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Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens
Rating Details »
Neighborhood: Downtown
120 S Los Angeles St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 629-1200
120 S Los Angeles St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 629-1200
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- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 12:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
- Price Range:
-
$$
49 reviews for Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens
Rooms. Make sure you get a remodeled room. The old style ones are horrible. But even in the remodeled ones, the bathrooms are small and the ceilings were pretty nasty. Don't be tempted by the suites. They are not remodeled and just big.
No pool in LA? Yuk.
Gym. Small.
Location. Don't walk at night...or even day for that matter. Pretty rough.
I needed some toothpaste and towels. Called front-desk. No answer. Called housekeeping. Busy tone. Called everyother number. Nothing. Called front-desk again and let ring for 10 minutes. They picked up and asked if I could hold. They came to the room with towels and no toothpaste, then came back with the smallest toothpaste tube in the world.
Wow, I'm pretty surprised at how low the ratings are for Kyoto Grand. Maybe I got a recently renovated room or something, but here goes my experience.
I had to go to LA for a meeting at a state building a couple blocks away. Being a state government employee, I got a rate of $110 and they accepted my tax waiver. I checked in on a Monday, during a quiet time so there was only one person at the front desk but she was very friendly and professional.
I got to my room, which was on the small side but clean and pretty nice. Nice decor, big comfortable bed, huge flat-screen TV, and decent bathroom. The thermostat worked well and I didn't notice any worn tattered carpets or some of the shit other reviews complain about.
I also got a voucher for the breakfast buffet at Azalea (I guess it's included with govt rates, sweet!) which I enjoyed. Good strong coffee, nice assortment of foods of mostly high quality. I think it costs $17 otherwise, which is not worth it.
I checked out the garden area which is nice, although the pop music coming from the speakers kind of ruins it. The location is great, in downtown and Little Tokyo.
Overall I liked the Kyoto Grand and would stay there again, especially if I'm coming on business and can get the government rate.
I remember a time when Japanese influence and investment swept across Los Angeles. At the heart of downtown, the New Otani--as it was then known--was a glittering symbol of the Japanese economic miracle. Guest rooms featured shoji screens, modern furnishings and satellite channels beamed straight from Japan. For the well-heeled business traveller, there was a tatami suite package complete with welcome sake. Now, almost 20 years later, things have taken a definite turn for the worse.
I last stayed at the New Otani in December 2004. At the time, it was obvious that years of recession in Japan had taken their toll on the chain. The carpets were ragged, the wallpaper scuffed and the burnt orange color scheme completely dated. Nonetheless, it was $90 a night for a "luxury room" and connected directly to the Little Tokyo shopping center. Not bad for a kitschy weekend away from home!
This past weekend, I thought it might be fun to spend another night visiting Little Tokyo and searched for reservations. I was surprised to learn that the hotel was sold to Crestline Hotels and renamed "Kyoto Grand," but hopeful that the new owners had refurbished the interior. For $188 a night (special rate), I was expecting a complete "boutique" transformation.
Lo and behold, when I entered my corner room, it was a vision from 1989--exactly the same as my previous stay! The minibar was empty, the a/c rattled and the same blurry satellite feed of NHK was on the tube. Room service from Azalea consisted of a microwaved pizza and stale quesadillas, practically thrown into my room by an impatient porter. To make matters completely intolerable, the smoke alarm chirped continuously all night.
To be fair, the hotel still has a lovely rooftop garden, if you don't mind speakers bumping Kanye West as you contemplate nature. From what I hear, the Thousand Cranes restaurant is also fairly authentic--and kimono-clad waitresses are a definite plus. But at this absurd price, I doubt I'll ever find myself spending another night inside its walls. It's a genuine shame...a neglected relic of a once promising financial and cultural enterprise between two great nations.
Recently stayed at this hotel during Microsoft PDC and can safely say it's ridiculously over priced for some extremely lousy service. The staff have way too much attitude for what they're doing and can rarely be bothered to help you or move at anything but a snail's pace. The rooms are in a sad state of disrepair: my co-worker's TV died the first night, I had to smack the light in my bathroom each night to get it to come on (the ballast was going), the faucets stick, and the room heater/air conditioners sound like they're going to implode. As to the food - goto subway, you'll live longer. The $20 buffet constitutes runny eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit and a choice of cereals. The eggs are runny, the bacon is half cooked and the sausages bounce if dropped. Oh and just try and get a cup of coffee much less a refill!
I'll never stay there again....
As a June bride this year at Kyoto, I'd have to say that Kyoto came in as a blessing for us. We had a fantastic and unforgettable wedding at Kyoto! My husband and I fell in love with the hotel the first time we got a tour from Dave Alexson. From the ambiance to the logistical setup to the hotel staff, everything worked in our favor. We kicked off the hors d'oeuvres and the portrait session at the Japanese Garden (roof top) followed by an evening reception in the ballroom. The hotel staff facilitated the entire event from setup to breakdown.
