It’s no surprise that Japan loves Hello Kitty, which has become a beloved character worldwide. Hello Kitty is almost everywhere in the country, so of course there are now hotels with Hello Kitty rooms, perfect for the ultimate fans.
My daughter is a HUGE fan of Hello Kitty, so when we were in Kyoto, we decided to take her to a hotel that has a Hello Kitty room!
If you’re a Hello Kitty lover and wondering what it’s like to stay in an adorable, Hello Kitty-themed room in Japan, then you’ll want to read this.
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Hello Kitty Rooms in RESI STAY Hotels in Japan
There are several hotels in Japan with Hello Kitty-themed rooms, and the RESI STAY group is one chain that offers several of them in Kyoto:
Their hotels are more like long-term accommodations (or as they call it, an “apartment hotel”) since they’re reformed apartment buildings. This means the rooms are spacious and, unsurprisingly, resemble a one room apartment in Japan. This means the rooms at RESI STAY come with a kitchenette as well as a laundry machine, making it especially perfect for long stays.
Note that not all the rooms at RESI STAY are Hello Kitty-themed. Some have rooms with other Sanrio characters like Kuromi while most of the rooms are not themed at all. So make sure you check the room carefully and select the character room you want when making a reservation!
Staying at the RESI STAY THE KYOTO Hotel Hello Kitty Room
RESI STAY THE KYOTO is located in an extremely convenient location, about a 15-minute walk from Kyoto Station. It’s also about 5 minutes from a convenience store (LAWSON) and is also close to several highly-rated restaurants as well as AEON Mall.
You can either take a shuttle bus from the RESI STAY office near Kyoto Station or simply walk to the accommodation yourself. (You’ll get detailed instructions about what to do when you make your reservation.)
We decided to go straight to the hotel since we drove and there was paid parking nearby.
The hotel is tucked into a side street but easy to find. Our family of three checked in at the front desk, which was fast and smooth, and then headed to the Hello Kitty Room on the second floor.
My daughter was SO excited when she saw the room. She headed straight for the colorful dango seats around a table shaped like a cup of green tea and then just looked around in awe.
When I say they did a good job with this room, I mean it.
Hello Kitty Decor and Amenities
Hello Kitty is everywhere and RESI STAY THE KYOTO did not skimp on quality. Everything looked exactly like their official pictures.
The Hello Kitty designs were all very Japanese-style, fitting perfectly with Kyoto. I especially loved the Hello Kitty designs on the wall at the head of the double beds, which were in round window-like decor that lit up. My daughter loved standing on the bed and patting each Hello Kitty gently on the head.
The candy-colored Hello Kitty and cherry blossom wallpaper in the toilet was absolutely adorable, something I wish I could put in my own house! But I should point out that the toilet paper was a little too thin for my liking.
They also had lots of Hello Kitty amenities and goodies for us, such as water bottles and tea with Hello Kitty in a kimono on it and quality toothbrushes with Hello Kitty.
I was surprised by the Hello Kitty welcome package that was waiting at the table, which contained a nice towel with Hello Kitty on it we could take home, and masks, dental floss, a luggage tag, and a bag, all with Hello Kitty herself on them. It all was so cute!
Another welcome surprise was that the hotel provided four yukata with Hello Kitty on it. Unfortunately, none were in my daughter’s size. Next to the basket with yukata were plenty of towels for us to use (no Hello Kitty design, though).
Kitchenette in the Hello Kitty Room
The kitchenette was stocked with plates, cups, pots, and cooking utensils so you can easily cook or have a meal in the room if you like. However, there’s only one burner.
The room itself was spotless, and I say this as someone who wipes down door handles and remote controls in hotels with alcohol wipes. Not a single speck of dirt showed up on the wipes and I was impressed!
There was also a vacuum cleaner, an iron, an ironing board, and a safe in the cloak.
The Stay and Sleep
We went out for dinner at 5 PM at Sumibi to Wine, which was about a 15-minute walk away from the hotel. I highly recommend this restaurant as the food is delicious and they have all-you-can-drink wine for 2000 yen (I believe for 90 minutes only). They use stool seating and don’t have a kids menu but kids under six years old can have free drinks. Make sure to try to make a reservation as it’s quite popular. There are plenty of other restaurants to choose from in the area, though.
After our dinner, we went back to the hotel and enjoyed some dessert in the room with some of the Hello Kitty green tea. It was fun to sit on the dango seats while watching television in such a cute room. My daughter happily exclaimed, “Party time!”
