Japan AirBnB Kyoto Accommodation in Tofukuji: 1stop Kyoto station & Fushimiinari in Kyoto

Singapore to Narita Airport > Narita Aiport to Kyoto > Kyoto AirBnB

Our Kyoto AirBnb accommodation was home for 5 nights and true to its description on AirBnbB, the apartment was compact, clean and cozy; perfect for a traveling group of 2.  The host, Tomoko, is a friendly and helpful girl. She responded to our queries as fast and best as she could (within 2 days the latest) with directions on how to get to the apartment.

1stop Kyoto station & Fushimiinari in Kyoto
Apartment building from the outside

The apartment is quite near the Tofukuji Station, about a leisurely 10 minute walk away. But we misread the map when we were making our way from Tofukuji Station on the first day and ended up talking 30 minutes to get to the apartment! It was a hot afternoon and lugging those luggage was certainly not fun, but thankfully we managed to find our way to the apartment by asking a kind policeman who brought us to the doorstep.

Sweaty, hot and tired, we were eager to get to the apartment, but first, we had to conquer the flights of steps! The apartment is on the third floor and there is no elevator (oh my!), it certainly did not help that the stairs were steep so it was a challenge carrying the luggage up to the apartment. But for the price of less than S$50 per night/person, I can't really complain.

Japan AirBnB Kyoto Accommodation in Tofukuji
View that greeted us when we entered the room. The washing machine is in the balcony beyond the curtains.
Note: If you need to wash your clothes there is also a washing machine in the balcony to handle the dirty load, but you’d have to hang your clothes dry as there is no dryer. The detergent powder is also placed outside with the washing machine and there are hangers on the rack to hang the clothes to dry.
By the time we made it to the apartment it was late in the afternoon and we were exhausted! The first thing we did was to turn on the air-conditioning to cool ourselves and unpack. Once we were refreshed, we made our way back to Kyoto Station for some exploring and grab dinner as well.

Although configuration of the apartment was slightly different from the Airbnb listing, it had what was listed. The two mattresses at the corner of the room were were clean and comfy. There were 2 downsides to the apartment:
  1.  The pillows were a little too 'flat', but other than that for the 5 nights that we were there we had good sleep.
  2. There was nowhere to hang our clothes except on a standing rack, which was quite limited.
Sleeping corner
The sleeping corner
corner of the bed
The other corner of the bed mattress with a list of food and attraction recommendations on the mini table.

There was a TV at the foot of the mattresses, which broadcasted local (limited) Japanese programs. In addition, the screen was small and transmission was not very clear so we hardly switched it on during our stay. Besides the TV, there Wi-Fi was provided within the apartment and the cool part about it was that it was a pocket Wi-Fi - which certainly helped us save money and came in handy when we were out and about, needing to check the map or hyperdia.com for the train schedules and/or google our way around etc…

Tv, Pocket wi-fi and hair dryer
Above the TV was the air-conditioner

The bathroom was compact but clean, sufficient for our stay of 5 nights and 6 days. Soap and shampoo, along with towels and a hair dryer (yippee) were provided as well. Oddly enough the whole toilet seemed to be made from a plastic mold that had been fitted into the area meant to be the bathroom.

bathroom
The plastic bathroom which seems to move if your movements are too big
bathroom
There was an extra roll of toilet paper, along with shampoo, conditioner and shower gel.

There’s even a mini-kitchen where you can do basic stuff like boil water for cup noodles, coffee or tea. The mini fridge and microwave were certainly useful as well.

the kitchen
The view from the other end of the room. The entrance and bathroom on the right and mini-kitchen on the left.
kitchen cupboard
The utensils in the kitchen cabinet
kitchen cupboard
In another self of the cabinet, a bottle of condiment.
Kitchen
The stove, mini-fridge (where we put our bottled water & snacks from the nearby convenience store), microwave and kettle (for M's coffee fix).

If there was one downside of this, it would have been the kitchen faucet: the knob was hard to rotate and if you did not exert enough force to close it, the chances of water wastage (and leaking) is highly probable.

Kitchen Sink
The faucet knob was too tight and made it not so pleasant to use. It would have been better the faucet were it were a lever instead. Left knob for hot water, and right for cold (if I remember correctly).

Oddly enough, unlike our AirBnB stay(s) in South Korea, although recycling is also a major part and daily part and parcel of Japanese life, we did not have to recycle. The main trash bin was placed outside the room.

Now on to the location of the apartment: it is located in quite a good location with the shopping, cafes, bus stops and train stations within walking distance. We even took the bus back from Gion to the apartment on two of the nights we were there. It's proximity to the train station, which is just one stop away from Kyoto Station makes it an ideal base only if the price is right. Otherwise, it might be better to find accommodation near Kyoto Station instead.


Recommended: If the price is just right and you want a quiet yet Kyoto-like experience that is near the subway station, than do consider this apartment as your base. The room might not be very big, but it is a comfortable size for 2 (and 2 medium sized luggage). With a TV,  Wi-Fi and even a pocket Wi-Fi that you can bring out with you, what’s not to love about this apartment? The only downside is that there is no elevator, and those flights of stairs (to the 3rd floor) are a little challenge. The host, Tomoko, has other apartments available as well; you can find the one that suits you best here.

Not Recommended:
If the price is not right and you do not want to lug your luggage up those flight of stairs to get to the apartment since it not so fun and quite a challenge. You might be better off looking for somewhere more accessible with an elevator.
Do note that this review is only that of 1stop Kyoto station & Fushimiinari in Kyoto using AirBnB, and not all properties that are available on AirBnB. When booking other properties on AirBnB, please conduct your own research before booking anything. If you are interested in joining AirBnB and want a discount off your first stay, sign up here

First Impression for of 1stop Kyoto station & Fushimiinari

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Verdict: 4/5
Overall, the AirBnB apartment was compact but pretty and functional, much better, cleaner and bigger than our Tokyo AirBnb apartment (another story for another post). Tomoko was a commendable host and we thoroughly enjoyed our time at her apartment. She was kind to provide an international plug on the first night, even though the request was a little last minute. As long as the apartment is maintained (in the cleanliness area), it makes for a (more) comfortable stay  and with a good location (especially if you want to explore areas of Kyoto like Gion, Nijio Castle etc...) this apartment is worth considering. For our stay of 5 nights, we paid $59.40 per night (and that’s just because we managed to use our AirBnb voucher). Thanks to the voucher, we managed to save some money and per person, it cost us each S$29.70/night

So if you want to get a discount off your first stay on AirBnb and subsequent stays, don’t forget to sign up!  

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