Chishaku Council Hall — Hotel in Kyoto

The hospitality at this place was an absolute joke. We had booked a night's stay including dinner service. When we arrived around 6:40 pm, they told us dinner would be served at 7:30 pm. We were fine with that since their website said the restaurant closed at 8:30 pm and last order was 8 pm.

We were seated at 7:30 and our meal came about 10 minutes later. But then at 7:50 pm, the waitress told us we needed to ‘speed up to eat.’ We were confused and checked their website. When the waitress came back and saw us on our phones, she was about to snatch our food away. She got really upset, and told us ‘SPEED UP TO EAT’ when we politely said we weren't finished yet.

This was absolutely unacceptable service. Using Google Translate, we showed her in Japanese that their posted hours said 8:30 pm closing. But she just said "Sorry, I can’t communicate in English." We were showing her the Japanese translation, not English! Plus, they had a translation device available.

If we had known they actually closed at 8 pm, we never would have agreed to be seated for dinner at 7:30 pm. We booked a multi-course dinner experience, not a rushed lunch. No way could we properly eat and enjoy it in just 10 minutes.

In the end, we got no explanation for why we were so rushed, and her colleague confirmed the restaurant closed at 8:30. The waitress gave no reason, just a curt "sorry." I can only assume she wanted everyone out quickly so she could go home early. It really seemed like discrimination against us as foreigners who couldn't communicate fluently. I doubt they'd treat Japanese diners that way.

Do not recommend this place at all. The hospitality was...

At first, this is not a hotel you imagine. The accomodation is run by the temple Chishaku-in. You can stay in japanese style tatami-mat room. Wide enough for 2 people. Each room doesn't have private bathroom but there is a big common bathroom in the building. Their breakfast was pure japanese style and very nice. You can also ask them a dinner if you like (min.1500yen- not expensive). I asked vegetarian dinner and it was excellent. But the best thing in this inn is the buddism morning ceremony! You can join in the ceremony (about 60 mins) early morning with lots of monks and one of the monks will show you around the famous beautiful garden and you can enjoy precious pictures by Tohaku Hasegawa (National treasure!) before breakfast. It is the previledge only for the guest of this inn. I will definitely come back here again!! Their service is not like 5 star hotel of course, so you need to make your bed(futon) by yourself, but I promise you will get super unique stay.||If you seek something special in Kyoto or if you wanna try a bit of japanese traditional culture(deep one), this is where you should stay;))) Have...

I enjoyed my 1 night stay at Chishakuin Shukubo. The room was spacious and neat, except for some liquid stains on the tables. The toilets and bath were great and well maintained and the building had a modern appearance and feel. The morning service and tour of Sen Rikyu's tea garden and the artsy panels and paintings lasted for around 1.5h. Although it was in Japanese and I couldn't understand most of what was said, it was an eye-opening experience. There was the incense offering ceremony that was part of the service, and being able to partake in it was nice. The temple buildings and grounds were neat and well-kept, and had a serene and calming feel. It's convenient to get to the temple by bus, with a bus stop...