Place: Dublin, Ireland
Date: June 11th 1998
Time: 3:00pm (local time)
Started search using Fusion
Query: Kyoto train station hotels
Clicked on #2 "ICSE98 local information"
Followed links to Kyoto City Tourism Information
http://raku.city.kyoto.jp/sight_eng.shtml
Clicked on Accommodation -> hotels, Inns
Searched by place -> Around Kyoto Station, Tojo
Got large list of hotels: Hotel Iida, Hotel Rich Kyoto etc.
Place: Aberdeen, Scotland
Date: 12. June 1998
Time: 2:30PM (local time)
searched for Japan hotels in Kyoto- only 3 given.
2 didn't state whether or not they were near the station
the other had a url that could not be accessed.
Iowa City, Iowa, USA
8 hours for 10 queries over 2 afternoons
o Submit the query: +Kyoto +station + hotel
o The first two links are lists of hotels in Kyoto and how close
they are to the Kyoto Station.
o Click on the first link:
http://traveland.hotelbook.com/static/Asia,Japan,Kyoto.html
o The list is shown to you.
o The second link seems to be a mirror site
(http://www.hotelbook.com/static/Asia,Japan,Kyoto.html).
Note about this search. I meant to write as a query "+Kyoto +train
+station + hotel " but accidentally I did not include the second word.
I noticed it when I wrote this comments, then I try that query but
(surprise, surprise!) the links I found previously didn't show up in
the first page. They were the hits 17 and 18 (in the second page).
Tokyo, Japan
June 12nd, 1998 Local time
By default, search on Altavista
6:30 pm
(I live in Japan and I known the site !!)
Query : kyoto city tourism
clicked on 2 :
2. Kyoto City Tourism & Culture
Infomation System
[URL:raku.city.kyoto.jp/sight_apr.html]
next page
accomodation
hotels, inns
search by place
around Kyoto station, toji
Result :
- Buzennya Ryokan
- Daishokan
- Daiya Ryokan
- Hatoya Zuihokaku
- Heianbo
- Hifumi Ryokan
- etc.
Ottawa, Canada
(2:38): - learned from previous question - go to
http://citynet.excite.com/countries/ and browse on to Japan - Kyoto
(2:41): browse to 'maps' to locate the train station, but that seems not
to be a good idea (instead of finding a Kyoto map, I'm back on global
level).
(2:42): to Fodor's hotel index
http://www.fodors.com/ir.cgi?dest=Kyoto@33&2=name
Lists 23 hotels and I guess I can try all of them and see if they
mention the train station. Postpone that strategy for now.
(2:45): Alta Vista query -> +kyoto hotel "train station"
Only on position 24 I find a promising link:
http://www.hotelbook.com/static/Asia,Japan,Kyoto.html
and which lists the Nikko Princess Hotel and Rihga Royal Hotel as
'nearby' Kyoto station, the New Miyako Hotel as opposite the bullet
train station, the Kyoto Tokyu Hotel is 3 km from the train station, the
ANA Hotel Kyoto is 10 minutes from the station (not really near,
anymore). No mention of the station at the other two hotels (2:54).
Consider this an answer to the question and close the case (2:56).
Using a custom front-end tool AltaGCL
Waterloo, 15 June 18:15
altagcl "kyoto" and "hotel*" and "train" ... way too much junk
altagcl ("kyoto hotels" or "hotels in kyoto") and ("train" or "station")
... perfect!
http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/SEG/travelrates/station_kyoto.html
Total time: 5 minutes
Waterloo, Canada
Using a custom front-end tool AltaGCL
June 16, 01:08am
query: "kyoto" and "hotel" and "train station"
Initially found 2 hotels that give proximity to the train station
on their web pages:
URL : http://www.hotelbook.com/static/Asia,Japan,Kyoto.html
URL : http://www.traveler.net/htio/ohgreviews/e218835.html
Suspected that there were more hotels so decided to keep searching.
query: "Kyoto" and "hotel*" and "train.station" and "list*"
URL : http://traveland.hotelbook.com/static/Asia,Japan,Kyoto.html
which is a listing of hotels in kyoto with proximity to train station.
time: 5 minutes
Using Fusion2 - a
metasearch engine with marking of relevant documents and query
expansion.