I think what really helped us in executing a flawless wedding at Kyoto was our intense planning with Dave and team and leveraging off their expertise in event planning.
Thank you Kyoto for the wonderful memories!
Continued from my previous post on the other listing of this hotel...
We were quite unhappy, as you can imagine, since we were told that we would be the only wedding that day and would have Dave's full and undivided attention for our wedding.
We inquired if the staff would be setting the ballroom up soon and they replied, "That's not our job". WOW, luckily for us we have amazing friends who (Along with our Florist and Cake maker) retrieved the decorations from Dave's office and set up the Ballroom for us. Once the reception area was all done and the ceremony was ready to begin, Dave was still no where to be found. We basically went on a man hunt to locate him. When Dave was finally located, we observed him showing the Ballroom to another couple he was trying to sign up for their wedding!!!
We later discovered, Dave had shown three different couples our Ballroom setup during our wedding ceremony, when he was supposed to be attending us.
During the course of the evening, we never saw Dave again. Not after the wedding ceremony, before the reception, during the reception or after the reception.
At the beginning of the reception, things went very smoothly. Unfortunately, that didn't last long either. When the main course entrée was brought out, the amazing food we enjoyed months earlier at the tasting was not served. Although the food was very good, it was not at all what we had tasted and ordered.
When the staff was ready to move on to the next course, they would approach each table and aggressively take the plates away, whether our guests were finished or not. We had several friends and family members complain of the staff's behavior.
When the cake was served, not every guest received a piece. Numerous guests complained that the serving staff took their untouched whole pieces of cake while they were on the dance floor. As expensive as our cake was, very few guests were able to enjoy it. At the end of the night we were not given the un-served cake to take home. Somehow, the cake just seemed to magically disappear.
All in all, the experience was not completely negative. The establishment was beautiful and the food was 5 star quality. There were certain staff members who were on the ball and helped us greatly. However there does need to be major changes as to the way patrons are treated at the Kyoto Grand. Most of the issues that have been noted in this post could have easily been avoided by simply being more attentive. I will update this post at a future date after discussing it with the Management Satff at the hotel...
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/2/2009
When my wife and I first met Dave Alexson, he gave us a great tour of the Kyoto Grand Hotel. Dave… Read more »
I got a room here from the name your own price option on Priceline for $80. The rooms were pretty nice; however, the bathroom is in need of a renovation (the tiles were falling off). Parking is definitely super expensive $24/day with in and out privileges. There is also a parking lot across the street for, I think, $12/day doesn't have in and out privileges and, of course, street parking.
Pros: walking distance to bars, restaurants, and Little Tokyo
Con: parking!
I stayed at this hotel because it was close to the location of my business meeting for the 3 days I was in Los Angeles. What an awful hotel and very over priced. I was stuck in one of the very outdated rooms. Bed was hard as a rock, very poor A/C system. The TV quality lacked, but we are also talking about an old 24" screen.
The bathroom was fine, it was small but clean. My biggest issue was the staff, talk about total lack of customer service skills. The door to my room did not like to open, which I complained about but nothing was ever done. Having a door that sticks is a safety issue.
OH and $7 to use their wireless Internet. What a rip off.
The Pro's again for those on a business meeting, the hotel is near Union Station. So you can get to any part of Los Angeles easily once your meetings are over. And you can take the FLYaway back to LAX for under $10.
The lobby is nice and very modern, and the bar is also nice.
wow this is a nice hotel but then i love everything japan!!! their self park lot is $30 max so i exited quickly and parked across the street at the all day $4 lot...the inside looks really nice...spacious and tall with a contemporary feel....i didn't actually stay here but kame for an event...
My friend and I stayed at this hotel for three nights during Labor Day weekend. Although my room was upgraded (due to no more standard room for us), my experience at Kyoto Grand was just OK.
We checked in at 11:00pm on Friday. Because we knew that we were going to check in late, I have called the hotel on Friday's morning to let them know. When I told them that I have booked a room and wanted to check in late, the guy hung up on me. He did not ask my name or booking numbers.....How could he know my reservation? By the time, when we checked in, of course I knew they had no room for us. I told the woman that I have called in the morning about late check in. The woman gave me the dirty look and talked to the manager and later the manger said they had no more standard room so they upgraded our room. Since I don't want to have any confusion, I asked, "so do we need to pay extra fees for that?" That woman did not answer and just gave me the dirty look AGAIN! Very RUDE Service!
