Shiraume

Reasons this place is wonderful: location in a restored 120-​year-​old building, friendly staff that will cater to your needs including dinner reservations, laundry, taxis, travel plans. We had breakfast included every day and and evening meal one night. The food is wonderful. We felt like we were royalty. There were many special touches including a new pair of socks in our drawer every day and an American language newspaper brought to our room. There was a hand carved wooden sink that was remarkable in our room. Our room was a suite with a separate dining area and sleeping area in addition to a nice bathroom. Daily we would enjoy the private Jacuzzi bath on the first floor. Tomoko, the owner, was an absolute delight and almost always present to meet us, greet us, and offer helpful suggestions.

Three nights in the beautiful traditional Japanese ryokan was our little treat for our recent trip to Japan. Yes it was more expensive, but it was worth every cent. If I could give them 10 stars I would!
We stayed for three nights, with a kaiseki dinner & all breakfasts included. Everything from enquiring through to booking and our stay was seamless. I was also impressed that they didn’t require any payment or credit card details until we were checking out — not bad considering the value of the stay.
Shiraume is located upon a beautiful stream in the heart of Gion district in Kyoto. Upon arriving we were given a tour of the ryokan. It sleeps up to twenty people & apparently while we were there, there was another 14 but we would never have known it. We never saw or heard another soul & it felt like we were being given 100% of the staff’s attention. The ryokan also has a reading room with internet access (in addition to the in room wifi) and two jacuzzis which are traditional Japanese baths (wash youself before you get in!).
Our room overlooked the stream & was large. It included a separate dining area and a separate bathroom with our own private bath and the most amazing body scrub you have ever used. It felt just like we were in Japan hundreds of years ago (which is when it was built!).
Every time we arrived back in our room it had been tidied up with a little Japanese treat laid out for us. We were offered tea & shown where our ukata’s were (like a cotton kimino that I practically lived in while we were there).
The staff were more than happy to make arrangements such as booking bikes for us, taxis, etc
And the food… WOW. The kaiseki dinner on our first night was incredible. 10 courses of traditional Japanese cuisine presented so beautifully. Every mouthful was delectable. Each morning we had a choice of Japanese or Western breakfast — we tried both over our trip and again, were all delicious.
We were also shown to a different room for breakfast each morning so we got to overlook a garden one morning, the stream another, etc.
I feel like I’m not even scraping the surface with this review. Everything was beyond perfect. I just wish I had more time there!