Staffs were friendly and helpful, one staff was fluent in english and japanese. I had been to Japan, but it was my boyfriend first visit, so I picked this hotel for him to experience the Japanese style room, it was Tatami room, if you prefer a nice comfy mattress, and not to experience Japanese culture, please do not book this hotel. We booked the small room with shower only, since there was public bath (hot springs), we didn't need to use the shower room once. The public bath area wasn't huge, but it was good to dip in after all the walks in Kyoto. The walls and windows weren't thick, you can easy to hear loud noise from the street and people passing by hallway once awhile, also the slide door noise too. But so far it was a nice hotel to stay.