Homm Stay Nagi Arashiyama Kyoto Review: Mixed Feelings

Location

This hotel is very close to Saga-Arashiyama Station on the JR line. It’s just a 5-minute walk, making it convenient for arriving by train. The surrounding neighborhood is very quiet, but it’s not particularly scenic.

While the hotel is walkable to Arashiyama’s main attractions, it isn’t exactly close. For example:

• 10–15 minutes to the Bamboo Forest and Tenryu-ji Temple
• 15–20 minutes to the Togetsukyo Bridge and the river area

If you don’t mind walking 10-20 minutes and occasionally taking a taxi, the location is fine. However, if I were to stay in Arashiyama again, I would choose somewhere closer to the river for a more scenic experience.

One thing to note is Arashiyama is not very close to major attractions in Kyoto. Unless you want to spend most of your time in Arashiyama, I think other areas in Kyoto may be more convenient for sightseeing around the city.

Limited Service

We were aware that Homm Arashiyama offers limited service, but it was more limited than we had anticipated. There is still a front desk with friendly staff and they can hold luggage for guests upon request. However, the lobby is tiny—more like an entryway of a house rather than a hotel lobby. There is no proper seating area, and no guest toilets.

The only food option available is in-room breakfast which seemed to come from a catering service. At check-in, you will choose whether you prefer Japanese or Western breakfast and what time you want to have breakfast. Check-out time is 11 am, which is a bit early.

Our Room

We booked a Grand Deluxe King room and were assigned a room on the ground floor. To access it, we needed to walk through a small backyard, which actually felt quite nice.

Upon entering the room, the design was visually appealing, with warm wooden tones and a Japanese-modern aesthetic. At 38 square meters, the room was very spacious by Japanese standards, and the large size was one of the reasons we thought this hotel might work for us.

Despite the size, the room had a low ceiling, dim lighting and limited natural light, even during the day. All these things made the space feel dark and confined. Homm Stay Nagi Arashiyama has several room layouts, and I can’t say whether other rooms have better lighting. But for us, this specific room didn’t feel suitable for more than a one-night stay due to its poor lighting conditions.

The bed was large but the mattress was firm, and the pillows were small. Combined with the noisy heater, it was difficult for me to sleep well.

The seating area near the shoji (paper sliding doors) looked like a cozy nook at first. Unfortunately, the chairs were uncomfortable and felt cheap, offering little support. This space also doubles as the breakfast area, which was another issue—since it’s not comfortable for dining either.

I don’t understand why putting a lot of effort into the aesthetics of the bedroom area while leaving the bathroom area with outdated and low quality fixtures? If a hotel markets itself as offering “contemporary luxury,” I think the bathroom should not feel like it belonged in a budget hotel. There were traditional Japanese design touches in the room but they couldn’t make up for the shortcomings of the room for us.

We were given a physical key for our room and a key card for the front entrance of the hotel. Please note that guests are expected to return both keys at checkout and if you lose the key card, you will be charged 2,000 yen.

Breakfast

Our Japanese breakfast was served in the room as there was no on-site restaurants or dining area. At first glance, the breakfast presentation was nice, with a variety of small dishes and colorful ingredients. However, the breakfast turned out to be a big letdown. The only hot dishes were the steamed rice and miso soup, but the miso soup was awful with a slimy texture.

We couldn’t finish the meal because of the quality. Despite having breakfast at 8:30 am, we were already hungry by 11 am.

Final Thoughts – Would Not Return

At the beginning of my stay, I thought I might find the concept of Homm Stay Nagi Kyoto Arashiyama interesting. However, by the end, I couldn’t wait to check out. Perhaps I should blame my expectations?

We booked the room for 50,000 yen four months in advance and the price probably reflected fall foliage season pricing. For that price, we obviously did not expect anything luxury or premium, but we also did not expect a budget hotel experience.

So if you prefer full-service hotels like us, Homm Stay Nagi Kyoto Arashiyama is highly likely not for you. Though we did not have a satisfactory experience, I would say the hotel was not necessarily a bad one. The place does have a lot of positive reviews online. I guess it just wasn’t for us.