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Reviews of Ryokan Yoshida-sanso

4.5 out of 5
Ryokan Yoshida-sanso
59-1 Yoshida Shimo-ooji-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto

Reviews

9.6

Exceptional

Rating 10 - Excellent. 46 out of 57 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 7 out of 57 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 3 out of 57 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 0 out of 57 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 57 reviews" "

10/10

Cleanliness

9.8/10

Staff & service

8.8/10

Amenities

9.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Huyen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

Tony

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Amenities
In original condition. Maintained from 1930's. Expensive but price of heritage.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

maitha

Travelled with family, Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very beautiful hotel. We stayed in the Detached house “Hanare”, very magical place. The breakfast is delicious and the coffee shop was all for us before it opens to guests at 11:00AM, they even gave my son a small lovely gift. The staff are really dedicated and treated us very warmly, just like a family.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Charles

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Simply amazing experience. Refined elegance in every way.
Stayed 1 night in May 2022

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
beautiful and perfect location close to the university.
Stayed 5 nights in Dec 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019

10/10 Excellent

Amy

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019

10/10 Excellent

Monica, USA

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
It is a historical place once belonging to a member from the Imperial family. The current members try to uphold some of the old traditions. Our room overlooked the garden as was very spacious. Our first breakfast was served in a sitting room upstairs which was private. The second morning in a beautiful room overlooking their beautiful garden. Beautiful service and delicious food Japanese one morning and Continental the next. A gorgeous Ryokan experience.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Incredible in every way, so serene and perfect service. The breakfast and dinner were superb. Such an enjoyable stay.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Expensive and touristy
We had a nice stay at this ryokan, but it was extremely "touristy" as opposed to genuine. Service was good and food was ok but nothing was excellent. The house is beautiful and in a great spot for visiting some nice temples and the philosophers walk along the small river branch. Nice for couples that the bath is private and thus can be gender shared. Everything very clean. However, in total, this was extraordinarily priced (both the lodging and the food) for what it was.
Stayed 1 night in May 2019

10/10 Excellent

Ellen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Magical and Historic
Yoshida sanso is a magical place and the proprietors are wonderful people. Also, you can walk to the Philosophers Path which is one of the most beautiful walks in Kyoto. The food was incredible, I highly recommend trying their dinner and breakfast, though we only had the breakfast. Be sure to arrive on time to allow yourself plenty of time to experience and enjoy the property.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Stayed 1 night in Mar 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent experience all around. Highly recommended.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2018

10/10 Excellent

Dana, Colorado

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
An experience of a lifetime, impossible to rate on a computer. It was warm, wonderful, authentic, clean, caring, delicious food and one of the most special and meaningful stay of our entire Japan vacation, top 3 lifetime.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2018

10/10 Excellent

Harrison, San Francisco

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful traditional Japanese ryokan! A very unique experience with some of the best dining found in Japan.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2018

10/10 Excellent

Luca, New York, Ny

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Unforgettable experience — a dream of a hotel! Most highly recommended
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2018

10/10 Excellent

eva, Hong Kong

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful traditional Japanese building.
love the location, the view. All the staff is very kind, especially the Japanese style breakfast, definitely made my day. the last day we booked a shuttle service to the Kansai Airport, they helped us to storage luggage till late afternoon and served us their delicious Japanese coffee in the small but cozy tea house. that's very warm and thank you very much.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Calm, peaceful and relax, warm welcome, friendly and good service.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2017

10/10 Excellent

Granville

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Unique experience
This 'hotel' is not like anywhere else I have ever stayed. The service was so personal, with private dining rooms etc., that most of the time it felt like the entire focus of the place was on you alone. Altogether a unique experience.

