Shikitei

“Luxury. Better than any five star resort.”

Absolute luxury. Prepare to speak some basic Japanese (or use a translator), have an open mind with the cuisine served, eat what you are given, and be appreciative of the public bath culture. I booked the smallest (i.e. lowest priced) room and yet it was plenty of space for three adults and beau… more

Absolute luxury. Prepare to speak some basic Japanese (or use a translator), have an open mind with the cuisine served, eat what you are given, and be appreciative of the public bath culture. I booked the smallest (i.e. lowest priced) room and yet it was plenty of space for three adults and beautiful. We will be back, to try a more luxurious room next time.

less

“Most excellent ryokan and kaiseki experience!”

We decided to stay for a night in Nara while visiting the Kansai region to fully experience a traditional Japanese ryokan and in-room kaiseiki, while not falling pray to many overly commercial places that claim to do this (plenty of them in Kyoto). Shikitei more than exceeded our expectation - it’… more

We decided to stay for a night in Nara while visiting the Kansai region to fully experience a traditional Japanese ryokan and in-room kaiseiki, while not falling pray to many overly commercial places that claim to do this (plenty of them in Kyoto). Shikitei more than exceeded our expectation - it’s simply the best experience we have ever had. When we first arrived, we were immediately brought to a tea room. Matcha and Japanese snacks were graciously served along with towels to help us “settle in”. We immediately felt that it’s going to be a different kind of experience. Next we were brought to our room. Another round of tea and light snacks were served while the check-in process was handled. All in a “zen” way - no line to wait for, no usual formality of dealing with a front desk staff - it’s likely arriving home and being greeted and taken care of by your own service staff. Our room was a pleasant traditional tatami room. There’s also hot tub service which we fully enjoyed. There’s plenty of descriptions and pictures of the facilities on their website so we would not write more here. When the dinner time came, we were presented with traditional multi-course kaiseki dinner that lasted for about 2 to 2.5 hours. We enjoyed every bit of it. The dishes were refreshing, unique and full of flavors. The service was super attentive, even down to the detail of which Japanese dinnerware was used (the specific dinnerware that accompanied each dish was described in the menu), and how the dinnerware was placed down in front of you (felt like a choreographed performance). We felt really pampered. They also served breakfast in-room the next morning. It’s the best Japanese breakfast we have ever had (see the picture full of plates and food - that’s for breakfast). All in all, Shikitei is simply breathtaking. If you are hesitating about Nara, we would highly recommend you staying a night in Nara (and at Shikitei) while visiting the Kansai region.

less

“An awesome ryokan experience”

I stayed here for 3 nights with my wife and two children (aged 5 and 1). I would give this a 10 out of 10 rating. Strengths included: - Location. It is literally at the entrance to the park. You couldn’t get a better location - Service. It was perfect. Friendly, helpful and reasonable English skil… more

I stayed here for 3 nights with my wife and two children (aged 5 and 1). I would give this a 10 out of 10 rating. Strengths included: - Location. It is literally at the entrance to the park. You couldn’t get a better location - Service. It was perfect. Friendly, helpful and reasonable English skills - Really good for the kids. A ryokan can be tricky with two young kids but everyone really helped make it work well - The room. Great size, with wonderful bath and many other nice features, including a view of the lake - The food. The meals were incredible. If anything, the dinners had more courses than we could manage to eat, but that’s not much of a criticism! All in all, a spectacular ryokan experience that was completely authentic but also fine for foreigners.

less