Fantastic Ryokan page and other Kyoto, Japan Hotel/Accommodation Reviews

Unique Qualities: This website finally shows the difference between "modern ryokan" and "traditional ryokan". Since I live downtown, I see so many big concrete buildings called "Ryokan" and having looked at their websites, they will show a "traditional" interior, but it's completely artificial, an illusion of history in a concrete apartment-like block and I wonder if the western tourists emerging with hoards of Japanese students on tour of Kyoto, aren't just a little disappointed. To experience that "real" old Kyoto feeling, you need to stay in a "traditional" ryokan, ideally amid greenery ie. not downtown. And if you have the money a "luxury" ryokan, (btw. the super-famous Hiragiya, which I pass by on my bicycle all the time, is actually a tiny oasis of green in treeless downtown, just off the very busy Oike street. I have no idea what it's like to stay there and no doubt it's very high-class considering the price, but the location is nothing special Kyoto-wise.)
Check out the link below!

just glancing through, Motonago Ryokan looks wonderful:
http://japaneseguesthouses.com/db/kyoto/motonago.htm

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Theme: Inn

Address: avoid anything in the middle of the map
Website: http://japaneseguesthouses.com/db/kyoto/

Unique Qualities: I've lived in Kyoto and never had a need for any accommodation, but compared with the concrete "Inns" of the downtown area, this looks lovely.

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Theme: Inn
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$180 and up  » Currency Converter
Phone: 075-541-5315
Directions: Located near the south gate of Yasaka Shrine.
Website: http://www.thehatanaka.co.jp/enindex.html

Unique Qualities: Once again I have NOT stayed here, but the location seems quiet and green, unlike the dreadful downtown area and half if not third the price of the guesthouses in the green Higashiyama area.

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Theme: Bed and Breakfast
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$20-40  » Currency Converter
Website: http://www.lodgingchannel.com/carinho/#
Other Contact: casacarinho@yahoo.co.jp

Murakamiya Ryokan which I think looks fine for the price... not the greenest spot, but not in a noisy location either (4500Yen for a single).


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Theme: Other
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$20-40  » Currency Converter
Website: http://www2.odn.ne.jp/ryokanmurakamiya/etop.html

This is a mid-price ranged hotel, with an excellent location. Near the main subway and withing walking distance of Nijo castle, Imperial Palace Park and city center. Also its located off the main road, in the quieter Muromachi street.


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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: less expensive than average

Address: http://www.kyoto-gardenhotel.co.jp/map_e.html
Directions: city center
Website: http://www.kyoto-gardenhotel.co.jp/index_e.html
Other Contact: picture from the official site

The best place to stay is with friends. Make VT friends and crash on their floor! :)

Unique Qualities: My old place, sigh... it was a little house, with wooden interiors that shook in typhoons and earthquakes. It was so quiet and peaceful anytime of day or night, that was unless my neighbour was playing the koto (sooooo Japanese!) and the birds were singing. Ah the good old days in my little house.

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Theme: Other

Website: http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jitkasan1/album?.dir=4d30

Uno House. Grungy, a maze of old dormitories and small rooms. Next to the Imperial Palace and a walk away from the city center. If you are on a super-tight budget it is the cheapest place you will find. \1650 per night for a dorm. Not for the squeemish. Picture from http://niwashi.net/kyotoinfo/uno-ho se/

Unique Qualities: Unsupervised, come and go as you like, the cheapest in Kyoto.

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Theme: Other
Comparison: least expensive

Directions: 108 Shin-karasuma-marutamachi-sagaru,
Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, 604-0905 Japan
Other Contact: (075) 231 7763