Kanazawa Machiya Tong Poo

Nice, clean traditional Machiya house in Kanazawa. Well-equipped and fully furnished, including a recently refurbished and tasteful kitchen/living room. Also, it conveniently comes with its own parking space. Very comfortable for two people, but could likely host four with no issues. Excellent location, too. Indeed, the house is less than a five-minute walk from the Higashi Chaya district (the largest geiko district in town) and close to the temple district, with frequent bus service available to reach other places of interest in the city centre. Last but not least, Takamiya-san is a great host (clear communication, helpful, and proactive) and also a very nice person to meet. My wife and I had the pleasure of going for afternoon tea to his coffee shop in Higashi Chaya. We cherish the memory of our meeting there (and of the Hyakumanyaki they serve—possibly one of the best treats we had in our four-week-long trip to Japan).

Not necessarily something that we didn’t like, but still probably worth flagging to other travellers: the house is laid out over two levels, and the stairs to the bedrooms upstairs are very steep. Also, the only bathroom is on the ground floor. It was not an issue for us, but travellers with reduced mobility may want to consider this. Additionally, there isn't much space to store your things (i.e. available space in wardrobes, drawers, etc.), and you must leave your luggage on the ground floor. This is reasonable—and it would be nearly impossible to carry heavy bags to the first floor anyway—and very common in similar Japanese accommodation. Still, the lack of storage room for travellers' things could be easily solved by freeing up some space in the existing wardrobe and drawers.

Very well equipped, very clean. Beautiful home , everything was perfect.

The coziness and cleanliness

Charming, historic home in an excellent location. Higashi Chaya district was a short walk away, but the home is located on a very quiet street. It had all of the modern amenities one can expect and our host clearly has put a lot of thought into giving his guests a great experience during the stay.

Nothing really. The property does have steep stairs that go up to the bedrooms, so guests who have mobility issues should be aware.