The room was big compared to the standard room (I guess). The bed was comfortable. Walk in closet. However, two out of three lights were not working. Blow dryer was down. Small TV..............The only thing I would give credit to this hotel is the location.
.....One more thing, parking is so experience there! $24 per day!
A bit of mixed feelings about this place. We stayed here while being groupies for the week for Dead Weather in Los Angeles. It was centrally located to the places we needed to be at, which was perfect.
The room was nice. Our bed actually slopped down toward the door of the room. So while my side was comfortable, I think my husband felt like he was slipping down toward the floor each night. Other than that it was otherwise a comfortable bed, decent pillows and a supportive but soft bed.
Amenities in the room were fine enough. No outstanding brands for the freebie shampoo/soaps.
Biggest gripe is that if you walk out of the hotel and go left you are fine. If you go right you are in shanty town. So while it was convenient for what we needed, the need to have to use a cab was kinda craptastic.
Oh yeah, um the .5 acre of Japanese garden is hardly that! There are no maples, no cherry blossom trees, no koi fish in the ponds, no bamboo, no little ornamental Japanese fun stuff, nothing that resembled a Japanese garden. Sorry, impatiens are 1. Not Japanese and 2. Not sun friendly. Geez.
Overall it was fine enough but, parking is $28/night. So something to consider when booking the room, you could find a nicer hotel for the same price when you weigh in that cost as well.
the hotel does not know how to offer valet parking !!!
Run! Poor screen picture on the TVs in room!
also LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
The manger Sam seemed NOT TO CARE ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE TV IMAGES LOOKED LIKE A BLOCKED X-RATED STATION !
The hotel still seems outdated.
Plus the parking is overpriced !
I was checking out of the hotel this morning and i saw a lady wait 25 minutes for her car The parking in the entry driveway is horrible the hotel let"s the Japanese tourists park anywhere and makes it a nightmare to get out.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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8/5/2009
Run! Poor screen picture on the TVs in room!
also LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
The manger Sam seemed… Read more »
The first night I came here, I swore to myself that I'd give them a 1 star for the crappy spot I received. When I first set foot in this 10th floor room I was amazed at how a hyped up hotel could possibly have such a horrible room that converged to a corner. (http://www.yelp.com/bi...)
But as soon as they came to their senses and I told them my situation, they didn't give me a hard time or anything in getting me a nicer room in the 20th floor. the view was different, I actually had a flat screen 40" tv vs the 27" tv box in the previous one and the bed was softer and everything maintained properly. I hate to say it, but I would have given this place a 4 star if they didn't stick me in the dump corner hole the first night.
The garden is really nice though and certainly something to check out if you stay here. We had catered meals which was alright, but I would expect Kyoto to impress me with some oriental flavors....I guess Prime Rib and Alfredo Pasta was what the planners for my conference wanted....idiots.
Comment from Keith B. of
Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens
6/1/2009
On behalf of the Service team at the Kyoto Grand Hotel and…
More »
Okay! So let's see how this place stacks up!
1. Location: Heart of Little Tokyo, which is a boon. The fiance + I loved our Japan trip hence the look see here. However, that's probably the end of it. It's at an odd location where turning into the hotel requires a bit of car driving kung fu, which is okay for CA drivers! A bit of annoyance is having to mingle with hotel guests to get to the banquet/reception.
2. Capacity: Great! Holds up to 400 people...if you need 400 people! haha. Unfortunately, it does seem a bit too big for our wedding. There's a garden on the "top" which isn't very "top" at all. The view is nice, but nothing to brag to home about. You can probably get the same view at any other garden or hilltop hotel.
3. Cost (packages): About $75/head starting price. They seem pretty flexible to what you'd like, but they seem more open to platted meals vs. buffets. The starting price includes facility, catering, tables + linens and such. Other stuff you'll have to get on your own. The "argh" part is having to pay for parking - at about $6 a car. Boo! But you do get the whole banquet room for the wedding. This is for a 6 hr package and does include a free suite, which is always nice.
4. Ambiance: Nice but totally not what we were looking for. We were hoping for a little something more...idk Japanese! It looks as a hotel should look like. Which is good for some who want to decorate to their hearts content! It's like a blank canvas waiting to be filled!
5. General Feel: Erm...meh. The fiance and I made a pact - if either one of us doesn't feel it - then we don't go with it. I think we're putting this at the lower end of our list. But hey...you never know!
Just OK.
Clean, decent sized room. Friendly staff and nice common area.
Remote location. Ex: no late night burrito shops near by.
I don't think it would've been worth full price but if you book using Hotwire, you get like a $50 discount.