Fusion2 search for hotel kyoto gives 38 URLs
rank=1 is www.kyotohotel.co.jp, kyoto horel but no location
rank=2 is karasuama kyoto hotel but no location
rank=7 is Ana hotel Kyoto which is 10 minutes taxi from JR Kyoto Station,
so now we know what it is called.
Fusion2 query for hotel kyoto train station
rank=8 is kyoto station building at www.travelassist.com which is
about the train station building including details of the hotel
within the station, the Granvia Kyoto hotel and a hot link to the
home page for the hotel with its 539 rooms ... can't get much
closer than that. But the query asked for hotelS, so at rank=9
is a page describing kyoto with a link to a hotel map which has
5 hotels near the station including the Miyako, Karasumai, and so on.
Bingo in 7 minutes.
At a university in Glasgow, Scotland
search "Kyoto hotels" with Yahoo (8 results)
gone to http://www.interamerika.com/KyotoTokyuHotel.htm :Kyoto Tokyu Hotel
- deluxe hotel of the highest international standard, desirably located in
the centre of Kyoto facing the Nishi-Honganji Shrine.
gone to http://www.kyotohotel.co.jp: Kyoto Hotel - has all western-style
suites, event facilites, and many restaurants, including ones on the 17th
floor that afford panoramic views of the city.
link to location:
http://www.kyotohotel.co.jp/oike/loca_e.html but form the map it is not
clear how far it is form the station, but Karasuma Kyoto Hotel looks
promising
http://www.kyotohotel.co.jp/karasuma/index.html
link to location:
, not clear how far it is
from station, quite close thought.
still we wanted more choice:
Altavista: with the same query
http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/SEG/travelrates/hotel_kyoto.html#Area Menu
link to Kyoto Station
http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/SEG/travelrates/station_kyoto.html
Eureka!!!
Answer
Kyoto Station Area
Hotel Rates Comments
Kyoto Grand Hotel Deluxe(from Бе22,000/night) ... near Kyoto
Station.
Kyoto Park Hotel Deluxe(from Бе22,000/night) near the
Kyoto National Mus.
Kyoto Tokyu Hotel First Class (from Бе15,000/night) near all
cultural and historical sites.
New Hankyu Hotel First Class (from Бе15,000/night) Near Kyoto
Station.
New Miyako Hotel First Class (from Бе15,000/night) Near Kyoto
Station.
Nikko Prince Kyoto First Class (from Бе15,000/night) Newly
built hotel.
Novice WWW searcher!
Date: June 17, 1998
Time: 9:19 am (local time)
Place: San Diego, CA
Query: Kyoto
Clicked on "Japan travel updates: Kyoto"
Clicked on "Kyoto links"
Clicked on "Kyoto Visitor's guide"
No helpful information found, redo search
Query: Kyoto train station
Clicked multiple sites, before finally choosing "Hotels and Travel in
Japan"
Clicked on "local hotel directories and web sites"
Tried each of 5 hotels listed under "city - Kyoto"
One was located in Tokyo, three had addresses that the browser couldn't
locate.
Clicked on "Hankyu"
Located the Hotel New Hankyu Kyoto, located 2 minutes from the railroad
station (on foot).
Decided to book my reservations there, regardless of my budget, when I
finally found this information at 9:49 am (local time).
Australia
Using a query re-formulation tool, the Hyperindex Browser (HiB)
HiB + AltaVista
o enter "Kyoto" and many query refinements are produced
o choose "kyoto hotel" which produces the refinement "kyoto hotel
overview". Beam down using this and start perusing the document
abstracts. Quite a few seem relevant - start following links to
actual documents and from there to other documnents - lost in
hyperspace
o start the HiB again with the query "kyoto" and chose the refinement
"kyoto guide" as a query. Some document abstracts look relevant, but
no success
o try again using the query refinement "kyoto" hotel which produces
the names of several hotels in Kyoto e.g. "kyoto tokyu hotel".