10/10 Excellent

HOU YIN PETER

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Remarkable Experience and Top-quality Service
It was truly an amazing experience for the 2 of us and our 7-year old kid. This mansion used to be the home of a prince and was mentioned in one of the documentary books of Kyoto. It should be one of those top-serviced Ryokens in town. We were assigned for literally a "house" with 40 years of history and own front garden and gate, spacious living of about 2,000 sq. feet of room, comfortable trad. Japanese futon style, all necessary amenities (even come with iron & ironing board and kimono dressing). A special gratitude to all the smiling staff & their hospitality at the mansion, especially Tomoko, who explained everything well to us. At breakfast time, we were treated a private room and a full set delicious trad. Japanese style breakfast, and Japanese times daily newspaper, which was supplemented with complimentary coffee/tea in their relaxing tea shop, caused us certain delay in activity schedule because it was just so luring to stay a little longer in the mansion for the good mood and ambiance.... There are parking space as well in case you drive. The only thing you need to be aware is that since the surrounding is nature, you just can't avoid the chance of having "special" visitors such as the naughty spider which was attracted by our room lights and came visiting on the first night of arrival.... therefore my kid's comment would be different from us because he would opt for no insects in the future.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2017

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
unique experience in a traditional ryokan
we spent two nights here. Found the staff incredibly kind and helpful. They went out of their way to make sure everything went smoothly for us. One of them wrote out for us in Japanese all of the sights we wanted to go to so that we could show taxi drivers the Japanese names of the locations. It turned out to be incredibly helpful and made our brief stay very smooth. We also had the traditional Japanese dinner one of our nights at the ryokan. it was amazing. We had never had anything like it. The owner was lovely and introduced herself during our dinner. The room was very comfortable, decorated in the traditional Japanese style. We had big windows that opened up to a lovely garden view with the hills in the distance. We would highly recommend. It was a wonderful experience all around.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2017

10/10 Excellent

Chris Piazza, New York

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A gem in Kyoto
If you are in Kyoto this is a must. The staff is friendly, the grounds are immaculate and the food is wonderful. The best accomidation in Kyoto by far!

10/10 Excellent

Sebastian , San Francisco

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Japanese Cultural Experience
We felt like guests in a bygone era. The food was authentic. Staff were very friendly. Sleeping on the futon bed was quite comfortable and the tub was welcome after a day of touring. It's in a quiet residential area a bit out of town. Taxis were called and arrived after a short wait.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fantastic old Japanese style hotel
I loved staying here. Having breakfast in a private room overlooking the lovely gardens was great. It was a little run down in places partly I assume to retain its older character. The staff were friendly but only one spoke much English. You will not have a private bathroom and toilet and must share. The windows of our room rattled when the wind blew and kept waking us up. When there you always feel the need to be quiet as the walls are thin. But all in all a lovely place.
upstairs living
garden from the balcony
room view
breakfast

10/10 Excellent

Mark

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
One of the best hotel/inn experiences ever.
I have always wanted to stay in a Ryokan, and the experience exceeded my expectations. Hosts were warm, welcoming, and very helpful.

10/10 Excellent

yu mei, New Jersey , USA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
To experience the traditional Japanese Life style
Accommodations are traditional but perhaps could be updated. We stayed in the hanare, which is a separate building from the main house. The food was terrific and the people were wonderful. You are made to feel like either visiting family or royalty. The Japanese gardens are beautiful. The surrounding neighborhood is quiet. The property itself is serene.

10/10 Excellent

Neha

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Samantha, Chicago

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Ryokan Experience!
We stayed at the Yoshida-Sanso for one night after spending 3 nights at the Westin in Kyoto. Obviously a very different experience from a Western hotel, but very happy we did it and highly recommend to others. We arrived in the evening around 6pm and immediately went to enjoy our multi-course dinner that was included in the price of our hotel room. My friend is a vegan and they were able to accommodate her with a delicious meal as well since we gave them advanced notice. Our room was spacious, and we shared a bathroom with another room that was on the same floor. It was not an issue at all, as we never seemed to need to use the bathroom at the same time. Breakfast the next morning was just as elaborate and delicious as dinner the night before. After breakfast we walked a short 10 minutes to the Philosopher’s Path and enjoyed the beautiful cherry blossoms that were blooming. We made a quick stop at the Silver Pavilion. The staff spoke relatively good English and one woman was almost fluent as she spent a few years in NYC. All were very attentive and helpful. Overall, the Yoshida-sanso was a great, unique experience and I would highly recommend for anyone who is looking to change up the traditional Western hotel stay.