I came here to have happy hour at the beer garden upstairs. It's gorgeous up there! You'd hardly be able to tell that you're in the middle of downtown LA. Happy hour was decent. Good priced drinks and a menu that boasts small plates from around the world. We ordered a Mediterranean plate with olives and hummus and pita. We also ordered one of their small selection of sushi rolls (spicy tuna), which was fine. Very pretty but there are better happy hour deals out there to be had.
Just a standard Japanese themed hotel in downtown LA.
Nice and clean.
The service was pretty good from the front desk guy. When we checked in on Jan 2 after the horrible experience at the Roosevelt, it was a relief.
The guy gave us a room with 2 double beds, and that kinda sucked.
I would have been cool with it since it would mean I get to have a whole bed to myself and you can jump across 2 beds, but my gf wanted just 1 bed, if yanno what I mean.. wink wink.
Anyways, I call down there and ask for another room, and they promptly apologized and gave us an even better room! Apparantly Japanese peeps sleep in separate beds or something he said, so he didn't think to ask us. Nice sized bed, with a little couch and coffee table. The room overlooked the beer garden or whatever, but we didn't go there.
I thought the bed was comfy and all. and I didn't think it was firm or whatever either.
I would stay here again.
BEER GARDEN!!!!!
Growing up in Japan, I've always dreamed of going to the beer garden one day. Yes, alcoholic childhood, I know. But something about being outside in the middle of the hot blazing Summer night, drinking chilled beer, loudly sighing with relief like a middle aged man, and seeing the empty sweating glass... Sooooo dreamy!!!!!
So finally when I got to go to the beer garden for the first time in my life, I was ecstatic. I was about to achieve my long over due dream.
We got to the Kyoto Grand Hotel in the middle of Down Town LA, where there's a Japanese garden on top of the building, hosting the beer garden all Summer long.
False perception #1:
The building had high and low parts. The Japanese garden was at the top of the low building, which is about three stories high. No great LA view.
False perception #2:
The beer garden was placed next to the Japanese garden, not in it.
What we saw was cheesy patio tables and chairs set up in front of big screen TVs, showing CNN news. There was a small bar set up, and behind it, we could see a chef BBQing the food. Though the setting was rather meh, it sure did smell good.
There were Japanese, German, and American beers lined up in the menu. The food was ranging between $3 to $10, with the typical munchies line-up like chips and salsa, pizza, brochettes, sliders, etc. We ordered a sausage with pepper and onions, hot wings, and a corn on the cob with chili-lime butter to accommodate our beer. They didn't taste as good as they smelled, but I guess that was to be expected.
The biggest miscalculation on my part was that I couldn't achieve any of "being outside in the middle of the hot blazing Summer night, drinking chilled beer, loudly sighing with relief like a middle aged man, and seeing the empty sweating glass." None. My night instead went as being outside in the middle of the cold Summer night where I had to wear my leather jacket, drinking chilled beer while shivering, loudly brrrrrrr-ing like a wimpy little girl, and seeing a glass full of beer as I just couldn't bring myself to drink it just because I was freezing.
I love Southern California's weather and I'd never thought of disliking it, but for the sake of my childhood dream being crushed, I am hating it for the first time. I guess I have to spend 1k to fly back to Japan just to experience the heat and 95% humidity to truly enjoy the beer garden... What a tragedy.
I went to this hotel to check out their rooftop beer garden. When we pulled up to the valet I explicitly asked how much it was and the attendant said "$20 without validation and $6 with" I figured that was fair so up we went. We had to wait around for about half an hour because there was a wedding party in the gardens.
The rooftop beer garden wasn't exactly what I expected but it was cool. They had put out tables and covered them in black linen and surrounded them with white folding chairs. It looked like a wedding cocktail hour. The makeshift bar with its makeshift kegs attached to the taps through coolers was creative. They had set up two television screens and were airing the Olympics outdoors. There was some soft music playing in the background (Coldplay, The Cure) as we started drinking and eating the music changed and a band came on. We could have tooooootally done without the band. They were playing African, Aborigine music with some spoken word. It just didn't fit with the whole "Beerfest", Beer Garden, wedding cocktail hour vibe.
I ordered the corn on the cob with the chili lime butter and sea salt. It was delicious. They had a grill behind the bar and were making everything fresh. Our party also ordered chicken wings, pizza, chips and salsa and a pretzel. Honestly this place is pretty chill Happy Hour spot.
When we were leaving the valet tried to charge us $12 with validation claiming it was $30 without and $12 with. It was ridiculous so I argued with him for a bit letting him know that's not what I had been quoted by the attendant when I arrived and he asked me "did you get his name?" WTF? really? who asks the valet attendant for their name!?!? I just gave him my $6 plus tip as I had intended and drove off! So if you go here, park in the $5 lot across the street OR get your valet guy's name! HA!
