Gion Ryokan Karaku

Excellent location to wander the streets of goon and around the corner from the glorious Yasaka shrine and some lovely traditional cafes! The breakfast set was like nothing I’ve ever experienced - very impressed and highly recommend. A great selection of fresh, traditional. breakfast items which was presented immaculately. So glad we decided to try this! Kids were provided a kids breakfast set option too. Very responsive to food allergies too. Attentive staff who were very happy to help out with anything. I couldnt fault anything. I also loved that ryokan rooms were fitted with individual heating systems so you could control the temp of your room if needed.

We stayed together with 2 other friends and everything was absolutely beautiful. The staff speaks English, so it was easy to communicate. The dinner and breakfast courses were amazing. There were detailed explanations of every course. One of our friends in the group is vegan and they adjusted their meals for her. The room was very spacious, the beds are made when we're at dinner as usual, all our luggage fit in the room, there were plenty of wardrobe space and we stayed very comfortably. You can wear the provided yukata to the dinner, and I did, which was a nice small experience for me on the side. The rooms and bathrooms are clean and bath, toilet and sink are in separate spaces; so it's not an issue for people staying together.

The location is superb if you are looking to be at the heart of gion. The old streets and temples are a close walk. The room itself was very tidy and having a ryokan experience was nice. The shower for me was great it had a sitting shower design as in onsens. The staff were really nice and helped with all our logistical needs. They do offer massages at an additional cost.

Location is very good to main tourist attractions, it is clean and staff is very friendly. True traditional hotel experience is made there although it seems like a new building. All the amenities in the bathroom, fridge, table and all needed in the living room. Dinner and breakfast were also traditional as expected. We very much liked the dinner with multiple courses and we would like to express special thank you to our waiter Hiro. He was very patiently answering our questions and clarifying the way to properly eat dishes we were not familiar with. Wonderful job Hiro, going the extra mile!

Ryokan Karaku is well situated in the historic Gion neighborhood, making it super easy to walk to all the lovely streets and shrines. The traditional style of this hotel was a really cool experience. Everything from sleeping in the traditional Japanese style on the floor to tasting the delicious Kyoto style breakfast was a really special experience!.