Gion Ryokan Q-beh — Hotel in Kyoto

In short, If you are looking for a budget trip and get to interact with local people around the hotel. I will definitely recommend this hotel.

The atmosphere of the hotel is amazing. The highlight of this hotel is Japanese traditional garden in the middle of the hotel which (I assume that) you can see from every room both down stairs and upstairs. In my opinion, I think it is relaxing to just look a the garden while you were sitting in your room. Fortunately, we got the private bathroom downstairs for six people and the area is pretty private. Although the hotel wasn't spacious in comparison to other luxurious ryokan, but I assure you that it is definitely worth it for cheap price.

In addition, the location of the hotel makes it extremely convenient to maneuvered around. Especially when you are traveler who prefer to use public transportation and walking method. For example 5 minutes walk to Yakasa shrine, 13 minutes walk to Kiyomizu dera. 7-eleven and Family Mart are also within 3-5 minutes walk and very nice souvenir shop can be found along the street where the hotel locates.

The reason why I gave this hotel a 5 stars review is because I was very satisfied with customer service. The owner speaks English extremely well, therefore, there is no difficulties communicating what so ever. He help us with the Kyoto plan, and recommended the best route to travel.

There a night when we hadn't plan what to eat for dinner but we were too tied to go out. So we asked which restaurant nearby we should visit. In which, he not only gave us a few list of restaurant and did the reservation but also he voluntarily help us get to the restaurant. ( the local restaurant that we went to was very delicious, and very friendly).

Overall, The calm atmosphere of the hotel, and the friendly manner of the owner makes my Kyoto experience becomes very spectacular. I would want to visit to Kyoto and stays at this...

Decent overall but some glaring mistakes that can’t go ignored.

There is a mild stench emanating from some of the private rooms (be warned).

Our original accommodation consisted of 3 bunks in the shared room, and the attendant on check in was nice about amending it to some privates they had available. She assured us that the price would be amended accordingly (we would get some money back); then later on a different attendant (whom I assume is the manager of some sort) said there would be no price adjustment and they would keep all of the money as if there were still 3 bunks being occupied in the room (now they are paid-empty beds). Once my friend came back to collect his bags after finally deciding to find a new hotel elsewhere, this same manager came running to tell me (and him) that he could no longer be in the hostel (even though he paid to be there, and didn’t get his money back), she insisted that even though he was a paying hostel-goer, he couldn’t even be on the premises. He quickly grabbed his bags and left.

This was not ideal, and could have been handled more professionally with some greater transparency but thought I would share this experience for future travellers: if you wish to amend your reservations, or move rooms, price adjustments, you may have a hard time doing so here.

Washrooms were clean, public spaces were a bit small but usually empty, laundry available...

We stayed in a family room with shared bathroom. It had a lovely view into a garden of green with a stone structure outside - very serene and beautiful. My kids fell in love with it as soon as they walked in, and we had breakfast every morning sitting there on the tatami area looking out the window. ||The ryokan is walking distance to Nishiki Market, the historic Higashiyama district, and Kiyomizu dera. Along the way, there are onigiri sellers who sell the most delicious onigiri we’ve ever tasted. You can also ask the hotel staff about Japanese breakfast options nearby, which we regret not knowing about until it’s too late.||The only complaint I have about this place is how thin the mattresses were. They were only about two inches thick, and you could definitely feel the floor when you sleep on it. After a sleepless night, the staff gave us foams to put under our mattresses which made it much better, but I think it would be better if the ryokan just invests in some thicker mattresses. We’ve stayed at ryokans with thicker mattresses and they were wonderful, so I was disappointed in how uncomfortable these were.||Also, no place to hang anything except your towels. It’s really a hostel. The shared bathrooms and wash basins are nice though, and even though the showers are found only on the first floor, toilets are on both floors which makes going to the bathroom at...