Got an invite from Lori K. to join up at this Beerfest thing in downtown LA, when I saw the location on a map I was intrigued because I'd never thought of this place having a venue. Having the old name of the hotel still on the front took a walk around the whole block to find this place but my beer locator was switched on so the garden was found on the first try! Just take the stairs up past the Curry House and turn left at the top and walk through the double glass doors.
For a "beerfest" the selection was quite low, the decent pricing made up for the small selection... $15 for a pitcher of Stella or Michelob Amber Bock was not bad. Didn't try the food but Lori mentioned she loved the corn on the cob. I like the garden setting, and the makeshift bar was cool as they had a flame grill set up to look after featured foods, decent size menu considering.
Live music? Good, but wrong theme. Beerfest ought to be more lively, Lori K. and her friends did their best by dancing in the isles but it was just kinda weird, it's a good thing I met with them because if I came alone it would have been just sad. It would have been better with a simple mellow DJ so as to keep with a social thing that a beerfest is.
Yes, park across the street. Don't bother with valet! I had parked in the underground garge because I had a bike locked in the bed of my truck and was willing to pay a few extra dollars for the security. Though when I departed the attendant charged me $5 even though the sign at the entrance stated $8 for the whole day, and I know I was there longer than a few hours.. That was cool!
If I came back at all I'll only to meet up with friends as a pre-party for hitting someplace else.
**BEER GARDEN REVIEW ONLY***
I have actually never stepped into this 80s fabulous hotel with some modern accents however I was quite impressed with the beer garden. Perhaps it was the 3 drinks I had already downed before coming here, but the view was nice and the sun setting with Jazz in the background was romantical. The lighting and the sound of the water streams in the Japanese garden was really nice. Quite relaxing.
They sell pitchers of mojitos and my favorite- the Caiphrina which kicked my butt! Totally worth getting.
Didn't try the food but I think it's a great place to chill before dinner if you are grabbing food in Jtown. Worth a shot! Beer Garden lasts until October. Don't miss out!
One night here was enough for a lifetime. I attended a wedding reception here, so thinking that it would be convenient, we booked a room here for the low low price of $79...or something like that. The banquet room was nice and big. Great chandeliers! Service was a little blah... This old server was just rude... the other one was younger and hotter, but quiet and little more attentive. The bars were nice looking, but expensive. Although the bartender was totally awesome.
The rooms are small... especially the bathroom. Not to mention that the shower is hard to work --- temperature-wise. We actually asked for 2 beds but they gave us 1 and to try to make it up to us, they set up a cot which i slept in and my feet hung off of. There are also NO visible outlets except for ones in the bathroom so i charged my phone in there.
There was also this tiny sake bar which had terrible service and weird korean guys in there. One korean asked my cousin and her newly wed husband if they had just gotten married. He then sang them a song not in korean but in italian. He sang well, except at the end of the song, he made eyes and me or Colin. Not too sure who... but it was weird. To make himself a tad bit creepier, when we were leaving he congratulated my cousins on their new marriage then asked them what room they were in. Needless to say they said sorry thats private, but Yukio, the groom, was like "he didn't sing THAT well."
I had a ton of fun but the hotel was below par and I would have been more satisfied staying at my uncle's house with 12 other people on an air mattress in the middle of the living room.
Thanks to Travelzoo, I was able to get in on a killer deal on this hotel for our Glendalian Memorial Day Extravaganza. The offer was for $109/night for two nights, and get the third night for free for an Executive Business Room. It was a killer deal considering that most hotels in Los Angeles charge $150+ a night for similar hotels.
The room that we had was located on the 20th floor and had a fairly decent view of downtown LA. One quibble is that they only use flat sheets instead of fitted sheets, so sometimes the sheets would ride up while you were moving through the night, so there was some foot on actual bed action going on.
The room was clean and seemingly there was always an elevator waiting for us when we wanted one. The rooms are nice, as well, because there are two levels of "black out" curtains that they used. For folks like me that like to sleep in a bit when on vacation, but are easily awoken by the sun peeking in, these were great. A nice added touch was the Japanese screens that they had on the windows. They added a touch of elegance to the room that I've never had in the hotels that I've stayed-in before.
This would have been a four star review, but I'm docking one for the valet service. Granted, paying for parking in LA is a fact of life, however, I thought it was a little steep at $30/night on a holiday weekend, in downtown LA. However, at the great rate that we got for the weekend, the price kinda evened out the total price of the room for the three day stay.
Back up to four for saving us some money on our stay in a room a that was quite nice!
Unfortunately, this might be the last review this Hotel gets., atleast with the old ownership. They closed a few days ago on November 30th. They worked out some secret deal with an American chain, which caused an uproar in the Japanese community. Located in the heart of Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles....with a beautiful Japanese garden inside. I have fond memories of the restaurant Senbazuru which had a great tempura bar.
