Hotel Binario Saga Arashiyama — Hotel in Kyoto

Convenience and Attractions: ||- It is right next to the JR Saga-Arashiyama station (on the Sanin/Sagano line), which takes 16 minutes (11min via express) from Kyoto station.||- It is not a far walk from Togetsukyō bridge, Tenryū-ji and the bamboo forest||- Note, you can hire row-boats on the beautiful river by the bridge. And buy drinks and food from a floating shop :)||- Apparently there's a monkey park nearby too||- Free Wi-Fi on each floor||- At Arashiyama station there was a Kirin Beer stall, where we had some delicious frozen beer to cool off from the hot summer midday while walking from the hotel.||||Room:||- We had a ryokan room, which was nice for my visiting father to experience traditional Japanese style.||||Eating:||- Food is in the connected restaurant. Traditional Japanese dinner and breakfast. Another great experience for my father and me! The staff were happy to help out and explain how to eat things in what order - though speaking Japanese might have helped this a lot.||||Bathing:||- Communal Japanese bath. Another good traditional experience for my dad as we had not yet visited an onsen.||||Service:||- Front desk was very helpful. Drew me a map and explained how to get to places||- Restaurant staff were friendly and happy to chat and...

Quiet and serene, right by the train station for site seeing. The food was great and the staff were friendly. First time taking the hot spring bath and didn't know the rules for putting my slippers with the number card, however, a lady finishing her bath was very kind in explaining.

The restaurant at the hotel was awesome, exactly what I hoped to experience at a Japanese restaurant. The amount of food was a lot though (for me, because our group had a late lunch that day, but in my opinion I would have skipped lunch for the amount of food at dinner to better enjoy the food). They customized the menu, printed the specific date and listed about 15 dishes (small amounts) that came out in series.

There are two types of hotel rooms you could choose from, the western style ones (with beds) or the Japanese style with tatami and floor futon. Wad able to see the other room when we went sake-tasting at our tour guide's place. If you are allergic to carpet, the tatami Japanese style room might be a better option. The size of the rooms were similar, just different setting. You would need to take your shoes off at the door for the bathroom and...

3.5 stars. It has a very good location, right near the station, and there is a bicycle rental place very near. Japanese style room is spacious and has a nice view. Some of the aspects that I did not like much are as follows: Most of the staff has difficulty with English. Some are better than others. In the Japanese style room, they need to place the futon bed between 6 to 7 PM, which for myself it was a bit inconvenient, because almost all places in Arashiyama close at 5 to 6 and I would be at the hotel at this time. In order to avoid this, I placed a Do not Disturb sign in my room, to keep the futon, as I really did not need to have it removed or even cleaned. However, when I came back at around 6:20 PM, the staff entered anyway to remove the futon and have not placed it again. I had to ask the front desk to place the futon, which I found a bit inconvenient. Breakfast is adequate...