We arrived at the somewhat depressing city center of Kyoto, which is very different than the impression you get of the city in guidebooks. It's very non-descript, modern office blocks with the usual Japanese flourishes, wildly noisy pachenko parlors, where the Japanese while away the hours gambling on incredibly loud variations of pinball machines, and lots of neon, video screens etc blaring for your attention as you walk around. They're really a blessing because they give your eyes something to focus on other than office blocks. In a way, it's a good start to your visit, because your expectations will be immediately dashed, then the rest of the trip will be a very pleasant surprise. We checked into our hotel, the ANA Hotel, which blends well with the boring office blocks surrounding it. The architects did a great job of matching the exterior blandness with the blandness of the lobby and rooms as well. Of course, service was flawless, with a dozen people employed to stand in the lobby and greet you with wide smiles and deep bows. Unfortunately outside of Tokyo there are really only two choices for hotels, this sort of modern nondescript box or the traditional ryokan. If you have the stomach for it, ryokan are the way to go, and Kyoto has some of the most famous that have been operating for centuries. At the best, though, you often need letters of recommendation from previous guests, and they try to discourage foreigners, not due to racism but because life in a ryokan has dozens of weird rules and foreigners break all of them. Generally, when you're in these hotels, you have to wear a Japanese robe and leave your shoes outside, breakfast is served in your room at 6 am sharp, doors close for the night around 9 pm, and bathing is often communal and very confusing (basically you have to wash yourself very thoroughly before you bathe, which is not intuitive.) So being a foreign gay couple, we figured we'd break all those rules and then some, so stuck with the bland option. Maybe next time...