Traditional Room, Non Smoking, Private Bathroom | Property grounds
Check availability

Reviews of Matsui Honkan

4 out of 5
Matsui Honkan
405 Itzutsuya-cho Rokkaku Sagaru Yanagi, Kyoto, Kyoto

Reviews

9.4

Exceptional

Rating 10 - Excellent. 151 out of 204 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 46 out of 204 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 4 out of 204 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 2 out of 204 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 204 reviews" "

9.8/10

Cleanliness

9.6/10

Staff & service

9.6/10

Amenities

9.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.4/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Thuy

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
All around great facility. Excellent staff.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

Sébastien

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Accueil extraordinaire! Chambre de type japonaise très confortable pour une famille de quatre. Déjeuners incroyables servis à la chambre. Nous avons profité de la proximité du quartier de Gion où nous sommes allés tous les jours à pied. Également à deux pas du marché Nishiki. Nous avons hâte à notre prochain séjour au Matsui Honkan!
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2024

10/10 Excellent

Winton

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

Yumi

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful renovated ryokan with traditional food!
This is a lovely renovated ryokan with fantastic traditional breakfast (we had a tofu specialty dish) and impeccable service!
Amazing breakfast spread!
Special tofu dish!
Warm thank you & send off!
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Xiaodong

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Superb service. Convenient location (close to nishiki market, hankyu line stations, Gion area, Shijo karamachi etc)
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Karen

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A Must
Amazing hotel, warm staff, a great way to enrich yourself with Japanese customs. Had the breakfast each morning. It was fresh, presented beautifully & a fun treat. Kyoto is so lovely, this hotel was perfect walking distance to many shops & restaurants. Highly recommend.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Paul

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Trad
Very traditional ryokan. Futons and low tables. If you are there for a couple of nights its fine. Not much storage space if you need to unpack. Staff are lovely and friendly and helpful. Proper old style japan experience
Stayed 5 nights in Jan 2023

10/10 Excellent

Xiao

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great service and location!
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2023

10/10 Excellent

seona

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
While it may feel like a long walk from the train station, the location is a good jumping off point for getting to the many sites around Kyoto and the rooms and service are great. Definitely recommend for anyone looking for a more traditional experience.
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2021

8/10 Good

Stephen

Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2020

10/10 Excellent

LE HOANG HUNG

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely stay!
A lovely stay at this hotel. A bit small for us but we understand that is standard in Japan. Setvice is excellent . Staff is very friendly . Excellent stay. Good experience!
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice ryokan in city center
Great room, great service. Wonderful food. Near to everything central.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice stay
Good location. The hotel staff is very friendly, the service is more "personalized" feels rather than the chain hotel style. Make sure you pick the rate include breakfast and dinner; the food is good and is so much cheaper if you eat similar food at the near restaurant. I am not sure the water at hot shared bath on the basement floor is coming from onsen or not, but it does help to release some stress from a day of walking. Overall, I am happy with the stay; my recommendation is to order breakfast and dinner if you are staying, you will get more value out from it.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The staff were so kind and welcoming. This is set up as a traditional ryokan so you will remove your shoes inside the front door of your room and sleep on a futon on the tatami mat floor. With that said it was comfortable enough that even with a bad back and hips I slept pretty well. The location is fantastic a couple blocks from Nishiki market and walking distance to Gion and its surrounding areas. My husband used the onsen and said it was great. We didn't book a dinner as we had too much on our schedule, but if our elaborate delicious breakfast was any indication of their skills I bet it would be a fantastic experience. I would stay more than one night the next time
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2019

10/10 Excellent

A, Los Angeles, CA

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Superb hospitality, excellent location near Nishiki market and Gion. Nice room with tatami mats and great bath!
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2019

10/10 Excellent

Sohan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2018

8/10 Good

Mandy, Vancouver

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
enjoy an excellent service and very nice breakfast.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2018

10/10 Excellent

Susan, SAN Marino

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Breakfast is excellent, all the staffs are very nice and professional, the location is very convenient. The experience of Japanese culture is memorable.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2018

10/10 Excellent

Josh, NH

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Warm and friendly staff with solid English. Very attentive. Wonderful traditional breakfast and dinner.
Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Pleasant Stay
This is a small hotel run by a friendly staff. The room we had was spacious, clean, nicely designed and decorated. It is a combination of western beds and traditional Japanese sitting area with a private bath and toilet. Its is quiet and close enough to catch various subway trains. The staff are very helpful and friendly. I will stay here again if I ever visit Kyoto again.

10/10 Excellent

Manda, seattle

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great breakfasts
Great location, quiet and convenient. Be sure to get the Japanese breakfast—a once in a lifetime experience. Our boys (12 and 14) enjoyed the hotel and its amenities as much as I did. The one piece of furniture we missed was a couch—which was fine as we did want to get the authentic Japanese experience. Front desk was very helpful with restaurant recommendations and reservations. Even though one of us is vegetarian, their breakfasts and restaurant choices were still solid. Highly recommended.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2017

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel
The staff are incredibly polite. Clean & comfort to stay ...will definitely go back again
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2017

4/10 Poor

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
Authentic Japanese - Don't Expect Western Comfort
I would recommend that before booking this hotel you know exactly what you are getting. It is an authentic, traditional Japanese hotel - with full tatami mat floors, futon beds and low, minimalist furniture. If you are expecting a western-style hotel, do not book here. It is very clean and the staff are excellent, but you may wake up with a very stiff back.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2017

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Best best best !
Such an amazing place. The caretaker is very cute ! She even put our pig doll under the bed sheet for us ! Food and onsen are all perfect ! Definitely will come again !!!

