Onsen no yado Gion Maisen Bettei

The property is very comfortable, clean and located close enough to a station.

It only has 1 bathroom so having many people staying in the unit makes it slightly challenging. Furthermore the shower area is semi transparent so you will need to close the main bathroom door when showering, and we couldn’t find a way to lock that door.

The location The private onsen

The very noisy air conditioning Hard to find (explanations are not good enough)

We stayed at Onsen no Yado Gion and had a mixed experience. The location is excellent. The apartment is in the charming Gion district, on a quiet side street while still being within walking distance of many attractions, restaurants, and shops. The apartment is spacious and has a lot of potential. One bedroom had two thick floor mattresses that were comfortable. The staff were very responsive and easy to reach whenever we had a question.

* Unfortunately, every request or question we had to the staff was answered with a “no,” so although the staff were available, we didn’t feel they were able to accommodate guests’ needs. * The traditional tatami futons in the second room were quite uncomfortable and made it difficult to get a good night’s sleep. * The sofa was not very comfortable. * Because of the close proximity to neighboring buildings, we couldn’t open the curtains, so the apartment felt quite dark during the day. * The biggest surprise was the kitchenette. There was no sink and no stove or cooking facilities, so we even had to wash our dishes in the bathtub, which was very inconvenient.

Location was great, even had a sense of authenticity where it was situated in a narrow alley. The Japanese bath was the best aspect of the apartment. Certainly big enough for a family of 5.

Main thing was there was no sink in the kitchen/bar area - very strange. Needed to wash any cups/plates etc in the bathroom [no washing liquid though]. A huge amount of towels [great] but no where to hang them after use! Needed to hang on the back of the kitchen stools to dry. Air Conditioner in the main bedroom did not work properly - kept turning off [maybe could have more instructions in English although I don't think that was the problem]. Hit and miss with the washing machine as instructions are not in English [google did not help either :)]