you don’t wake up to cherry blossoms and tinkling gongs outside your window but get a rather boring postwar Kyoto architecture, hear me out. If you want to sightsee in Kyoto and you don’t have a lot of time, the location of this hotel is one of the best to access Kyoto’s major sights.

You will also be near some nice traditional shops as well as big “famous” shopping like Loft, Uniqlo and – for those who love it – Don Quijote, several large drug stores… and a wide choice of decent restaurants. Nearby Teramachi-dori is much less frantic and touristy up here, and you will have some lovely shops here. Some of my favourite shops, Kyukyodo Honten, Misuyabari Needle and Musubi Kyoto (for Yukata) are just around the corner.

And it goes without saying that a convenience store (Family Mart, in this case, slowly becoming my favourite) is about 100 metres from the hotel.

You will be in Downtown Kyoto, but in the North of it, so generally, less mass tourism madness. Less busy restaurants. Some locals life. And illustrious company: famous old ryokan Hiiragiya and Tawaraya are in the next street. You can walk to Pontocho in about five to ten minutes, and to Kamo River in less than ten minutes.

Last not least, you will have great access to public transport from the Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo.

The Kyoto Metro (Tozai Line) – about five minutes on foot.

A few major bus stops where you can go, without having to transfer, to Arashiyama, Ginkakuji, Kinkakuji, Nijo Castle and, of course, to Kyoto Station. In ten minutes you can walk to Keihan Sanjo Station, from where you can easily reach the popular day trip destinations without having to change at Kyoto Station.

You can still walk to Gion comfortably in about 15 minutes along the pretty Kamo River path. It’s a super convenient and yet very central location!

And the best bit when it comes to transport? They have loads of secure bicycle parking for their guests. Pure genius. It would be fabulous they rented bikes to guest, but you’ll have to take care of that yourself. However, a trip to J-Cycle (20min by bus) will sort you out with a very sturdy functional bike for about 1000 JPY – or fancier bicycles! I always rent mine from there unless my accommodation has good bicycles for rent.

My Room at the Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo

I stayed in stayed in a Standard Double as a solo traveller – which at 17 square metres offered more than enough space for me and my expanding luggage.

You enter the room into a small vestibule, with space to hand clothes and smaller bags. It also has a sink and a fridge and a safe deposit box. Flooring is washable – something I much prefer over carpeting. And at night, you can separate this from the sleeping area with a curtain – very Japanese.

The bathroom is compact but comes with a powerful shower, good products and hair dryer.

My bed was 140cm wide and super comfortable, with high-quality bedlinen.

The bed was pushed to the wall one one side. I wasn’t bothered, but if there are two people sharing a double, you only have one side to get out of the bed. This, however, is pretty standard in many Japanese business hotels – I have seen this at Toyoko Inn and the fairly classy S-Peria hotels. It was quiet and I slept very well.

I also had a small table and a stool – fine for sitting, but I probably would not want to sit there for extended period of time, for example, to study.

The whole room at Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo felt light and airy, with a pleasant white and grey colour scheme and large windows that let lots of natural light in.

My only gripe with my room was that it had no kettle and cups and spoons. There is a complimentary breakfast, but I like to have a cup of coffee when I wake up and a cup of tea at night – I had to resort to highballs for my nightcap. Not a bad thing, but I started a bit of a bad travel habit!

Are there better rooms?

The rooms here are pretty uniform, optimised for comfort and convenience, so most rooms are 17 square metres, some have double (140cm wide) sized beds and some have two single (100cm wide) beds. Some of the twin rooms are a bit bigger at 22 Square metres and the universal rooms are 26 square metres and barrier-free.

Facilities at Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo

The Prince Smart Inn chain is a small business hotel chain, or at least it looks like one, but their multilingual website and locations in cities like Naha and Atami hints that their service might be directed at budget-conscious travellers as well.