10/10 Excellent

helen, west sussex

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fabulous experience
This was a great experience in a traditional setting. The staff were lovely, great service and amazing facilities. The public baths were spotless and relaxing and the breakfast option was amazingly presented and tasted great. We all loved it.

10/10 Excellent

Robert, Chandler Arizona

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing service!
From the moment we checked in to the moment we departed never had such a wonderful experience! Food was excellent. Brief matcha tea upon arrival from out of the rain. Onsen was amazing, dinner was fab! I would recommend

4/10 Poor

CFJ, NYC

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location but very run down
This place costs ALOT but do not expect quality, it feels cheap and run down. Popular with Japanese families though - maybe works with many people sharing room. Shared bath is nice enough though.

10/10 Excellent

Sonny, Kamuela, HI

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent Japanese style hotel in Kyoto
Great stay and great breakfast in our room! The staff were very nice and made our stay enjoyable. The room was wonderful, and the Japanese style breakfast served in our room was a highlight of our stay. We would recommend this hotel to anyone staying in Kyoto.

8/10 Good

Will

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great room at modern inn.
Amazing Japanese style inn. Great service and amenities. Only negatives were spotty wifi and firm floor futon bedding (still passable though, just used to a softer bed). Also not too close to train station (closest is a 12 minute walk), but only 2 blocks from Nishiki food market. In room breakfast was fantastic and convenient.

10/10 Excellent

Russ, Seattle, WA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Traditional ryokan with onsen in central Kyoto
Convenient location in central Kyoto, amidst the modern buildings and near transit, but feeling very secluded. You will sleep on futons rolled out by your room attendant on the tatami mats. In the morning the attendant rolls them up and puts them away and serves you breakfast (fantastic Japanese food for the first breakfast) in your room. Enjoy the kaiseki dinner in-room for a treat. Try the onsen and soak in the hot water while looking at the beautiful stone wall with waterfall.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
While the facilities were very clean and the location was great, I found the front desk staff to be a little frigid and curt, they had a very limited command of English also. The futons were a bit thin and we had to ask for more pillows. The public baths were lovely though. A nice ryokan.l but overall I have to say that I didn't feel particularly welcomed here.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Richard

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Chic little spot
Very good property with excellent service

8/10 Good

Richard, Vancouver

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Experience
I have never stayed at a Ryokan, but having stayed at Matsui Honkan, I would definitely do it again the next time I am in Japan. The Ryokan is beautiful and conveniently located near downtown Kyoto. I stayed in a Japanese style room equipped with tatami mats and the whole traditional fitting. It really made me feel as if I was staying in a room in an older Japan era. The bath in the basement is beautiful and very relaxing and the staff were very accommodating and friendly. I wanted to try traditional Japanese Kaiseki (which you normally have to book well ahead of time) but to my surprise, not only did they try to find places for me, one of the hotel staff ran out to a local kaiseki restaurant to ask in person and the restaurant managed to accomodate me when they were fully booked. I would highly recommend this place!

10/10 Excellent

Michael

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fantastic food, served in your room
We first stayed at the Matsui Honkan in 2008, and enjoyed it so much that we made sure to come back on our trip to Kyoto this year. The service is courteous and quick, the food _wonderful_, and the hot baths very comfortable. The staff knew that it was our anniversary, and gave us a gift when we arrived. We'll definitely go back again.

10/10 Excellent

Han, Sydney

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great hotel - should've stayed longer!
We stayed in the Japanese Room, Private Bathroom (For 2 Guests) and upon entering the level of service from the hotel staff was amazing! The room itself was quite large considering how other Japanese hotels were much smaller, felt good to have more room to breath and relax. The public bath that is at the bottom floor of the hotel was great. The only regret is that we only stayed one night, it would have been ideal to stay here longer and enjoy Kyoto more.

10/10 Excellent

Nic1300, Sydney

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful ryokan in the heart of Kyoto
We stayed here for one night only in a Japanese style room to experience traditional Japanese culture. After many hours of searching, we settled on this ryokan based on a number of good reviews and we were not disappointed in the slightest. We dropped our luggage in the morning and returned at check-in time. We had the keiseki set dinner and Japanese style breakfast in the morning; on both occasions the food was outstanding and plentiful. Certainly some of the best meals we had enjoyed during our two-week tour of Japan. The Japanese bathhouse situated in the basement was an amazing experience as well. The staff were very welcoming and accommodating. We look forward to staying here again on our next visit in Kyoto!!

8/10 Good

Wing Kwan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent location and room size ! A very satisfyi
Excellent location and room size ! A very satisfying stay ~

10/10 Excellent

Pablo, Atlanta

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice location and great food!
The staff was very respectfull and attentive. I just wished some of them to speak a bit more english. All in all, great place

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed in the hotel for 2 nights with my sister and her family. It was a very wonderful experience, hotel staff are extremely welcoming and service is superb. 8 of us had our breakfast and dinner at the hotel. Food is good and service great! Location of hotel is good too! Highly recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Takayama.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Location is good
The breakfast and dinner provided was terrible. Did not enjoy the food served at all. It tasted weird and majority of the items served were pickles and such. The grilled fish served was just mediocre.

10/10 Excellent

Ewa, London

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Honeymoon in Japan
Fantastic welcome with drinks from very attentitive and friendly English speaking staff. The room was huge and very clean, a very pleasant experience for our first stay at a traditional Ryokan and we would highly recommend to any travellers to Kyoto. Don't miss the breakfast in your room, it's beautifully presented and explained. The location is also perfect and close to the shops. Only let down is Japan's late check-in, but this is normal everywhere, so expect to leave your bags, see some sights and then check-in later with your bags already in the room. An unforgettable lifetime memory to treasure :)

10/10 Excellent

Pradip

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort