Seryo — Hotel in Kyoto

Seryo is an excellent ryokan that exceeded our expectations. It's situated in Ohara town, located about an hour north of Kyoto, which is an agricultural area known for its fine Kyoto vegetables, its rural beauty, as well as the renowned Sanzen-in and Jakko-in temples (as well as the picturesque Kurama & Kibune towns nearby.) We stayed 2 nights at Seryo.... our main purpose for being in the area was to do the hike from Kurama to Kibune (highly recommended!) While Seryo is not a stone's throw from Kurama or Kibune, it's not far, either - about 15 minutes by car. And, it's right next to Sanzen-in, and overlooks a beautiful valley and the mountains beyond, so the location is actually a plus in many respects.||||While it's a small, family-run establishment, it also charges luxury ryokan prices. In just about all respects, it delivers a level of comfort, luxury and service that matches the price.||||First, the room - we stayed at the best room at Seryo, the "Sakura no Ma Japanese Suite with open-air bath." I believe it to be the only room on premises that has its own private onsen hot springs bath, and it's pure bliss. if it's available, I'd recommend that you snag it quickly. The room itself was reasonably spacious (although not gargantuan by other luxury ryokan standards, and we would've gladly paid more if they offered an even higher category room), well appointed and came with all of the necessities - toiletries, yukata, free WiFi and even free minibar. It was a nice room to spend our down time in Ohara. And when we felt like taking a walk, not only was there Sanzen-in next door, but also Jikko-in, Hosen-in and and Shorin-in just a few minutes walking distance away - all worth visiting, and all with its own unique charm.||||The food was good. Not super gourmet like some of the top ryokans in Hakone or Kaga Onsen town, but they did a good job focusing their offerings relying on local ingredients - Ohara is renowned for its amazing produce, and many of Kyoto's finer restaurants (including Michelin 3-star Kitcho) procure many of their vegetables from Ohara. Of particular note was the local Jidori chicken - it was amazing. It was steamed (which is unusual, and doesn't strike me as the best way to cook chicken), but was done amazingly well. It was definitely a memorable dish. Breakfast, on the other hand, was a comparatively spartan affair - not much variety, and quantities were low. If you're hungry, be prepared to scarf down a healthy portion of rice.||||Service is typical ryokan-like. Courteous, helpful, and a bit inflexible in some areas, namely in terms of meal times. At Seryo, it's strictly 6PM for dinner and 8AM for breakfast. That said, they did make an exception, which gives us hope for Japan :) When we told them we might leave early and skip breakfast (to get a head start on our hike the next day), they said "how about 7:30 then?" For a small ryokan with rigid schedules (for understandable reasons, mind you), it was a surprisingly gracious gesture.||||Overall, we were very happy with our choice and would not hesitate to recommend Seryo for those that seek a great accommodation and dining experience to go along with a wonderful tour of Ohara, Kurama and Kibune's beautiful countryside, villages, temples and shrines - assuming you're prepared to pay for...

Seryo is an excellent ryokan that exceeded our expectations. It's situated in Ohara town, located about an hour north of Kyoto, which is an agricultural area known for its fine Kyoto vegetables, its rural beauty, as well as the renowned Sanzen-in and Jakko-in temples (as well as the picturesque Kurama & Kibune towns nearby.) We stayed 2 nights at Seryo.... our main purpose for being in the area was to do the hike from Kurama to Kibune (highly recommended!) While Seryo is not a stone's throw from Kurama or Kibune, it's not far, either - about 15 minutes by car. And, it's right next to Sanzen-in, and overlooks a beautiful valley and the mountains beyond, so the location is actually a plus in many respects.||||While it's a small, family-run establishment, it also charges luxury ryokan prices. In just about all respects, it delivers a level of comfort, luxury and service that matches the price.||||First, the room - we stayed at the best room at Seryo, the "Sakura no Ma Japanese Suite with open-air bath." I believe it to be the only room on premises that has its own private onsen hot springs bath, and it's pure bliss. if it's available, I'd recommend that you snag it quickly. The room itself was reasonably spacious (although not gargantuan by other luxury ryokan standards, and we would've gladly paid more if they offered an even higher category room), well appointed and came with all of the necessities - toiletries, yukata, free WiFi and even free minibar. It was a nice room to spend our down time in Ohara. And when we felt like taking a walk, not only was there Sanzen-in next door, but also Jikko-in, Hosen-in and and Shorin-in just a few minutes walking distance away - all worth visiting, and all with its own unique charm.||||The food was good. Not super gourmet like some of the top ryokans in Hakone or Kaga Onsen town, but they did a good job focusing their offerings relying on local ingredients - Ohara is renowned for its amazing produce, and many of Kyoto's finer restaurants (including Michelin 3-star Kitcho) procure many of their vegetables from Ohara. Of particular note was the local Jidori chicken - it was amazing. It was steamed (which is unusual, and doesn't strike me as the best way to cook chicken), but was done amazingly well. It was definitely a memorable dish. Breakfast, on the other hand, was a comparatively spartan affair - not much variety, and quantities were low. If you're hungry, be prepared to scarf down a healthy portion of rice.||||Service is typical ryokan-like. Courteous, helpful, and a bit inflexible in some areas, namely in terms of meal times. At Seryo, it's strictly 6PM for dinner and 8AM for breakfast. That said, they did make an exception, which gives us hope for Japan :) When we told them we might leave early and skip breakfast (to get a head start on our hike the next day), they said "how about 7:30 then?" For a small ryokan with rigid schedules (for understandable reasons, mind you), it was a surprisingly gracious gesture.||||Overall, we were very happy with our choice and would not hesitate to recommend Seryo for those that seek a great accommodation and dining experience to go along with a wonderful tour of Ohara, Kurama and Kibune's beautiful countryside, villages, temples and shrines - assuming you're prepared to pay for...

We've stayed at super high end ryokan and also budget ryokan. This one sits towards the higher end, but is definitely nowhere near as refined as others we've stayed at. For example, dinner is served for all guests at the same time (6pm) at the restaurant (vs being served at a time we nominate , in a private room). And , as a previous reviewer mentioned, the futon were already laid out when we checked in at 4pm. But this wasn't a problem for us. I believe it just comes down to the fact that s is a small, family run business. They can't afford to hire masses of staff, and the price you pay is what it takes to maintain the gardens and facilities.||||The food was a bit of a let down. But I guess we had been having extremely high end amazing food up to this point. Some of the dishes were pre cooked and thus cold when served ( meant to be a hot dish), and the pace was indeed quite fast. But nevertheless we still enjoyed the food overall.||||I think what the highlight for us was (1) the amazing gardens; (2) the lovely old ladies who served us throughout our stay; and (3) the onsen (nice atmosphere, clean, good temperature).||||We stayed in two different rooms - shugetsu and Sakura. Shugetsu had an amazing view of the garden. Sakura was very spacious, and had the outdoor private bath. Was nice to be able to experience both, but the public bath was so nice that it's not necessary to pay more for a private bath unless bathing with your partner is a must for you.also the public baths are closed during the day, and also from midnight till ?6amish, so the private bath was good to give us freedom to bath...