I don't know any other details, but along with many other Japanese landmarks in the downtown area, it has faded away.
See my review on Nijiya below....there are very few Japanese compared to other Asian communities in the U.S.
This was one of the best hotels downtown when it was Japanese owned. Now, the only reason to stay here is to get the cheap rates. The staff now is CLUELESS and worse, rude. The attention to service that made the hotel good is now all but gone. Still, there are a few great restaurants hiddtn inside here and the location can't be beat for those wishing to explore Little Tokyo. Rooms are decent size and clean but in general an unpleasant experience because the staff are just so bad. Seriously it's almost as if hotel owners were like "can we run a hotel with $5 an hour employees who know nothing at all?"
Mixed review here. So I stayed here and its walking distance (100 ft) to Orochan....rooms are small like holiday Inn, they charge $18.50 a day for valet parking, but its 100 ft away from Orochan.....
lil market is right downstairs and Orochan is right there.
Oh yea, nice lobby but its not bad for $109.00........
Kyoto Grand is the same building as the New Otani, in Little Tokyo. The hotel is nice enough, a generic upscale western hotel, just with everything in English and Japanese.
Our 10th floor room was fine, with a view of the garden (which isn't rooftop, but actually on the 3rd floor). Bathroom was a bit cramped. But, the bed was rock hard. As in "hard as the tarmac at LAX" hard. This alone takes the hotel from a 3.5 stars to a cool, even 2 stars. The service we encountered was fine.
Parking is an additional $24/nite (self-park)...and the entrance is hiding on Los Angeles St, between 1st & 2nd.
If the beds were softer, this would have 3 or 4 stars.
The Garden Grill (lame name for a kickass restaurant) rocks.
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
General Pros:
LOCATION!!! This hotel has a primo spot! Right near Japantown, so there are tons of restaurants/bars--japanese, korean, sake bars--so you are not forced to just eat in the hotel like a lot of the hotels in the downtown/bunker hill area.
General Cons:
Not all of the rooms in the hotel are renovated--so ask. Also, if you are a light sleeper and your room is on the Los Angeles St. side, you may want to consider switching to a back room. The trucks get a little loud in the early A.M. Oh, and they don't have a pool.
Hotel Breakdown:
Valet/Parking/Taxis--plenty of taxis come through, so there's never been a long wait. Parking is $15, flat fee. You can also self park, but when I tried, there weren't any spots left, so I don't know much about it.
Restaurants
They have a ton of restaurants in the hotel. But, considering the prices and the primo location near Japantown, I didn't actually eat in any of them. Also, one of them--Azalea (which is the more American-ized restaurant that they have: breakfast buffets and the like) only had a "B" rating under the Health Inspector, which I think is pretty much unacceptable for a hotel. The other restaurants are pretty swank--Genji (apps and sake bar); Thousand Cranes (Japanese Cuisine and sushi/tempura bar); Garden Grill (teppan-yaki steak and seafood).
Oh and they have a "new" Starbucks right in the hotel! Always a plus.
The Gym:
As far as hotel gyms go, this one isn't that bad. It's old and outdated, but they have a decent amount of stuff in the not-so-crammed room. They have 2 (pretty old, so if you have bad knees, maybe opt out) treadmills and 2 bikes, for cardio options. They have a full set of free weights and 2 benches. They also have maybe half a dozen, very basic, weight machines. They also provide a tv, water cooler, towells and a large mat for stretching/abs/etc.
Rooms:
I didn't really mind the rooms, but they weren't ideal. I thought the beds were too firm and the pillows were lacking (only 2 non-shammed ones) and too poofy to be comfortable. So, if you look for rockin' beds for your hotels, then I wouldn't stay here. However, they do have a walk-in closet, minifridge (make sure it's plugged in) and a nice little reading nook.
One thing that I really had a problem with was the internet service. Some rooms, like mine, only have wireless (and for a fee of $10 of course), which I just don't have on my computer. I went down to request an ethernet cord, but apparently not all of the rooms have ethernet capabilities--so, make sure you request one if you need it (I think only a few floors have rooms like that). I ended up having to use the business center (if you use their computer, then it's 25 cents/minute if you use your own, then it's 15 cents/minute) which wasn't ideal, but I wasn't slammed with a crazy deadline, so I didn't mind. Also, I explained the situation to the attendant and she ended up not charging me, which was nice and the right thing to do.
Room Service:
Room service is quick and they have a great menu--since this hotel caters largely to the Japanese business traveler, they have a great selection of Japanese food (fried Californian Roll anyone?!). Per usual, it's pricey.