We then took showers and got ready for bed. The shower was typical of a shower room in homes in Japan, with an area to shower and a bathtub next to it. The bathtub was a little smaller than ours so I could see that being a problem for taller people if they wanted to stretch their legs out.
I loved that the bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body soap had Hello Kitty on them, too! The quality of the shampoo and conditioner wasn’t the greatest, though, and I had a feeling my hair would be very unhappy if I used that over a few days.
My husband and daughter shared one of the double beds while I took the other. (My husband is able to tolerate our daughter moving around and kicking him in the face more than I can, and for that I am blessed.)
The bed was okay. Not hard but not the most comfortable. I would say it’s pretty standard for the price of the room. The same went for the pillows. Not hard but not soft. I didn’t wake up with any neck pain so it was good enough for me!
My family seemed to sleep fairly well too, enough that they woke up later than usual and in a good mood.
Waking Up to Hello Kitty
Let me tell you, my daughter waking up to realize she was in a Hello Kitty room was the best. She wouldn’t stop laughing and jumping on the bed in excitement. And I don’t blame her, it was great to wake up to colorful Hello Kitties on the walls and ceiling. It definitely put a smile on my face.
My husband got some bread for breakfast from the nearby LAWSON and we ate it in the room with the provided drip coffee. My daughter enjoyed some more television and then it was time to say goodbye.
She did not want to say goodbye. She kept saying she didn’t want to leave and basically that she wanted to live in the Hello Kitty room forever. I am not making this up!
Thankfully she didn’t cry when we finally left at 10:00 AM. We could have stayed until 11:00 AM but we wanted to do some sightseeing and figured the earlier we left, the better.
Check-out was easy peasy as we just popped our keys into the slot at the front desk and went on our way.
Rooms for Improvement
In general, I loved everything about the Hello Kitty room at RESI STAY THE KYOTO. However, this wouldn’t be an honest review if I didn’t mention things that weren’t so great.
I only have four minor complaints about the room.
One is that the entire room is carpeted and doesn’t have a dedicated entranceway (called genkan) where you could take off your shoes. Apartments in Japan have an entranceway that’s separate from the rest of the room where you can take off your shoes, so I found it strange that they got rid of this when they renovated. The room had slippers near the front door, so I imagine you should take off your shoes right away and put on the slippers, but with luggage, this is more easily said than done.
There were also no slippers for kids. This goes into my second complaint, which is that if people should change into slippers, then kids should get some as well. I’ve stayed at ryokan and hotels that provide slippers for kids and considering how much RESI STAY has spent on the welcome package alone, I don’t think children’s slippers would be that much of an extra cost for them.
For my third complaint, I didn’t like the decorative pillows on the bed. I dislike decorative pillows because I don’t think they’re washed and therefore find it gross to put them on top of sleeping pillows with freshly changed cases. I wish hotels would stop using these, and I think that’s a huge reason why I prefer ryokan to hotels.
My fourth and last complaint is about the Wi-Fi. It wasn’t the best and kept cutting out, and sometimes my data wouldn’t work either. So this is something to think about if you need to rely a lot on Wi-Fi.
Overall Impression of the Hello Kitty Room at RESI STAY THE KYOTO
Overall, my family and I really liked this room and would suggest staying at RESI STAY THE KYOTO even if you can’t snag a Hello Kitty room. (There are two Kuromi ones as well to consider!)
RESI STAY THE KYOTO is clean, the customer service is good, the price is very reasonable, and the location is excellent. I love that there’s a laundry machine in the room and a kitchenette as well. This makes it so easy to do laundry when you need to or have a meal in the room if you don’t feel like eating out. For the price of the room, it’s an absolute steal.
They also offer bicycle rentals for a fee as well as a free concierge app. The app allows you to message staff and ask any questions you might have while traveling in Kyoto, which is really nice! It has a map as well that shows you recommended restaurants and sightseeing spots. Information about this app is posted on the right side of the wall at the front desk, so make sure to check it out!
If you’re a fan of Hello Kitty, or even Kuromi, definitely consider booking a night or two here. My daughter didn’t want to leave and is already asking to go back!
🏨 Check room availability at RESI STAY THE KYOTO
If you’re wondering about other Hello Kitty hotels and spots to visit in Japan, read my article about all the places in Japan that every Hello Kitty enthusiast should know.
Happy travels!
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