Ishibekoji Ryugin — Hotel in Kyoto

We stayed at Ishibekoji Ryugin for a week in July. Satomi-san could not have been more gracious.

The property belongs to her family and they renovated it into a place to serve guests. There are two apartments that we saw, with a common area for access. I say 'apartments' because these are not small hotel rooms. The apartment we stayed in had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, a dining room, and a kitchenette.

The bathroom was spacious and the shower was fantastic. The ceiling of the main area has thick wooden beams for the roof that make it not just another drywall ceiling.

In the common area Satomi-san keeps some items available for guests to use if they forgot something - e.g., small packets of mouthwash, loofahs, tea, instant coffee, etc.

She was in with someone every day to clean and make the beds.

If I had to pick one thing, lest you think I'm a bot writing a review, it's something we also noticed about the other properties we stayed at: Japanese home construction does not seem geared toward soundproofing. So if you rent the two bedroom apartment you will hear whatever games or videos are being played, even at low volume, unless someone is using headphones. So just tell people to use headphones.

There's plenty around for food, from restaurants to convenience stores. With the small kitchenette we were perfectly happy taking care of breakfast ourselves before heading out, as well as ordering in on a few nights. It's a pretty short walk to the shopping area by the shrine. Getting to Kyoto Station was more convenient with an Uber, and those never took more than 4-5 minutes to arrive.

Of the three places we stayed at during our trip to Japan, Ishibekoji Ryugin was by far our favorite. And, honestly, between Tokyo and Kyoto and Osaka, we preferred Kyoto. So if you're thinking of traveling to Kyoto you should definitely consider a stay at...

Ryogin is located at the heart of Gion at the end of a very narrow historic path||The building makes use of raw concrete and wood in a very elegant way and reunite the past and modern japan||Our room was located at the second floor and calling it a room does not give justice to the place, it was actually the whole floor which constitute a two bedroom suite||The decoration is sharp, refined without any style glitch||The place is very roomy but also conducive of warmth and comfort||The 2 two beds bedrooms are very simply designed with an abundance of light colored wood||The bathroom is vast and contains a Jacuzzi||The tatami room is magnificent with a textured wood area next to the window ||There is small kitchen too||The dining room and living room made me thought of Swedish furniture with Japan interpreted through the massive wood tables||The ceiling is supported by massive wood beams which participate to the special atmosphere of the place||The room is very quiet at night||The breakfast is served downstairs below the building at the counter of a beautiful kaiseki restaurant like room||The food is excellent and particularly refined||Overall it is an immaculate place which comes at a...

Ryogin is located at the heart of Gion at the end of a very narrow historic path||The building makes use of raw concrete and wood in a very elegant way and reunite the past and modern japan||Our room was located at the second floor and calling it a room does not give justice to the place, it was actually the whole floor which constitute a two bedroom suite||The decoration is sharp, refined without any style glitch||The place is very roomy but also conducive of warmth and comfort||The 2 two beds bedrooms are very simply designed with an abundance of light colored wood||The bathroom is vast and contains a Jacuzzi||The tatami room is magnificent with a textured wood area next to the window ||There is small kitchen too||The dining room and living room made me thought of Swedish furniture with Japan interpreted through the massive wood tables||The ceiling is supported by massive wood beams which participate to the special atmosphere of the place||The room is very quiet at night||The breakfast is served downstairs below the building at the counter of a beautiful kaiseki restaurant like room||The food is excellent and particularly refined||Overall it is an immaculate place which comes at a...