They do have the "breakfast in your room option," as well--where you preorder via the door handle menu the night before--which is quite helpful if you need to rush around in the A.M. I really wanted to try the traditional Japanese breakfast because it sounded so good! Fish, porridge, rice, veggies, poached egg, fruit. But, it costs $25 and I just couldn't bring myself to do it!
EDIT
Dude, fuck this place. Ok, so maybe I'm bitter because I've been traveling pretty much every week since Halloween. But seriously, now that I've had the real "Otani" experience, I'm so over this place. They get two stars for having a gym that no one but me apparently uses and for having Japanese food on the room service menu. Everything else fucking blows.
The people are idiots. Almost all of those whom i've dealt with have had serious comprehension problems: I've been staying here for 5 weeks on and off and they 1) don't remember me (and since their clientel is mainly Asian businessmen, I kinda stick out like a sore thumb); 2) never check me in/out without some fucking problem so that it takes 20 minutes of me explaining/complaining/yelling before they get it right. At that point, I have to head off into the land of litigation with my blood pressure sky high; 3) never give me a damn room where the internet actually works. These may sound like petty complaints, but when you've been staying at a place regularly, you want it to just work out and not have to get on anyone's ass about it.
And fuck their hard-ass beds and stupid pillows. God I hope this case settles soon.
Booked here through priceline. Was kinda worried from the yelp reviews, but were only going to be here for 1 night, so decided to chance it.
We roll in at about 1AM. The driveway for the valet is full of parked, empty cars. I think valet is lame anyways, so we go to the DIY parking. There's no "full" sign up, so we go in, and all the way down, and there are absolutely no spots. in fact some people are parked in. We go up, and the lady doesn't charge us, and says to drive around to valet, who she calls and alerts that we're coming. The drive is still full, we can't even park by the sidewalk. We circle the block, and there aren't any other options, so we come back and wait like 5 minutes for them to park our car. man i hate valet.
We get in, and the room is the one with the burn mark from an iron on the floor. I honestly don't care about that. I just want to take a shower. For once I didnt pack my own shampoo and stuff, so I see the soap, face soap, shampoo, moisturizer, but no conditioner. My sweetie goes downstairs to the lobby for me to get some from the front desk (noone picked up when i tried the phone). They say to go to the vending machines. Sure, except theres just chips and food, and no toiletries in the vending machines. not sure what thats about. I end up using the moitsurizer.
Then at 9AM they decide to do a loud sound check of every speaker in the rooftop garden, which is right out the window. I really wanted to sleep in. That only lasted a an hour though, so i eventually got some sleep.
So yea, kinda tolerable, but when something went wrong they just seemed inept at fixing it. I might stay here again though, but I'll have to figure out parking somewhere else though.
This place is pretty weak overall. The best thing about the hotel is the location, right in Lil Tokyo. We booked it through http://hotels.com, which told us that we would get free parking and room upgrade. Upon check-in, the man at the desk told us that the upgraded room was not clean yet and that he would have to find one that was available. We got to our room and it was just the standard room. So we called the desk to ask what type of room we were in. They told us it was a suite, which it clearly wasn't. We checked the website which clearly shows two types of rooms, guest rooms like we had and suites, which have two rooms in them and are much bigger than the guest rooms. I thought it was very shady that they straight lied to us like that, as if we didn't know what a suite looked like.
The room itself was alright. The decorations were like a 3-star, but the bed was very hard. i guess the nice way to say this is firm, but it was definitely hard. The tub was plastic and there was mold inside of the shower curtain. The normal self parking is $24/day and valet is more. The internet is $10/day. The garden looked nice, but it's not worth the money to me for barely a 3-star in my opinion.
I enjoyed my stay in the New Otani, even in the apparently pre-renovation year of 2005.
It has a lovely garden out back, the room was average, and the food was good. And you get to share the hotel with busloads of Japanese schoolchildren! That alone is tons of fun.
I was able to get a double-bed room here for $89/night + free self-parking via http://www.travelzoo.com. It was a really great deal! I realized that I had actually stayed here before when it was called The New Otani Hotel. Anyway, I specifically chose this hotel this time because of the price and its location because we were going to LA to see a Lakers game.
For people complaining about this place, IT IS an $89/night hotel. What more do you expect?? For the same price, you'd be staying at a shady motel anywhere else. The Kyoto Grand Hotel is clean, quiet, and is in a great location nearby Little Tokyo, The Fashion District, The Staples Center, and freeways.
Minus 1 star for the elevators going at an almost turtle-like pace. Also, parking is a bit expensive ($24/night) like all downtown hotels , so I'm glad I was able to get it for free.
The New Otani Hotel has recently been renamed Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens after undergoing new management. Kyoto Grand is located near Little Tokyo and historical Downtown. The Metro Red Line is located nearby at Civic Center. There are also many, many bus lines...and homeless people wrapped in blankets under bus benches! It's a bit too colorful sometimes.
