Kyo Yunohana Resort Suisen

Whatever the rating system is in Japan, this resort would be a 5 star. This is a beautiful property that is decorated in traditional Japanese style. You are greeted with traditional Japanese tea and cookies. My children loved the complimentary ice cream in the lounge, of course. The rooms have tatami flooring but we had both regular beds and futons prepared for us on the floor. Our room had both a soaking cypress bath and an outdoor onsen. The property has a beautiful public onsen and private ones that you can book as well. A higher end Japanese hotel like this provides yukata for wearing around the property (less formal than a kimono) as well as sleeping clothes. In Japan, there are shoes for outside (your shoes), inside (slippers), inside-outside (garden shoes), and the bathroom (different slippers). We had both dinner and breakfast in our stay both kaiseki style and each meal was jaw-droppingly beautiful and delicious. When we had rice leftover from our dinner, our attendant prepared them as onigiri, which we took with us the next day. The staff were also very understanding of our limited Japanese and were very gracious in every way. This resort is a bit remote. They do provide a shuttle to Kameoka subway station, which is about a 30min subway ride to Kyoto station. We brought our teenaged children who enjoyed the food and the ambience but to get good value, you really need to appreciate onsens at a high end place like this.

This might have been the best room I stayed at on this trip to Japan. Very spacious, free minibar, nice balcony and of course the star of the show, the private onsen.. which was absolutely fantastic. The onsen was clean, at a hot temperature and felt genuinely healing. The kaiseki dinner and breakfast was equally as impressive, very well thought and put together dishes that explored a variety of unique tastes. We explored the grounds too and got some very nice pics as the gardens are very well maintained. Only negative really was the separated beds.

we had the most lovely stay. the property was immaculate and the staff were exceptionally kind. the meals were beautiful and delicious. we also enjoyed massages, which was the perfect way to cure our jet-lag!