Need an apartment for a month in Kyoto?
Anyone familiar with us knows that we are big fans of Airbnb. In fact we spent 315 night in Airbnb apartments in 2016. The one major exception was Kyoto. When researching where to stay in Kyoto I found the Airbnb options depressing (funny enough, the 2 Airbnb apartments we stayed at in Tokyo were disappointing as well). So I started looking at different options – and that’s how I came across CMM Ekimae. They cater to people booking apartments by the month.
Looking the hotel up on Trip Advisor, the CMM Ekimae rooms looked clean and modern and the location (with a 2 minute walk from Kyoto station) appeared ideal. So we booked a month’s stay.
.
.
.
CMM Ekimae ended up being perfect for our stay. The kitchen was fully equipped and had everything one would need including stove top, fridge, microwave, rice cooker and kettle. It even had a washing machine (for clothes) which is pretty amazing for a small apartment (we would hang them to dry on our balcony). The room was very comfortable with a bed, sofa, coffee table, working desk and TV (with cable). There is wifi. We work as we travel so it had everything we needed. The “bathroom” was actually comprised of two rooms – a room with a toilet and another with a bath/shower – with a little vestibule containing a sink between them. The toilet of course had all the fancy Japanese features (perpetually warm seat, different spraying options). Also well thought-out was a sliding door that separated the kitchen from the kitchen and bathroom. Overall, the room was not large (Japanese rooms never are) but it was well organized and equipped.
It had everything we needed for a one month stay.
.
.
The location also ended up being perfect. We were a 2 minute walk from the train station, the central hub for trains, the underground metro (subway), and buses. It made visiting the various temples easy. There is lots of shopping in the area (we did grocery shopping at Yodobashi, right next to the Kyoto Tower) and restaurants (we found a particularly good sushi place in the underground floor of the train station). We were also close to the Kamo River, a great place for jogging and cycling.
.
Overall, we had an excellent stay at CMM Ekimae and really recommend them for a stay in Kyoto.
CMM Ekimae website
Related: Ninja training in Kyoto
Related: Our Top Highlights in Kyoto
Related: The Craziest show we’ve ever seen – Tokyo’s Robot Restaurant
PS. Looking to book flights, hotels, tours, or rent a car? Have a look at our Travel Resources page.
Looks like a nice little apartment. The design is nice and it appears to have everything a traveller would need. Very similar in size and layout to some of the places I stayed at while visiting Japan. I’ve also seen much smaller apartments around and remember one place I was at had a bathroom that would make most aeroplane toilets look big!
Yes, we had some of those when travelling through Central Honshu for a week. Lots of budget hotels that were incredibly tiny and the bathrooms actually look like one-piece, fabricated bathrooms similar to those on planes.
I’ve been following your posts since we have pretty similar lifestyle. I am curious what you found disappointing about Kyoto airbnb offerings? Japan is on our traveling schedule for later this year, so I am beginning to look for accommodations. Cheers!
Thank you Elena, I’ll have to check out your blog.
We found Airbnb options cramped, not very well kept, with kitchen amenities lacking (usually a microwave and a single hot plate). We weren’t impressed with cleanliness. We stayed in 2 places in Tokyo, one for 3 days and another for 5 and neither would we ever want to go back to. And the thing is, unless you want to pay a of money, they all look basically the same. Another oddity: Airbnb owners don’t seem to want to meet you in Japan. In both cases the owners were in town but there was always a key pickup procedure (usually kept in the mailbox). In most places owners happy to meet you and show you their place but that wasn’t our experience in Japan. Maybe just a cultural thing.
Hope that helps 🙂