Saimon-in Temple (Pilgrim's Lodging) — Local services in Koya

Staying at Saimonin was a good experience although there are a few things that it would have been helpful to know beforehand:||||- One doesn't necessarily see the monks or gain insight into their life. One person checked us in and showed us to our room, in which our food was already set out waiting for us, and we saw a monk the next morning conducting a prayer ceremony - that was it. I assume the monks live and practice in a separate part of the temple. ||||- I had been told by other people that you could participate in a meditation sitting with the monks, but in fact, the only activity going on is a prayer ceremony that takes place at 7am by one monk, which is something to observe, rather than being participatory, and it is all in Japanese.||||- Be aware that Saimonin has a 9 pm curfew, and the doors to the temple do not open until approx 7:30 am the next morning. (I think this is stricter than other temples in the area) We wanted to see the cemetery in the misty dawn light, before all the tourists arrived, but couldn't leave the temple until the sun was already fully up and the cemetery was active by then. ||||- The communal bathing facilities are only available to use between 5-9 pm on an evening, although there are communal washbasins and toilets available.||||- Other than the morning prayer ceremony, there are no communal activities, such as tours of the cemetery or classes, as there are in other temples. Even meals are eaten alone in your room, and often delivered by someone when you are out so you hardly see anyone at all during your stay.||||- Saimonin felt like a simple, more austere place. I had the impression that the people who worked there, whilst polite, did not necessarily enjoy dealing with the guests, and seemed a bit irritated. Don't expect to be treated like a hotel guest. ||||Having said all that, it was a nice experience - the vegetarian food was truly delicious! - the room was spacious and comfortable - the location of the temple is great and only a 10 min walk from the famous cemetery (which...

Magnificent stay at the Buddhist temple Saimon-In with my husband, which is very conveniently situated in the heart of beautiful Koya-San.

The Monks gave a kind and courteous greeting, showed us our room and the onsen, and they were also very kind in their service - giving us meals and setting up our bedding. We are Buddhists from another country and used to serving Monks, so this was new for us. Big thank you to the Monks, we appreciated everything very much.

The accomodation room was spacious, with comfortable beds, table, amenities such as hot water, tea, hangers for clothing, towels, Yucatan for sleeping, sitting cushions.

The shared bathrooms and onsens were spacious and clean. When I went to the onsen, I was able to alone (this will depend on when you take your shower and bath). I have been to three ryokans/onsens in different parts of Japan before coming here. I would say the facilities are on par (or better!) than what you would see in most rural ryokans. I very much enjoyed the onsen, the temperature of both the shower and the hot bath. It was very relaxing and conducive to meditation.

Food was excellent, tasty, and beautiful presentation. The vegetarian food was nourishing, I felt more full and nourished than almost all my other meals in Japan (usually non-vegetarian, meat centric heavy meals). It is clear that the Monks put the heart into the food.

The cherry on top, was being able to join the morning main hall prayers with the Monks. What a wonderful spiritual experience.

We have great respect for these Monks and Saimon-In, may the Monks and people of Koya-san and Japan grow in their spiritual life,...

We paid €220 for 1 night - by far the most expensive accommodation we had in Japan, while being the dirtiest with the slowest WiFi.

Positive: Location was great and next to a bus stop. Dinner and breakfast were nicely served and was a great experience (see imagine).

Negative: We didn't feel welcome when we arrived. It was like the staff thought "oh well, another bunch of guests I have to show around now." A no-go considering the price. The room was quite dusty. The next morning when the staff put away our bed mats while we were at the ceremony, we noticed that only the pillow sheets have been taken off. The blanket sheets remained on the blankets and don't seem to be cleaned after each visit. Definitely not okay. There were only 2 monks participating at the morning ceremony. I thought that more monks would live at this temple, and that we'd get to see them while staying on premise, which wasn't the case. Public showers are very "public" and like a pissoir with small dividing walls between each shower. Our Trip.com indicated a check-out time of 12:00. When we got back to the place at 10:10 am, a staff member rushed to us to tell us that check-out was until 10:00 am, and that we had to hurry to check-out, otherwise he'd not have enough time to prepare the room for the next guests.

I wouldn't visit this...