Decide to beam down to the associated documents
to see if mention is made of the hotel being near the station.
beam down using "kyoto tokyu hotel", which leads to the document
http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/SEG/travelrates/station_kyoto.html
where it says that "Kyoto Grand Central Hotel", "New Hankyu Hotel"
and "New Mikyako Hotel" are near the station.
At a university in Toronto, Canada
Metacrawler query: kyoto hotels
Clicking on #1: "KYOTO CONVENTION BUREAU HOME PAGE"
(http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/hellokcb/)
Clicking on "Hotels"
A list of Hotels.
Clicking on "KYOTO TAKARAGAIKE PRINCE HOTEL"
30 min. by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "THE MIYAKO"
20 min.by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "KYOTO HOTEL"
Clicking on "KYOTO HOTEL"
Clicking on "Location & Access"
Includes a map showning Kyoto Station and the locations of the
two Kyoto Hotel group hotels. The closest is the Karasuma Kyoto
Hotel which is two blocks away. The Kyoto Hotel is about six
blocks away.
Clicking on "ANA HOTEL KYOTO"
10 min. by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "RIHGA ROYAL HOTEL KYOTO
7 min. walk from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "KYOTO TOKYU HOTEL"
5 min. by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "KYOTO ROYAL HOTEL"
10 min. by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "KYOTO BRIGHTON HOTEL"
15 min. by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "KYOTO PARK HOTEL"
5 min. by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "KARASUMA KYOTO HOTEL"
5 min. by subway from JR Kyoto Stn.
(About two blocks. See above.)
Clicking on "HOLIDAY INN KYOTO"
20 min. by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "HOTEL KEIHAN KYOTO"
1 min. walk from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "NEW MIYAKO HOTEL"
1 min. walk from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "HOTEL GIMMOND"
10 min. by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "HOTEL NEW KYOTO"
10 min.by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "HOTEL new HANKYU KYOTO"
3 min. walk from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "KYOTO TOWER HOTEL"
1 min. walk from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "HOTEL PALACE-SIDE KYOTO"
10 min. by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "HOTEL NIKKO PRINCESS KYOTO"
5 min. by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "SANJO KARASUMA KYOTO"
5 min. by subway from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "HOTEL SUN ROUTE KYOTO"
7 min. by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "KYOTO PRINCE HOTEL"
15 min. by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "MARUKO INN KYOTO"
10 min. by subway from JR Kyoto Stn.
Clicking on "KYOTO GION HOTEL"
10 min. by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn.
The closest hotels are
HOTEL KEIHAN KYOTO
NEW MIYAKO HOTEL
KYOTO TOWER HOTEL
which are a one minute walk from the train station and also
HOTEL new HANKYU KYOTO
which is a three minute walk from the train station.
At another university in Glasgow, Scotland
Started search on Altavista to go
straight to the query:
Query: +hotel +Kyoto Japan train +station
Visited http://www.jnto.go.jp/04budhint/hints/transp/kyotobus/kyotra.html ,
1st in the list. The page is a train timetable (odd we retrieved it), but
at the bottom there is a useful address:
Visited http://www.jnto.go.jp/ where there is a lot of information and in
particular an indication regarding lots of Japanese cities
Visited http://www.jnto.go.jp/05regional/kyoto/05frame.html with info about
Kyoto. Unfortunately, no info about hotels are in easy reach.
Back to Altavista
Visited http://www.zem.co.uk/itc/JAPAN.htm , 5th in the list, where I find
the name of one hotel near the train station. NEW MIYAKO HOTEL,
HACHIJO-GUCHI, KYOTO STATION, KYOTO TOWN.
I decide to try another search engine to see if it has different coverage.
