Temple Hotel Takayama Zenkoji

The hotel was impeccably clean. It was conveniently located, near to all the main focus points in Takayama. The staff was really polite and nice. The room was great too, and the beds were very comfortable, I had probably the best sleep in Japan there. We joined the morning prayers and meditation session and although it wasn't a life changing experience, it was definitely interesting to hear about Buddihst viewpoints on life.

I knew that there was a shared bathroom, however it would make things easier if we could have at least the sink in the room. I had to return to my room a few times because it wasn't easy to remember about everything you have to bring. There's a reservation for the only one shower, so we booked a full hour, and fortunately it seemed that only one more room was occupied. I feel that if the hotel would be fully booked, it would be a problem to book the bathroom at the desired timeslot. I also think that it was a little bit overpriced, because yes, you're sleeping next to the main temple and can visit it whenever you want (it was closed to the public but still opened inside the hotel for us), however apart from that it wasn't that different from a regular ryokan, and we had to pay for everything extra (coffee etc.), plus there's no onsen, so I don't really know why it was that expensive. I don't regret staying there, but the longer I think about it, the more it looks like a tourist trap.

A special place in a nice city. We experienced a very warm welcome and attended meditation and Onigiri cocking session. The temple stay was among the most unique experiences during our stay in Japan. It is only a short walk to Takayamas city center.

Really special to sleep in a temple. Very friendly staff. Great facilities available and perfect to explore Takayama

Honestly? We wouldn’t stay here again. It was very cold & also we wanted a room with private bathroom & the lady charged us 7000 yen’s each one? We really didn’t understand why was she charging that amount per person if we are paying for a room. So it was almost double the price we already paid & we didn’t have enough energy to talk it through. Also we didn’t have a receipt with that amount being charged or anything so even if we wanted to claim it was impossible. I think it’s very hyped up & it’s a bit of a tourist trap! We stayed another day in a hotel with onsens and all a block away and it was 10000% better!