Ryokan Tori

What a fantastic experience. The traditional and beautifully crafted building internals melded perfectly with the clean and elegant Japanese furnishings. Highlight of our stay was the excellent Customer Service, tea ceremony, traditional hot bath and brilliant traditional Japanese breakfast all in Yukata clothing - what fun!

Nothing

We stayed in the annex which is one block down from the main building. The main building is gorgeous and so is the annex. The annex itself is, I believe, a regular house that was purchased and converted to be this annex and it really makes you feel totally immersed in the city. We arrived way way way too early because I didn’t read my email right— but even so, the man at the front desk brought us tea and a cookie while we waited for the woman of the house to perform a tea ceremony. This is the first tea ceremony I’ve seen and it was incredible. She gave us the full history of tea ceremonies and how the tea school and tradition continue into modern day, it was very interesting. This place isn’t super close to Gion but she gave us a route for how to get to the big temples/famous streets while still seeing things along the way. She walked us to the annex as well, and gave us fun facts about the history of the city. The annex itself, as I said, felt like a house. We had four girls , two bedrooms upstairs, and a kitchen / living dining / bath / shower downstairs , as well as a toilet and vanity upstairs. The rooms are traditional tatami and screen doors, the bath is a deep soaker hinoki, and the back garden is open just to you. We received breakfast each morning and it was all so good. We didn’t need it but I got the impression that they would be accommodating to dietary restrictions. Also towels and yukata are refreshed daily !! That was such a nice perk! Small detail but there was a sitting area by the back sliding door which lets you view the pretty garden , but also has a Go board. My sisters and I played Go every night it was just so fun. The staff felt like a married couple running the place together and , whether or not that is the case, it showed in the care and thought put into the place. I had some trouble starting the autorun bath (my own stupidity) and after messaging them the woman who checked us in ran over to fix it for us!

It wasn’t an issue for us but there’s not in house laundry so we use the coin laundry at the edge of the block. It’s a short walk and the washer dryers are nice and new. If you need in house laundry / can’t wait for a laundry cycle to run this might be an issue.

The ryokan is dreamy and the pwners go the extra mile to make you feel home. The tea ceremony with which they welcome you lets you appreciate deeply japanese culture and tradition.

The ryokan was lovely, loved the tea ceremony and breakfast and hot bath. We felt very cared about!

Nothing! Everything was great!