Welcome to Oharanosato. Located far north of central Kyoto, this Modern Ryokan is a little old and run-down but it is surrounded by some interesting neighborhood shops, temples, and restaurants. There are 26 guest rooms, and most do not have private baths or toilets (the shared toilets are located very close to the guest rooms). The highlight of the ryokan is their outdoor hot spring baths. There are two outdoor hot spring baths for women (one is a hot spring tub and the other is a Japanese cypress bath), and one outdoor hot spring tub for men. If there are not too many guests, the outdoor bath can be privately reserved. There are also large indoor hot spring baths at Oharanosato. The owners of Oharanosato serve different kinds of home-cooked meals, and all of the ingredients are locally grown. They also have a restaurant across the street which serves wonderful home-made Japanese soba and udon dishes (either miso or soy sauce).

Facilities

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Ryokan Reviews:

• Not a Ryokan, and certainly not relaxing.

  Month of Visit: November

  Country Of Reviewer: Canada

  Atmosphere Rating - 1

  Food Rating - 4

  Staff Rating - 2

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 1

  TLDR -- THIS IS NOT A RYOKAN, AND THE OWNER IS NO LONGER CLAIMING TO OFFER A RYOKAN EXPERIENCE. Very disappointing. This is the first negative review I've written, but I really don't want someone else having to go through our experience. The price of Oharo No Sato was no less than any other average Ryokan, and seemed to offer similar services and amenities. Our expectation had been set: we were expecting an older, modern-style Ryokan on the secluded north edge of Kyoto. The first impression we had was just how run-down the building really is. Dusty and drafty, with mildew and stains along the walls. This alone sure wouldn't deter us, and we were led to our room. Our room was awful. Tiny, barely enough room for two beds and a cheap, plastic chabudai table. A dusty rug covered three-quarters of the tatami mat floor. The lighting was absolutely abrasive. We found long hairs on the floor, and dust all over. Since we're sleeping on the floor, I was at least expecting that the floor would have been cleaned between guests. It was almost comical how bad it was. We had to shove everything into the corner by the door just to allow enough space to make our own beds, making it difficult to enter or leave the room. Because of the poor placement of the rug, at least one bed needed to hang over the edge of the carpet, which was very uncomfortable. Perhaps no one had tried staying in this room before? The Yukata seemed only to come in one size, which was too small for my medium frame. The outer jackets both had stains from previous guests, and it wasn't clear if they had been washed. It was gross. The last thing the host told us when he dropped us off in the room was to "relax!". There was no way to relax in this room. The lighting was enough to give a headache. My partner's allergies started acting up. She doesn't get allergies often, mostly around dogs, or mold. And we didn't see any dogs. We decided to get out of the room. The hot-pot dinner was with good ingredients and was a nice experience. Dessert was a packaged ice-cream, and cost extra. The onset was nice and relaxing, but then it was time to go back to our room. My partners' allergies came back with a vengeance. She took allergy medication, which barely made a difference. She doubled down on the medication. We found a cheap air purifier in the room and plugged it in. It didn't seem to make a difference. I really wouldn't be surprised if there were mold in the walls, considering the mildew and stains. In the morning we were so tired and disappointed we only wanted to leave as soon as possible. We quickly ate breakfast and took off. Throughout our stay, we wondered how we ended up in this situation. The google reviews averaged around four, and still do. A few people on Reddit claimed to have stayed here, although in retrospect they had nothing to say about their stay, only how they enjoyed the natural surroundings. The only thing we came up with is that perhaps other rooms are significantly better -- larger, cleaner, and better quality. But even still, the cheap quality of almost everything doesn't seem to match the price. In conclusion, this place is not a "modern-style" Ryokan. It's a dingy, dusty, low-quality guest house, and some of the rooms very well might be moldy. It's certainly not worth the price.

• Not so pleasant stay

  Rosita

  Date of Review: October, 2018

  Month of Visit: October

  Country Of Reviewer: Oranda (NL)

  Atmosphere Rating - 1

  Food Rating - 4

  Staff Rating - 1

  Location Rating - 2

  Room Rating - 1

  Unfriendly welcome, manager was in a hurry and give hardly explanation about the accommodation. We had hardly one minuut arrived at the ryokan, had our heavy bag packs still on our bags, and we were trying to take our shoes of when the manager said without any words of welcome: "pasport please" There was only one bed made instead of two. The bedroom was filled with the smell of te kitchen. The were 2 toilets on our corridor and one was stinking and dirty. The onsen were very small en the outside onsen was a wooden hot tub. It is a big place with many rooms and guests. We found it very commercial and a little worn out. Because of the necessary of catching a plane the next day we had to leave early. The manager was not willing to give us some food for breakfast at 7.30 nor did he when we asked for a little box with something in it. After all we had payed for our breakfast. There was also no shuttlebus on this time of the day so we had to walk to the busstop. I placed this review in Booking.com and the manager replied that I was wrong, that his accommodation is not a Ryokan but a simple sort of lodge. Well, if that is the fact, it should not be hired by this organisation and it should not be called a Ryokan. Nevertheless, Ryokan or not ryokan: friendliness, a clean place, helpfulness and hospitality should be everywhere were gast are received.

• Really pleasant stay

  Romain

  Month of Visit: August

  Country Of Reviewer: France

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  We spent a night at Ohara no Sato in August, and really enjoyed our stay. We especially recommend the place for its hot bath and dinner, which features a great variety of miso.

• Our lovely stay at Oharanosato

  Month of Visit: April

  Country Of Reviewer: Switzerland

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  Me and my friend had a very lovely stay at Oharanosato. They came to pick us up from the bus station. Our room was a very nice a spacious tatami room with view into the green. Everthing was very clean. The outdoor onsen was as gorgeous as expected from the pictures shown above. We would highly recommend this ryokan!

• a Good stay overall

  Month of Visit: June

  Country Of Reviewer: France

  Atmosphere Rating - 4

  Food Rating - 4

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 4

  Room Rating - 3

  It's my first time in a Ryokan and i have to admit that i really enjoyed the experience. The food were delicious, and the price more than correct ( very good value). I will come back again if i have to pick a new Ryokan. Ohara is also a good city to visit, lost in the country side and we found really enjoyable walk through the city.