Kyoto Hotel Guide. Independent Hotels in Kyoto, Japan

This place is a japanesee home away from home. Would come back anytime and many times

Our family of four (two kids aged 11 and 15) enjoyed a fantastic week at Gagakuan. Our host Saki was very responsive from the initial reservation until we departed. She even dropped off a delicious birthday cake for my daughter who celebrated her birthday the day before we arrived. This is not a traditional hotel room but a traditional Japanese house in a very nice neighbourhood. The house itself is very well equipped and a fantastic way to experience living in a traditional family home. Although more than 100 years old and very traditional, it has been equipped with a number of modern touches that enhance the stay. Our two kids were absolutely fascinated with the house and the entire environment. For our purposes, it was ideally situated between Kyoto station and central Kyoto. The Gojo subway stop and the bus stop are both less than a five minute walk from the house. This allows you to easily access the public transportation system to all of the wonderful temples. We also took side trips to Osaka, Nara and a day trip to Hiroshima using our Japan rail passes. Except for a few hot days (typical for Kyoto in the summer), we had a perfect time in Kyoto thanks to our great stay at Gagakaun and the kind generosity of Saki. We hope we get another chance to return to Kyoto and see the things we missed this visit and stay here again.

It´s a pleasant place to to enjoy the view, a romantic hotel (also if u go with family) its great that they have a shuttle that go for you, contact for their hours and locations at least one day before. Excellent french cuisine.

Quiet at night, close to many beautiful temples and local cuisine. Walking to and from the bus is only 3 minutes and about a 10 minute walk to the subway gives visitors easy access to the whole of Kyoto. Staff is very helpful and friendly but their English is not great; expect to use your favorite translation app. Clean, quiet and a perfect example of a traditional Japanese ryokan, you can't go wrong here!

Great traditional Japanese experience. very nice, and beautiful location and setting

We enjoyed to stay in a beautiful Japanese style house for 2 nights. It is located close to Higashiyama underground station and you will find there easily from the station. There are coffee and Japanese tea (3 kinds of Japanese tea!!) Only one big issue is the internet connection in the house. There is a pocket wi-if upstairs but it almost didn't work for searching for a restaurant or checking SNS or uploading photos. Overall, I highly recommend you :)

near the train station, nice restaurants and bars nearby. good value for money

Wow, what a surprise this place was! Lovely boutique hotel right in the middle of everything. Close to all the wonderful sites in Kyoto with easy access to buses and subway. Rooms were very nice and clean. Breakfast was awesome, really nice with smoked salmon, prosciutto, eggs, crumpets, yogurt, smoothies etc. Staff were very helpful and informative. Overall, highly recommend staying here.

We were not expecting to like this hotel this much. Not only the hotel is excellent, it is located in Uji. The city that's famous for their green tea. The whole experience was superb, it's relaxing and we had the best time in Uji by far. Oh and Byodoin temple is just a few mins walk. And for us it's the best temple, if you haven't seen the replica in Hawaii. Maybe there is a reason its been replicated. ;)