THE MACHIYA HOTEL TAKAYAMA

Wow. We LOVED our 4 night stay at Machiya. The location is great - about a 5 minutes walk from the train or bus station (we even managed it in the rain easily), close to several delicious places to eat, easy to walk to the old town portion of Takayama. We had the bunk bed room for 4 - to say my kids were excited is an understatement. And to my surprise, we had a little living room to the side. The shared lobby, dining, hanging out area is beautifully designed and incredibly welcoming. They have books out about Japan, Takayama books for kids, and a how to fold origami book with paper for guests to use. They have a tea and coffee area available all 24 hrs a day with beautiful teapots and cups. They offer several different types of Japanese teas and English teas. This is also where they serve breakfast for an additional cost - the breakfast looked delicious but we don't typically eat a large breakfast. But what really sets Machiya apart from other hotels is the staff. From the moment we walked through the doors the two women at the front desk were so welcoming and helpful. I had originally booked 3 nights and needed to add a 4th night but *** would not allow me to add an additional night - so night 4 was booked through Agoda. To my surprise and delight, upon arrival they had sorted it all out so that we could stay in the same room all 4 nights and even upgraded us. They also knew a lot about Takayama and could give recommendations based off of what we wanted to do. One last example was how I wanted to forward our luggage to Tokyo but needed it to arrive closer to 8 days later. The staff took down the details of our place in Tokyo and had everything ready to go the next morning when we checked out. We loved this place. Also, there's a great little bakery if you go to the right when you leave the hotel ... about 4 minutes away. There's a wonderful tiny breakfast spot one block to the left that serves the best French toast.

Big room. And modern hotel. Can book for a private bath experience. Breakfast is also good but need to reserve first

It is a long walk from Takayama station, about 11 min. Only 2 floors with no lift, so you will have to carry your luggage up to the 2nd floor yourself. Platform style beds. Machiya provides free hot coffee/tea and biscuits FOC. Their staff are courteous and wonderfully friendly. For breakfast, just walk next door to Rinrin.

The hotel reception staff gave our apartment door code and address to another couple, who unfortunately entered the apartment while we were having a hot bath. We thought someone had broken into the apartment, with the subsequent reaction…what a disappointment on the receptionist that did not even make the effort to check! Our stay here was therefore thrown down the sink. The hotel staff reaction the following morning was very unsatisfactory, with flimsy excuses and light apologies. Terrible overall.