10/10 Excellent

Quentin, New Jersey

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Historic Ryokan
This is a great opportunity to stay in a historically important and beautiful house/ryokan. The house is full of interesting original architectural details and the garden is excellent. The neighborhood is quiet but there are bus routes nearby and subway lines are also a (longish) walk away. They're happy to call taxis for you as well. We were the only guests there at the time and received great, attentive service.

10/10 Excellent

Maria, San Francisco

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fantastic experience
Amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience in beautiful traditional Ryokan

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Ben S., Clyde Hill, WA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Five Nights of Bliss
We had enjoyed a Kaiseki dinner here with a group in May, 2010, and wanted to come back to Kyoto and spend more time. We stayed in the Hanare (the Satsuki Cottage, a separate, traditional Japanese building) for five nights. You sleep on futons, they fill up the wood bath every afternoon, and you can wear your Yukata to dinner. They fed us a Kaiseki (chef's whim) breakfast each morning and a Kaiseki dinner each evening. Every meal was different! The staff were incredibly attentive and polite, and we twice got to chat with the owner, Kyoko Nakamura, who was so gracious. We even got to meet the chef! You are removed from the hustle and bustle of the city, it's easy to grab a taxi, walk to a bus line, or do what we did most days and walk the kilometer or two to the nearest temple.

10/10 Excellent

Jose, Hoogerheide

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very nice but expensive traditional hotel
Busy weekend in Kyoto, limited choice. A vacancy appeared at this nice Ryokan. We had the cottage next to the main building which is like a suite with a bedroom, a living room and a private bathroom with tub apart from a large closed balcony and a "private" garden.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

8/10 Good

DN, Jakarta Capital Region, Indonesia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Wonderful stay in a traditional ryokan
My wife and I wanted to stay at a traditonal Japanese hotel and we found Ryokan-Yoshida sanso to be the perfect accomodation. This ryokan combines modern conveniences such wifi internet connection and flat screen tv with the traditional Japanese features such futon beds and in-room onsen. I would highly recommend to reserve the room with a meal plan since the hotel is located in a residential area with no nearby restaurants.

10/10 Excellent

KEITA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Queenie

Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2023

2/10 Terrible

yifei

Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

??

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
紅葉の人手のなか、別世界のような静寂と美。部屋の窓からの額縁紅葉＆ステンドグラスも素敵。もてなし・対応も自然で柔軟。また行きたくなります。
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2022

10/10 Excellent

SHIGERU

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
とてものんびりと素晴らしい非現実的な時間を過ごし、歴史ある建築物に出来ました。
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2022

6/10 Okay

???

Liked: Cleanliness
大変手入れの行き届いたお部屋と御庭に大満足です。 庭師さん、おもてなしのスタッフさんがいらして、まるで自分が、館の主人になったかのような貴重な疑似体験ができました。 アメニティグッズが少なかったのと、お部屋のスタッフコール電話にでていただけなかったのが、少し残念ですが、これも、主人の疑似体験の一つと思えるほどでした。
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2021

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
様々なところに活けてあるお花がとても素敵でした。また、今回は残念ながら夕食はいただけませんでしたが、朝食もとても美味しかったです。コーヒーもゆっくり楽しむことができ、心からリラックスできました。また、伺いたいです。
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2020

10/10 Excellent

Inés, Spain

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Un Ryokan increíble en Kyoto
Sé que esta será una de las mejores estancias de mi vida. Inmejorable la belleza del lugar y el trato del personal.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2018

8/10 Good

すー, 東京

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
かつての宮さまの別荘地
お料理、おもてなし、お部屋など随所にきめ細やかな配慮や温もりが感じられ素晴らしい滞在でした。また、ぜひ宿泊したいと思います。
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Noble life style of Kyoto
Nobel life style of Kyoto. Aged estate impresses with its unique delicacy and tender service.

10/10 Excellent

Edgard, México

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
GRAN experiencia de un típico Ryokan japonés
Espectacular experiencia de un típico Ryokan japonés! El ambiente, la tranquilidad, la privacidad, el servicio, las instalaciones, la comida, la vista, el jardín, etc etc etc. MUY recomendado para hospedarse en pareja. GRAN lugar! Vale la pena cada Yen que se paga!

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
Ryokan is overrated
Overpriced, uncomfortable and poor food. Wish we would have stayed at a hotel instead.