Keizankaku

“Convenient day-use onsen!”

Such a nice ambiences at the back of Kyoto. This hotel is famous for its food but today we just put ourselves in a big onsen. The spa is clear and both the inside and roten bath had jacuzzi. I didn’t take dry sauna as I had enough local sake :D The hotel is very clean and neat. Feel like we want… more

Such a nice ambiences at the back of Kyoto. This hotel is famous for its food but today we just put ourselves in a big onsen. The spa is clear and both the inside and roten bath had jacuzzi. I didn’t take dry sauna as I had enough local sake :D The hotel is very clean and neat. Feel like we want to come back for a big lunch that accompanies a free shuttle and onsen.

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“Nicer Ryokan in the outskirts of Kyoto”

We stayed at the Keizankaku ryokan as a family of two adults and two school age children. We chose the Keizankaku because it has rooms that features private outdoor baths so you can experience the Japanese onsen without going to a more public bath. It also advertises as a child-friendly ryokan so… more

We stayed at the Keizankaku ryokan as a family of two adults and two school age children. We chose the Keizankaku because it has rooms that features private outdoor baths so you can experience the Japanese onsen without going to a more public bath. It also advertises as a child-friendly ryokan so we were confident that our children would be welcomed as guests. The clientele was mostly Japanese. The Keizankaku is located in the mountains outside of Kyoto, about 45 minutes away by car or by public transportation. The ryokan provides a bus to and from Kameoka Station so it is possible to get here on public transportation. The ryokan building is not traditional, consisting of several low-rise buildings, so don’t expect Japanese authenticity in the building. The interior is very typical of ryokans of this class and of this age, dominated by late 70’s early 80’s furnishings, fluorescent lighting, and a pink-pastel color scheme. All of it is clean and functional, but neither authentically Japanese nor modern. We stayed in a Japanese style room with Private open air bath in the Second Building. In my opinion, this is the room to get for those people who want to experience Japanese baths without having to go to a public bath. The room is a typical Japanese tatami room where the sitting area is converted into the sleeping area in the evening by the maids. It was spacious and nice enough for our family. We had our kaiseki dinner in a private room instead of in our room. Our dinner setup had individual tables and chairs in a tatami room which was frankly more comfortable for our kids than sitting on the floor. The meal was good, with really wide variety of dishes. One highlight was the fugu which is a poisonous pufferfish which requires special skills to prepare. The child meal was unexpectedly large … basically it had the same number of courses as the adult meal, but replaced the complicated dishes (such as the aforementioned fugu) with simpler items. Overall, it was a good (but not WOW!) meal, and a good introduction to this style of dining. In our opinion, the breakfast buffet was a more satisfying meal because it was simpler in preparation. It featured both western breakfast items, as well as a huge assortment of Japanese breakfast dishes. There was something here for everyone, and lots of things to try. The Keizankaku is admittedly a little out-of-the-way from mainstream Kyoto, but it can be worth the effort depending on your needs for the ryokan experience.

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“Very good hotspring and good Japanese services”

It is a reasonable hotspring hotel which is about 180 minutes to Kansai Airport, so we used it as our last night in Japan. The room are traditional tatami and bathrooms are very small, and both dinner and breakfast are good but we just had too much better meals in Japan. However, we do enjoy the… more

It is a reasonable hotspring hotel which is about 180 minutes to Kansai Airport, so we used it as our last night in Japan. The room are traditional tatami and bathrooms are very small, and both dinner and breakfast are good but we just had too much better meals in Japan. However, we do enjoy the great services, which we do often take for granted while in Japan, and the hotspring was really user friendly. It was my 9 year old son's first real hot spring experience in Japan and he thoroughly enjoyed it as it was children friendly. Unfortuantely, Free Wifi is only in the lobby, and we were too spoilt staying in the really great Imperial Hotel in Osaka for a few night before this. As it made this hotel quite ordinary. If you need a convenient, value-for-money location to go for hotspring that is very close to Kyoto and need to catch a flight the next day, Keizankaku is a good option to make.

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“Hot spring hotel for a good escape”

This is the second time my husband and I go to Japan for a hot spring hotel. It is not easy to find a reasonable price but nice hot-spring hotel in Kyoto. This one turns out to be the best good-deal after long time of comparison. I've tried to email them for some questions (in English) but no resp… more

This is the second time my husband and I go to Japan for a hot spring hotel. It is not easy to find a reasonable price but nice hot-spring hotel in Kyoto. This one turns out to be the best good-deal after long time of comparison. I've tried to email them for some questions (in English) but no respond. So I have booked through Japanican.com. I know that their location is not very convenient so I'd like to ask for their shuttle bus services. Since they didn't get back to my email, I have to ask the concierge of my hotel in Osaka to call and make the arrangement for me. The shuttle bus turn out to show up on time at the JR 龜岡station. The hotel is not brand new, but clean, tidy and relaxing. The room we booked is a Japanese style room including dinner and breakfast. I was expecting the meal would be served in room but they said that in-room services would only be given to VIP or on special request. Dinner was served in another building opposite to where we stayed. Dinner was in traditional Japanese style served in individual room. Taste and quality is good. They have hot spring for both indoor and outdoor. Hygiene and environment are excellent. They have jacuzzi for the outdoor side which is enjoyable to relax and relief all the tiring after many days of sightseeing. After dinner they've already arranged the sleeping mates in the room which is quite comfortable although it's sleeping on floor. Buffet breakfast was served at the canteen in both western and japanese style. Quality and choices of variety is fairly good. Their staff can speak limited English which is good enough. Giving us a traditional experience of Japanese hotel. Most of the customers are local people and for the period we stayed, we haven't seen any foreigners. I'd recommend this hotel to my friends if they will go to Kyoto and wish to stay in a hot spring hotel.

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