Kyoto Grand Hotel boasts the lovely A Thousand Cranes, and the less exciting Azalea. There is also Genji bar, a hotel lounge and room service until 11:00 PM. Japanese breakfast comes to your room for $25.00. That's a bit too pricey for seaweed and rice, no?
New management or no, Kyoto Grand needs a bit of work. It's looking a little dated lately. I hear this place is suitable for events like weddings and such. The gift shops trend toward the nicer side. I found freeze dried ice cream and framed James Dean postage stamps!!!!! Kyoto Grand is a clean and safe hotel despite it all.
***There is also an attached Starbucks near 1st and Los Angeles Street.
I liked this place. Walking distance to all the good stuff in Japantown, the Japanese restaurant on the roof is really awesome and serves Japanese breakfast, and there's a full-on garden on the roof.
The TV has a Japanese channel. The room was very nice.
Thanks to expedia we stayed at the New Otani. I'm originally from LA but now live in the Bay Area. Let me tell you....I should have stayed at the Universal Hilton or the Renaissance in Hollywood.
The elevators are TINY. No exaggeration. Rooms are average, bathrooms are also tiny. Maybe I'm accustomed to staying at normal "American" hotels where the rooms and elevators aren't designed for itty bitty Japanese people. I swear six Japanese business men came out of the elevator and when I went in with my husband and two friends it was cramped! We're not huge fatasses, by the way....these elevators were probably manufactured in Liliput.
Oh, and the garden isn't on the rooftop at the top of the building as one would imagine. It's on the 6th floor I believe, a quaint little garden, but it's not as if you're at the top of the 22nd floor with a view of the downtown skyline.
Two stars because I did a search and found no bedbugs.
I like the staff. They're very friendly and accommodating. You ask for a room with a view, they'll break their necks seeing if they have one.
The place is too damn expensive, but then again, that's Los Angeles. Booking online well in advance can net some good discounts, and if they know you well enough they can usually drop twenty bucks off the rack rate on short notice. But as nice as the place is, I can't justify spending over a hundred bucks on a spam can of a room with overpriced food and ten bucks a day extra for the wireless.
The decor is pretty damn swank, and the Japanese garden is pure joy to walk through.
But then there's security. Hoo boy, security guards tend to be useless twits the whole world over, probably from a combination of inflated self-importance and the slow, creeping realization that their main purpose in life is to keep hobos from peeing in the sink, but these guys are something else. Sullen, stupid bastards in suits who will give you grief at the slightest opportunity. I can only imagine this doesn't happen to people who look important.
The restaurants are good, but range in price from eye-popping to heart attack-inducing. I've only had breakfast there, but for buying the ingredients with the same amount of money, I could probably make at least a dozen portions of what they served. And it wasn't actually that good compared to what I've made. Then again, I am a chef, and the other restaurants are likely much more high quality.
At any rate, I'd highly recommend the lobby bar. You can gaze at the architecture and stroll out through the garden to Weller Court, hopefully not getting harassed by short, chunky men with curiously sloping foreheads on the way.
Stayed here during our little road trip to L.A.
Nice rooms, but the carpet in our room had some crazy stains...I made myself believe they were simply coffee. Bathroom was a bit small for my tastes, kinda cramped and there were "hellish" like sounds coming from a vent in the shower!
Our buddies' room had five free porn channels + HBO!!! Obviously a screw up (forgive the pun). Not that I watch porn, which is sooo disgusting.
Parking was $22 a day, that sucked.
Right next to Japantown which was a bonus...
I give this place 3 1/2 stars
This place's interior seems stuck in the 1970s which is popular with some, but they could work on it a lot more by taking out the sad beige carpeting in the lobby area. One of the more convenient hotels for friends from Japan that wanted to have hotel staffers that could help them with questions, etc.
There is a nice garden one can enjoy outside of the Japanese restaurant. Good breakfast.
Amenities were Caswell Massey...ok, but not that great.
I actually thought this was a great hotel. However, I didn't get an $89 per night rate! I was there at $162 per night! And that kind of sucked when there's no pool. But, I loved the location, it was clean and the front desk people weren't GREAT but they were pleasant enough. The wireless internet pissed me off; they charge $10 for 24 hours but no matter what time you purchase, the 24 hour period ends at Noon the next day!!! What a rip off. The food was good but expensive (of course). I would however, stay there again in a heart beat. I felt safe and there was a Starbuck's located inside the hotel! Great when traveling on business! Having my quad in my hand before I get in my car! Suuuuwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeetttt!
This is just an awful hotel. I was so embarrassed that we put 2 new employees up there and they checked out after the 1st night and paid for their own hotel because this was so terrible.
