Hosta Toji Sakura

早餐尚可

La bona ubicació amb parades de bus, metro i tren a pocs minuts, l’estil clàssic però modern de la casa, zona tranquila, la banyera, i el servei de canvi de tovalloles diari.

La falta d’una barana per pujar i baixar les escales, ja que quan puges/baixes amb les maletes tens la sensació que cauràs. Porta un antifàs si et molesta la claror de la matinada perquè les habitacions no queden completament fosques.

Lovely modern townhouse that was very comfortable. We loved the spa bath. There was a beautiful book on Japan that we looked at and found places to visit that we were not aware of.

The only thing was that the chairs in the dining room were very low and one of our party was 85 years old and could not use the chairs.

Location was convenient for our stay, within 10 minutes walk of To-ji temple (my mum and I loved the monthly flea market there, so check it out if you’re in Kyoto on a 21st!), supermarkets and convenience stores nearby, and short taxi ride to Kyoto station. There are also a few buses (note that large luggage is not welcome or convenient in local buses) and two train/metro stations within 5ish minute walk of the accommodation that take you to Tokyo Station, but with luggage, we found that a taxi was cheap and convenient (~1200 yen during the day). For exploring, the buses we took were on time and had screens with the station names in English, so they were easy and convenient to use even if you don’t speak Japanese - and you can have Google Maps handy too. The house is lovely and enough space for 4 people (we were 3 adults and a toddler), although a bit dark. The bathroom with the big hot tub and yukatas were a hit with everyone. Staff was very responsive if you had any questions and check-in was easy if you followed their instructions and are aware that check-in is at a different location - which they tell you several times, so I’d say that if you miss that, that is on you. Staff at check-in spoke fluent English and explained everything clearly. They also offer luggage storage at a nearby hotel before check-in, and the hotel will bring your luggage to the accommodation before check-in time. So we dropped our luggage at that hotel (~1000 yen taxi ride from Kyoto Station), went exploring and did the check-in around 6pm and our suitcases were at the accommodation by then - very convenient! Beds were comfortable for us, but are very firm, which may not suit everyone.

The house is spacious, but the kitchen is tiny and there is very little space to prepare any food. The kitchen is also right next to the stairs up to the bedrooms, so it can get a bit tight if someone is in the kitchen while someone is going up or down the stairs. Said that, this is all manageable if you’re not planning to do any big cooking, and the kitchen is fully equipped. My sister made some soup for my nephew without issues. The stairs are steep and have no handrail, only the walls, so take care with kids and anyone with mobility issues. We left all our luggage downstairs are it would be hard to bring it upstairs and there is no much room in the bedrooms for it. There is no bathroom upstairs. There was enough space for us as we were 4 and didn’t have much luggage (3 medium to small suitcases and 4 day backpacks, which we left in the lobby), but I’d say the space would be tight for more than 4 adults. There is also no high table or high chairs or couch, only the Japanese style room in the accommodation photos. This wasn’t a problem for us, but just keep it in mind. The blind in the main bedroom was broken when we arrived - it was down and couldn’t go up. We told the staff but they couldn’t fix it during our stay. It gets hot in the bedrooms during the day, even in April when we were there, and the windows don’t have fly screens, so we didn’t get much fresh air in the rooms and used the A/C instead - it would be fine to leave the windows open in the morning, but one person in my party was a bit freaked out by mozzies and bugs, which didn’t seem to be a big problem in that area anyway. The blinds are pretty thin and leave light in, so expect to wake up early by day light (if that wakes you up) - we found that to be common in most accommodations we stayed. Other than that, it was quiet and dark during the night.