Ryokan Matsubaya, Kyoto-Shi

we spent 10 successive nights at matsubaya inn & it was a pleasure to be there from all relevant points of view. started with kind & immediate reactions to my reservation e-mails. clean rooms in quite newly rebuilt building, polite owner(s) as well as the staff, 6 to 8 mins walk to station. we haven´t had any breakfast as we were on our ´run´ every morning to catch respective trains to west or south. if you do not search hotels for ´elites´ (at $ 600 / night or more :-))) blah blah ...) go there without hesitation, you´ll be satisfied imho.

Kyoto is a wonderful city to visit, but like many major tourist destinations, hotels can be rather expensive. As a single traveler, finding a good, clean, reasonably price inn was important and I made a good choice with the Matsubaya. Mrs. Hayashi, who runs the inn, is an absolute treasure. Though her English isn't great, she tries very hard to be helpful and giving advise on what to see. The inn itself, in operation since 1884, is pleasent and clean, with baths that can be used privately. The rooms themselves are clean and comfortable, and while the inn offers breakfast, there is a fridge and microwave if you want to keep your own food there. You could not ask for a better location, just a few minutes walk away from Kyoto station. Since it's down a sidestreet off of the main drag, the area is quiet and makes for a restful stay. There are some things to consider... this is a ryokan, which means that there is a cerfew (11pm). If you like to be out very late at night, you might have a problem with that. And this is a very old historic house, so the walls are a little thin (some noise from other rooms) and has a steep staircase that is typical of traditional Japanese houses. The bathrooms and sinks are communal so if you have privacy issues, this might not be a good choice. I very much enjoyed my stay at the Matsubaya and would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Kyoto. If you want a small taste of a traditional inn without breaking the bank to do so, this is a very good choice. I definately plan to stay there again during my next visit to Kyoto.