Searching...

Staying at the Shinmonso was a real experience, as well as an ideal location in Kyoto. The staff don't speak a great deal of English (why should they) but were able to understand everything we needed them to and responded extremely helpfully to requests to keep luggage, book taxis etc.Dinner is served in your room. We were greeted by a kneeling and bowing lady in a kimono who welcomed us and served the enormous multi-course meal. This was my second experience of Kaiseki dining so not an expert but I would say the standard of the food was very high. It's probably important to see the meal as a significant part of your evening if you eat in as it's quite time consuming. What we hadn't appreciated is that there are not that many fewer dishes served at your table in the dining room for breakfast - although more of them are egg based...For a central location, it was surprisingly quiet in a our room. There is a lockable shower and bathroom open 24hrs if you just want to get clean and don't want to soak in the communal bath.Highly recommended if you want a Japanese experience and not just a place to sleep. (Although it's good for that too.)

We were here for a night mid feb to enjoy the traditional japanese experience at this amazing ryokan in gion. We booked directly with the ryokan and they promptly reply to confirm our reservations.Under 5 min walk from the JR kyoto station, got abit lost because everything was in japanese. Right in the centre of the town with close proximity to many temples.The front office staff were all very sweeet however the first woman whom we encountered wasnt much help when we asked about renting bicycles for the day.The room was very new as we booked the renovated room for the private toilet and shower as I was abit shy to try out the communal baths. The room was very simple yet elegant. We checked in at precisely 3pm but would have been nicer if the room was available earlier considering check-out was 10am. The dinner was wonderful. Although the madam who served us the meal did not know one word of english, we were very comfortable in trying out each courses as it was served over 1 hour. We were served in our room so we had all the time in the world to enjoy the meal. As we finished the dinner, the madamn then lay out the sleeping arrangements for us for the evening. Wasnt as comfortable as i imaginged but then i was very use to the western way of sleeping hehe..wifi is only available in the lobby but at least there were alot of seating arrangements there when you require the internet. The yukuta and kimono in the room was free to use, which was very fun to try on.Overall a great experience. Thank-you for having us Gion Shimonso.

We stayed from 17.07. to 20.07. and we were able to enjoy the last day of the famous Gion Festival. If you want to enjoy night life in Kyoto this Japanese Ryokan is an ideal solution as it is located in Gion itself (Hanamikoji-street, part of which still maintains old Japanese buildings). Gion-Shijo and yasaka Shrine are near by and there is a traffic free old street along a canal just behind this hotel. We reserved a Japanese tatami room for three of us and it was spacy enough. As this is a Ryokan, the bath room (bath hall) is located on the ground floor and you can take a bath as often as you can from 06:00 AM, which was greatly appreciated by us because it was as hot as 35 degree every day. The relatively reasonable price includes a super rich and fresh Japanese breakfast (e.g. you grill half dried breakfast fish and cook your soup yourself on the breakfast table). You would not need a big lunch after this breakfast!. There is a fantastic jogging course along the either sides of the big river or you can also have a easy jogging up to an imposing Heian Shrine along a canal. Crossing one of the bridges to the other side of the river, you come across "Ponto-cho, where there are nothing but various restaurants, some of which have terasses at the river side (it might be too hot in summer, though). The people at the hotel do not speak fluent English but they are well prepared with various hand outs e.g. maps, information about jogging, names of good resraurants near by.

While they don't speak a lot of English, the staff at this ryokan could not have been nicer and they went out of their way to be helpful. The meals were wonderful experiences and the location can't be beat - right in the heart of the Gion area. The futons were adequate - what you would expect - and everything was clean. I did sometimes wish the woman who served the food could have told us more about the meal in English. But we figured it all out sooner or later. If you're looking for a reasonably priced ryokan, in a great part of Kyoto, this is it.

I have mixed feelings on this property. On the one hand, it had a fantastic location, was more reasonably priced than some of the other options we considered in Kyoto, the deluxe kaiseki meal was good, and we loved the beer garden and interaction with a maiko. On the other hand, when we compare it to a ryokan we stayed in Kanazawa, it doesn't come close. It was more expensive, had less character (no decor and synthetic tatami mats), and felt more like a hotel with Japanese style rooms. The public baths were clean and nice, but the family bath option was a tiny room that could barely fit one person. At the end of the day, I would have stayed here just one night for the beer garden experience and saved my money by staying in one of the nicer Western style hotels and eating out at one of the many fantastic dining options in Kyoto. We did splurge for one night and stayed at Hiiragiya Ryokan, but that property is in a totally different category. My recommendation... if you want the ryokan experience and can only afford to do it once on your trip, choose one in a smaller town that will give you a more authentic experience. If this is not possible, then this property is an good place for an introduction to the ryokan experience.