Auberge AZABU — Restaurant in Kyoto

TLDR: if I had to live in one place for the rest of my life, it would probably be Azabu.

If there are saints on this earth, they come from Azabu. I'm not the wealthiest of people, so I don't normally go out of my way to try slightly more spency places like this, but every part of my time at Azabu makes me reconsider my future accommodation considerations. Somehow, the fact that the room looked even cleaner and better presented than on their website isn't even the best part. Neither was the extremely comfortable futon, nor the high pressure shower.

Nah, the best part was the service. These guys go out of their way to make everything in their corner of the world calm and seamless. They clean and organise your room each day while you're out (though they do leave your luggage alone, thankfully), resupply toiletries, and appear genuinely interested in your trip. Furthermore, when I used their laundry service, they informed me that they wouldn't be ironing the clothes - fine by me. How on earth the clothes I had returned were flatter than when I iron them myself is beyond me.

I have 0 qualms with this stay, it was amazing. The only possible things to improve on would be that the aircon seemed to randomly get hot in the middle of the night (they have a fan you can pull out to mitigate this anyway), and that the breakfast, though very convenient, feels a bit spency compared to similar dishes served nearby (though given the staff involved here, I doubt it's a crazy markup). There was a breakfast bar downstairs, but I wasn't sure if that was included in our stay, or part of the breakfast fare.

Finally, these people treated our plushie, Satan, really well when we left a joking note that he was tired. A stay in this place is worth every cent you can...

What can we say about Mami, Massa, Anna, Mizuki (hope that I spelt that right) and all the staff at Auberge Azabu! Words are not enough to convey the level of hospitality they graced us with from the moment we stepped into this beautiful little ryokan in Shimogyo ward. We felt like we were staying with friends!

Everything, from the rooms, to the lobby and the little garden has been crafted with such care and love and you can really see it.

My husband and I chose to have the omakase dinner on site on our second night in Kyoto and it did not disappoint - the food was delicious and the dinner was such an experience. The whole ryokan smelt beautiful, it's decorated with such taste, it's so clean and it really felt like you were stepping in a little oasis.

We are so grateful to the whole team at Auberge AZABU for making our first trip to Kyoto so special and we look forward to returning as...

Auberge AZABU is a family-run "hotel" near the Gojo Tube Station. The whole family is lovely and they will take good care of you. The location is convenient as it's just 2 min from Gojo Station (tube) and in 5 minutes you are at Kyoto Station. The hotel is very nice, architecture and furniture take probably inspiration from the traditional ryokans so you will have the feeling to sleep in a traditional Japanese house even if modernised. We slept on the futon bed and it was soooo comfortable (first time for me sleeping on a futon bed). We had the breakfast included and it was what we needed to start the day. I liked Kyoto and the place so much that I decided to stay an extra night so this is indicative of how comfortable...