Nara Hakushikaso — Attraction in Nara

First off, the hotel manager and his staff were very hospitable and attentive. The moment we arrived and moment we left, they were simply amazing host to us - their hospitality is somewhat lost at other westernized hotel in Japanese these days, and reminded us about how Japan's known hospitality was. So Thank you for that. ||||Hotel - as some reviewers mentioned, building is dated. it reminded me of my grade school field trip back in 80s, because this type of "Ryokan from Showa era" were designed to house many school kids / company trip (yes, in old days Japanese company ran many of those employee trip!) / tour group. Naturally, these Showa-era Ryokan has bigger room, often shared bath / bathroom, etc. Well, meet Hakushikaso, they actually reinvented themselves, modernized some rooms with Tatami floor (actually room was generously big for Japan!), added a unit bath, etc. YEs, they still have shared bathroom and bath, but you don't have use it if you don't want. Their Onsen is not natural, but uses Hinoki bathtub and worth a try after a long day of sightseeing. Building is very quiet. There's tiny gift shop and beer vending machine within building. ||||I am allergic to smoke smell and I was concerned about smoking smell (also common from those Showa-era building...also noted in other reviews), but I didn't smell. ||||Food - good quality. You tell them what time you want to have breakfast / dinner, show up at the "big dining room" and dine with your own group. ||||Location - superb. Walking distance to many notable shrines and temples of Nara. There are many resturants, shops, 7/11, subway stop nearby. It's a little walk from JR station and recommend taking a cab - cab may or may not be able to drive to the front of hotel depend on size of cab so be aware. Hotel can also call cab for you. ||||Wifi- yes, there's wifi, and worked just fine. And it was free. ||||Overall this was great experience and great...

We love this ryokan although it is a little old, the people and the services provided was excellent, the room was at the right size for a family of four. Its location is just perfect, it is right in the middle of the city on a lane, which is close to everywhere yet nice and quiet to stay.||Everyone we met at the ryokan were very nice and friendly, especially the lady at the reception on the day when we checked in. My kids loved going to the public bath on the second floor, it was all to ourselves as there weren't too many guests on the nights we were there.||Dinner was yummy and full of nice surprises. We stayed for 2 nights and they served different dishes / mains, which was something we really looked forward to after a full day of walking and travelling around the area. Kid's meal was nice and well presented too, so everyone enjoyed our meals very much. The congee at breakfast was something new for us to try, which I now miss a lot.||Overall I'd say that it is great value for money to stay at Nara Hakushikaso, I'm glad I booked this place to stay and started our Kansai trip...

The building itself is showing its age and several sections of it are run down and smell of cigarette smoke in the common areas. Our room, while a bit old, was scrupulously clean although the air con didn’t work properly - when we asked for help with the excessive warmth in the room, our attendant shrugged and said she couldn’t fix it so we should ‘just open the window’. Meanwhile, the kaiseki dinner served in the room was one of the biggest and best I’ve had (breakfast was good, too). The bath was clean and well maintained although not particularly large or distinctive. The service was generally okay but our attendant wasn’t overly helpful with little requests (e.g. we asked for hot tea with our meal but were told we could only have cold tea - no big deal, but still......). All in all, the establishment is trading largely on its close proximity to Todaiji, and therein lies the reason for the relatively high price you will pay. It is a fairly average ryokan but, as mentioned, reasonably clean and tidy and nearly wins a ‘very good’ rating for the...