I try http://www.infoseek.com/ with:
Query: hotel Kyoto train station
I click on the Grouped results from http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp and I get a
nice list where all the hotels in the first 5 hotels are close to train
station. I decide to visit one
Visited http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/hellokcb/eng/ht5.html and then
using the back botton I go the full list of hotels in Kyoto that seem to be
close to the train station
http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/hellokcb/eng/hotelindex.html
Elsewhere in Ottawa, Canada, using AltaVista ...
ANSWER: ANA Hotel Kyoto Kyoto Station - 10 minutes
Kyoto Tokyu Hotel Kyoto Train Station - 3 km
New Miyako Hotel Kyoto Station - front of hotel
Nikko Princess Hotel Kyoto Kyoto Station - nearby
Rihga Royal Hotel Kyoto Station - nearby
Not exhaustive
Queries: 2
Links: 9
Time: 15 minutes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Query: hotel Kyoto Japan train accommodation*
Followed: http://www.jwindow.net/LWT/KYOTO/GUIDE/kyoto_guide_accommod.html
Just gives the cost ranges
Followed: http://www.jnto.go.jp/04budhint/hints/transp/kyotobus/kyotra.html
-> http://www.jnto.go.jp/
-> http://www.jnto.go.jp/07hotels/07frame.html
-> http://www.j-hotel.or.jp/english/index.html
-> Fill in form for Kyoto
http://okini6.o-kini.or.jp:9004/jhotel/owa/search.easysearch_e
Hotel list: with links and phone numbers
NEW MIYAKO HOTEL
KYOTO CENTURY HOTEL
KYOTO DAINI TOWER HOTEL
KYOTO BRIGHTON HOTEL
THE MIYAKO
HOTEL GIMMOND KYOTO
HOTEL NEW KYOTO
HOTEL SUNFLOWER KYOTO
KYOTO DAIGO PLAZA HOTEL
HOLIDAY INN KYOTO
KYOTO PARK HOTEL
HOTEL KEIHAN KYOTO
KYOTO TOWER HOTEL
RIHGA ROYAL HOTEL KYOTO
ANA HOTEL KYOTO
KYOTO HOTEL
HOTEL NEW HANKYU KYOTO
KYOTO TOKYU HOTEL
KYOTO ROYAL HOTEL
HOTEL PALACE-SIDE KYOTO
Followed: http://www.jnto.go.jp/
-> http://www.jnto.go.jp/04budhint/04frame.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Query: +hotel Kyoto Japan +train accommodation*
Followed: http://traveland.hotelbook.com/static/Asia,Japan,Kyoto.html
ANA Hotel Kyoto Kyoto Station - 10 minutes
Kyoto Tokyu Hotel Kyoto Train Station - 3 km
New Miyako Hotel Kyoto Station - front of hotel
Nikko Princess Hotel Kyoto Kyoto Station - nearby
Rihga Royal Hotel Kyoto Station - nearby
France
Metacrawler: kyoto hotel "near train station"
--> 3 results
Pages refer gay information in asia.
Metacrawler: kyoto train station
--> many results
Nothing promising. I pick "Japan Travel Updates: Kyoto"
http://www.jnto.go.jp/05regional/kyoto/Kita_Kyoto.html
I surf a while on the national tourist server. No luck.
--> Another result: Kyoto Station Building
http://www.westjr.co.jp/english/kyoto/index.html
Some information on the new station building, which also contains a
hotel: HOTEL GRANVIA KYOTO
I assume that if there is a list somewhere then the GRANVIA should be
on it. I try:
Metacrawler: granvia kyoto station
--> 5 results
I follow
http://www.intrepidtraveler.com/travels/kyoto.html
A general tourist info on Kyoto, but only a listing of few hotel and
no indications to their distance from the train station.
I give up.
(20 minutes)
Saarbrucken, Germany
22 June 1998, 19:20-21:20 p.m.
I look up my private page with hotels where I've stayed
(http://www.coli.uni-sb.de/~erbach/hotel.html) and find the Ryokan
Seiki just behind the train station.