So, there weren’t a lot of facilities outside the room. The ground floor reception area is very large and a bit echoey, with lots of seating and power outlets – probably for the “Coworking” that many of its guest might like to do here. There is a small cafe counter attached to this area, where a minimalist breakfast is served every morning.

I found it a bit to large and too noisy to spend too much time here, but it was okay for spending an hour after checking out.

There is an ice machine and vending, and some washing machines available. I did not use them, but I noticed one or several being available whenever I went to get some ice or a soft drink.

The ground floor has a small amenity bar where you can help yourself to pyjamas and the usual single use amenities like paper cups, toothbrushes and hair brushes.

And last not least, there is secure bicycle parking for at least 30 bicycles. It did not seem to get used that much, although it was one of the reasons why I booked this hotel, since I had a rental bicycle during my stay in Kyoto.

Special Treats

Well… I have to think very hard here. The hotel is extremely pleasant and comfortable for the price, but I cannot really think of any special treats. The location is great, it’s spick and span, clean and comfortable.

Hotel Details

I paid 28.000JPY in total for three nights, which came to about 165 Euro at the time of travel – I consider that a pretty good price, especially for the location.

I used Booking.com to reserve and pay for this stay at Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo. In fact, I use them for all my hotel stays if using a booking site, and it is very convenient, as I can amend bookings easily. If you prefer, you can also book direct at https://www.princehotels.co.jp

Full Details: Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo, 325 Maruyacho, Nakagyo Ward, 604-8086 Kyoto.

The Address in Japanese is プリンス スマート イン 京都三条, 〒604-8086 京都 府京都市中京区丸屋町３２５.

Nearest Airport: Kansai International, Osaka Itami and Kobe. Kansai International (KIX) is by far the easiest to get to, with direct Airport Express Train “Haruka” every 30minutes during daytime and evenings.

Nearest local transport: Two bus stops within a five-minute walk, with direct buses for Kyoto Station, Arashiyama, Kinkaku-ji and Ginkaku-ji. The nearest train station is Kyoto City Hall for the Tozai Line of Kyoto Metro, and is also 5minutes on foot. A pleasant 10-minute walk across Kamo River will take you to Keihan Railway Sanjo Station, where you can easily travel to Osaka (no transfer) and Nara and Uji (change at Tofukuji for Nara Line, but some Keihan trains run direct to Uji)

Features: Clean comfort in a great location on a budget

Doesn’t have: private or communal baths, restaurant

Alternative Accommodation nearby

Downtown Kyoto has lots of really nice affordable accommodation and is one of my favourite places to stay of you have a relatively tight sightseeing programme and wish to be near restaurants, bars an mid- to upmarket shopping areas

So, if Prince Smart Inn Sanjo is full, I recommend the following hotels in the area.

The cute four-star Tabist Kiki Hotel Kyoto Sanjo Takakura is less than 10 minutes walk away close to the Kyoto Metro Hub and although it usually costs about 30-50% more, it has much bigger rooms and pared-down modern Japanese elegance – and some serious bath tubs. I stayed there on the same trip and walked everywhere for the Gion Matsuri events I had planned to attend.

The following are hotels I have not stayed in, although I am booked to stay at a Resol Hotel on a future stay

Just around the corner from there is the Mitsui Garden Hotel Premier, a mid-sized five-star hotel with elegant pared-down large rooms. I am not on a five-star budget when travelling alone, but I actually considered this as a place to stay when I travelled with my mum.

And then, I also like the area of Pontocho – incredibly scenic, easy access to bus, Metro and Leihan Line, but may be a bit noisier in the evenings. I like the Hotel Resol Kawaramachi Sanjo, another small stylish modern hotel tucked away behind a main road with rooms for well under 100 Euro per night, and the Aru Kyoto Sanjo, same price bracket.

The Small Print

I visited Kyoto in July 2024 when I stayed at this hotel on a self-organised trip, where I paid the full market rate for everything myself. No freebies, no bias.

This post contains affiliate links to Booking.com.  This means I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you if you book any hotel through them.

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