Have you ever wanted a unique one-of-a-kind hotel experience? What about a traditional and cultural experience at the same time? That was our experience at Gion Shinmonso in Kyoto. Gion Shimonso is a traditional Japanese Ryokan with 21st century technology. We stayed in basic hotels in Tokyo and Osaka and decided to splurge a bit and opt for a unique experience in Kyoto. It was a little bit pricey but staying at a Ryokan lived up to expectations. It was a unique experience and a very nice hotel; and although it cost more than our hotels in Tokyo and Osaka, it was still reasonably priced and came out to about $175 CAD a night.
When we got to Kyoto, we headed over the Gion neighborhood. This quaint and traditional neighborhood is one of the best areas to stay in Kyoto. There are restaurants and Japanese cafes; but the streets are quiet and marked with traditional looking Japanese homes and you may even spot someone walking by in a geisha. We got to our Ryokan which was situated on a quiet side street in Gion. We were immediately greeted by the staff who were extremely friendly and like I expected, they didn’t speak any English. That’s okay, everyone in Japan will use their phone and google translate in an attempt to assist you. I immediately noticed how friendly the staff were and the cleanliness of the lobby which was uniquely decorated with traditional Japanese furniture and décor.
And although Gion Shinmonso is a Ryokan, the furniture, the décor and the building itself all are extremely clean and modern looking. The rooms are not numbered but are named with Japanese names and to get in you have to input a code. We knew the room was going to be big, but upon entry we were blown away, especially after being in tiny hotel rooms in Tokyo and Osaka in the prior days. You enter the room with a small front corridor where you can remove you shoes and store some of your bags. To the right is a clean and nice washroom, except that there is no shower or bath… I’ll get to that later. You then open the Shoji, a Japanese sliding door, into the main portion of the room. The room is very large and is everything you’d expect in a traditional Ryokan. The beds consist of two mattresses on the floor with some blankets, there is a small coffee table, pretty much at ankle height with two low lying chairs and there is a long desk where you can store your things, work on a laptop, etc. while sitting on the floor. In the drawers there is coffee, but the emphasis is on the old school Japanese tea pot and tea. The closet is stocked with more bedding, which can help cushion your mattress on the floor and with Japanese robes, slippers and coats.
And although the washroom is nice, there is no shower or bath. That is what the Japanese robes and slippers are for, the public bath. I was hesitant at first, but I needed to shower and figured I’d give it a go. Our hotel in Tokyo had a public bath but I wasn’t allowed to enter because of my tattoos. But at Gion Shinmonso, it was the only way to shower and the staff said it was no problem. The bath is closed in the afternoon which is when the staff do a thorough cleaning. So, you can either use it in the morning or evening. The bath is extremely clean and I can imagine how diligently the staff clean it. I opted to use it in the evening, and had the bath to myself. You head down in your Japanese robes and slippers and when you enter the public bath, there is a lobby/change room where you remove your robes and slippers and store them in a basket. There is also a blow dryer and some amenities that you can use when you’re done. Once you have removed your robes and have gotten used to walking around in public naked (I got lucky and no one was there), you enter the bath but take a shower first. The showers line the walls. The floors and walls are nice clean black stone tiles and the showers have good pressure and temperature. After the shower you can enter the large steaming bath. I’ll admit, it was my first time naked liked that in public, and I was a bit hesitant at first, but boy did the steaming hot bath feel great. It felt like a cross between a hot spring, a spa and a large hot tub without the bubbles but completely naked. The experience was extremely relaxing until the second night when I was getting ready to leave and another guy entered. I could tell that he was even more reluctant to enter than I was, but that was okay because I was on my way out anyways.
The rooms, like I said, were large and nice to relax once you got used to sitting on the floor or very low to the ground. The only problem was the floor bed was a bit uncomfortable for sleeping, but it wasn’t horrible. The room was great for our baby who could crawl on the beds without us worrying about her falling off. As a matter of fact, she could crawl around the entire clean and carpeted room.
We had fun staying in the Ryokan and so did our baby girl Daniella. Even the staff enjoyed our stay, and despite not knowing English they were extremely friendly and would play with Daniella at any chance they got. The staff were great, they kept the place extremely clean and were very friendly and helpful. When we needed to go somewhere, using translate of course, we would communicate with them and they’d flag us down a cab in the streets and let the driver know our destination. On our way to Fushimi Inari shrine, it was getting cloudy, and the staff got us a cab and when we were leaving brought us out ni kasas (two umbrellas). I said we didn’t need them but they insisted. I should have listened because I returned one of them; luckily, we kept one of them. Shortly after leaving it began raining and our walk through the gates of Fushimi Inari and up the mountain would have been better if I got to stay dry. Luckily, we had one umbrella to cover the wife and baby.
Overall Kyoto was a nice and relaxing vacation away from Tokyo and Osaka and our stay at Gion Shinmonso added to it. The hotel was a unique experience and had amazing staff. We got the feeling of a traditional Ryokan with modern technology and cleanliness.
Here is how I’d rate the Ryokan:
Service: Excellent
Atmosphere: Good
Experience: Excellent
Amenities: Good
Rooms: Good
Price: good
Cleanliness: Excellent
Location: Excellent
It was a change from the APA Hotel in Tokyo and the Sotetsu Grand Fresa in Osaka and was a one-of-a kind experience. It was a good quiet retreat from the lights of Tokyo. For anyone travelling to Kyoto, I’d recommend staying in a Ryokan and I’d definitely recommend Gion Shinmonso.
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