Yachiyo — Hotel in Kyoto

Stay away...the reviews are fake!

This is the first time Google & TripAdvisor have really let me down. I do not know where those pictures on their website and the phony reviews are from, but it’s not here! Take a look yourself at all of the reviews on TripAdvisor, how many are under phony users who have miraculously only left a raving 5 star review at this one establishment and nowhere else? Yet the authentic ones all range from 1 to 2 stars. Run this place through any review authenticator yourself and find the truth.

The truth is that it was disgusting, the staff were rude and the pictures are a complete scam. Where is all the money they charge going? Certainly not back into the hotel, more like their pockets.

We were greeted by a younger woman who seemed inconvenienced by our arrival to check-in. She was not respectful, not displaying any gratitude and quite snappy. Not even a please or thank you. Initial view from outside seems just fine, small courtyard leads into a hallway that I have nothing to grumble about, once you are checked in that changes quickly.

Led down a drab hallway with stains all over the carpet and walls, like it hasn’t been cleaned or replaced in decades. The smell was like old cigarette smoke and mold. As we pass by a staff member not even a hello or head nod, just a look of discontent. The gentleman leading us was nice and we had no issue with him.

We asked for a garden view nonsmoking room, received one right on an extremely noisy road, paper thin walls covered in more stains, smell of cigarette smoke was beyond overwhelming, not sure if it is just stained to the air ducts or the place is just not clean (I think a mixture of both). It was almost unbearable, the bathroom was a joke! Look at the wonderful pictures on their website, ours was a plastic bin out of a trailer, I couldn’t even fit in the restroom.

I took a walk about and was appalled by the trashed boxes left piled up near the main lobby area, the amount of nasty stains on every inch of the place, the staff that didn’t even have the courtesy to say hello back and simply walk by with a look of misery. It felt like a horror house honestly. I wouldn’t complain if I paid $20/night here but nearly $300 per night? Give me a break.

We left after an hour. It was that bad in my opinion. I couldn’t take the smell in our room and noise from the roadway. Went back to Rihga Hotel for half the price and 10x the service.

Oh did I mention I paid the first night in full? I wanted to leave so badly I didn’t even request the refund as to not make a scene. Seems like I’m not the only one. Dive deep in the reviews and save your money from this fraudulent place. A disgrace...

Never, in all my years of traveling the world, have I stayed in a hotel that was so unbearable that I was willing to take a loss and move to another hotel.

As I was planning for my honeymoon in Japan I stumbled across this Ryokan online and the photos looked delightful, charming and like a real traditional Ryokan experience. On paper this place is great. The reviews were mixed but mostly very positive and at the high price they were charging I expected this to be a well kept, romantic, and exquisite property. What I discovered was something entirely different.

We arrived, were greeted at the door and asked to remove and surrender our shoes, which we expected and were happy to oblige local customs. The exterior was what it appeared to be online. We were checked in and escorted to our room and were horrified. The smell immediately hit us - sewage, mildew, mold. Without a doubt the worst smelling accommodation I've ever stepped foot in. There was fluorescent lighting, stains on the floor mats and walls, cracks in the walls, wood molding that was coming apart, moldy wood in the bathrooms. It was ghastly. We politely stepped in and tried to make ourselves comfortable. Trying to make the most of it, we stayed one night of the three that we had paid for but at the end of our first day of touring Kyoto when we realized we didn't even want to go back there to relax - we knew we had to get out of there. This was our honeymoon and we deserved to be comfortable and enjoy our time.

This place is rundown and outdated and I cannot believe the amount they are charging to stay here. Its absurd. They have done a great job in photographing it in a way that makes it appealing but I'm puzzled as to the great reviews. It was a huge disappointment.

Let me try to leave some positive feedback. The location is fantastic - a moments walk from incredible temples and some of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen. The babbling brook outside our room was peaceful and delightful. We can at least say we spent a night on the floor on futons in a traditional Ryokan setting and check that off our bucket...

This ryokan doesn't have it all together. For the exorbitant prices I shelled out both for the room and meal upgrades, I had expected more. Perhaps a lot more. I have had my share of nights spent in Ryokans, and at Yachiyo my expectations and initial excitements proved to be disappointments. However, to be fair, overall I did manage to enjoy my 4 night stay. My room was a nice sized room with a garden view. The peacefulness of the roomed suffered only from noise pollution since just beyond the garden wall is a major road. The ryokan itself was a confusing mix of traditional Japanese decor, modern Japanese decor and 1990's carpet and western styled couches under harsh fluorescent lighting. You can tell at one point in time, perhaps some time in the 90's there was an attempt at "modernizing". The whole places seems to be just pieces of different buildings held together by a central transitional area. The food were expensive even by tourist standards. The dinner option I picked costed about $90 USD per person per night, the food was somewhat disappointing but after a long day of sightseeing, it was worth the convenience. There was also the caveat that the service was piss poor; once the food was dropped off no one will come by to check on you. At no point during our pricey dinner were we offered a beverage of any sort. No tea, no water, no beer, not even a drinks menu of which I would have gladly paid extra for if that meant I could have had a beverage. I was so parched towards the end of the meal I marched straight into the kitchen on my way out of the dining room and grabbed the nearest person and demanded water. The breakfast, at $20 per person per day, was borderline inedible. We left our breakfast plates full and sought food elsewhere after quickly canceling all of our...