Matsui Bekkan Hanakanzashi — Hotel in Kyoto

Traditional Japanese style hotel located in a quiet residential neighbourhood.||Friendly staff, some of whom could speak good English.||Greeted with green tea and sweet served in the reception area.||Shown to our rooms. Foyer where exchanged outdoor shoes for the slip on slippers provided. ||Main room with a textile floor covering, a low floor table with two floor chairs & cushions, a small coffee table with two medium height chairs. I found the floor chairs quite uncomfortable after sitting in them for a while. The evening meal was served at the floir table.||Four sliding doors revealed two single beds. I was expecting something on the floor like a futon.||There was a half wardrobe offering optional Japanese attire.||The bathroom was equipped with a shower but you had to climb into the bath so that the water drained away rather than spraying the room.||We had the evening meal which consisted of several dishes served by an enthusiastic young man who reappeared at intervals and added ingredients to a dish which cooked over candle heat. Unfortunately, the meal was expnsive and the majority of the food either tasted bland or distasteful to my western palate. ( I usually enjoy Japanese food.)||Breakfast was served in a large room down a flight of stairs. Instructions were provided on how to prepare and eat tofu. Again, I found the food very disappointing and rejected it all apart from a little miso soup and some boiled rice with a large portion of cooked salmon which was tasty. I requested coffee and the kind server brought...

This was our first experience of a Japanese ryokan.||Pros:|- great location|- green tea and Japanese pancakes welcome for the adults / toys for the kids |- western breakfast available (we loved trying the traditional Japanese breakfast on our first day but were pleased to be able to switch afterwards) |- beautiful onsen |- traditional Japanese home clothes provided |- umbrellas provided for rainy days |- staff greeting at the door every time we came in ||Cons:|- children under the age of 6 are treated as second-class citizens: no breakfast or even bottle of water provided - despite the fact that they are paying guests (even if at a discounted rate). We didn't know that and it came as a bad surprise. Given the price we paid per night, this is really poor and young children should not be made to feel like that|- noisy room (street side)|-...

My friend and I arrived on a rainy day and the staff were very kind and greeted us with hot matcha and cookies at the door while they got our room ready. Our room was beautiful, a bit cozy (around 10 Tatami mats) and the bathroom was very spacious. They also provide a helpful booklet on how to use the Onsen and tie your Yukata. The dinner was a great— it’s served privately in your room and consists of a variety of season veggies and fish. For someone who’s never been to a ryokan— this was a real treat! The Onsen itself is in the basement, and while it’s not outdoors, it’s clean and well maintained. They keep the bath water nice and hot! The staff even cleaned our muddy shoes for us while we ate our dinner! Highly recommended as a ryokan experience and would definitely come back again (after saving up for the steep...