Chion-in Wajun Kaikan — Hotel in Kyoto

This wonderful place is nothing like the rustic version we stayed at in Yudenaka. It is more like an upscale boutiqe hotel. Only 3 floors, but very well kept. Our room was one of the largest we experienced during the 2 weeks we were in Japan.||We chose to decline the meal package as we expected we would be out during the dinner time, and did not want to commit to breakfast, as my wife is a very fussy eater.||A public bath for men and a bath for women is located in the basement. Exceptionally clean and properly set up in the shower area and bath area,. I chose to take advantage of the bath each evening. It is so incredibly relaxing. The bath is not heated by thermal springs but whatever they use to heat the building.||The front desk staff could not be more helpful during our stay. When a snowstorm hit Kyoto, it meant the shipping company that we chose to forward our large suitcases was no longer viable since the company cancelled all trips that day. When we got up the next morning we discovered that the taxi cab companies were not answering the phones that morning(due to snow and ice). The front desk looked at my wife and I with 4 suitcases, my cane and walker and somehow just knew that we couldnt possibly get to the Kyoto station using public transit. The tall, thin gentleman behind the desk, went outside and ran at his fastest speed, 3 blocks to find a idle taxi, ran back to us, still checking out, took all of our luggage outside to the waiting taxi, assisted with the loading, ensuring that we were safely inside and on our way before he went back inside, hopefully to have a well earned cup of tea.||The service is outstanding, the meal to my eyes looked incredible. The rooms have ample space for luggage, fully stocked bathrooms, Yukatas for wearing to the bath and 2 bottles of water daily. They also include a small refrigerator.||If I should be so fortunate to visit Japan again in my lifetime, this will be my must stay hotel.||THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH CHION-IN WAJUN KAIKAN!!! EXCELLENT STAFF AND OUTSTANING SERVICE. THANK YOU SO MJCH FOR HELPING MAKE THIS DREAM VACATION...

Overall, we had a great experience here. The location is superb: within a short walk of the bars and restaurants of the Gion district and a bit of a longer walk of the downtown area and several other attractions. Lovely, modern accommodation, clean lines, spacious (for Japan) rooms. Can't fault any of that.||The 'but' comes from the fact that this hotel is affiliated with some sort of religious group. You will get a wake-up call to meditation in your room at 5:30am unless you turn the button for the announcement to 'off' the night before. The services available are also limited. No quick restaurant service in the evening, for example, though vending machines are available at the lowest level. We were also disappointed with breakfast (which included cold bacon and fruit from a can), though as we were travelling with a group I don't know whether the food we got was par for the course or was something that had been arranged for our group. ||Also the Internet was strange: It was arranged by the city of Kyoto, not the hotel, and you have to log in every 24 hours.||Restaurants and bars are close by, luckily, and our first night there, as we looked for food because we could find nothing at the hotel, we stumbled into a very extensive street food fair mere steps from the hotel.The park was alive with people eating street food under the cherry blossoms. It...

We stayed for three night in this hotel. It belongs to the Chion-in Buddhist temple. We had paid for breakfast - vegetarian and very delicious, a set menu but offering changing daily. The rooms were very modern and spacious (something quite rarely seen in large Japanese cities) with a choice of full Japanese room, Western style of combination (that was where we were staying - Western beds and Japanese seating area). We were offered the participation in the morning Buddhist ceremony and we joined on one of the days. We were woken up at 4:50 AM and the by 5:30 AM the ceremony started. We were guided by someone belonging to the organization and hence were lead to the restricted area with tatami (something we were just looking at from outside on our usual ‘touristy’ tour the day before). We were instructed what to do by one of the monks (with our left hand in a praying position, taking a pinch of the incense pellets with our right hand, putting it in front of our forehead and then into the charcoal). The ceremony took close to one hour and it was an unfogetable experience. I encourage anyone who does not speak Japanese (like us) to do some reading on the structure of the session beforehand just to feel a bit more confident. But don’t worry, they will not let you do anything really...