Yoshida Sanso Hotel

My husband and I are very picky travelers and we were nervous about staying at a ryokan instead of a familiar luxury brand hotel; but Yoshida Sanso surpassed our expectations. The grounds are absolutely beautiful and you feel transported back in time while you are here. Additionally, every day they served a traditional Japanese breakfast which was quite the experience. The service was impeccable and our host was amazing. We are sad to leave but hope to be back!

This establishment seems to be catering mostly foreign visitors. We are locals and decided to try the restaurant for dinner. We were extremely disappointed to say the least. We dined at about 30 restaurants in Kyoto and Nara. Some had 3 stars. Yoshida sanso, offering was the worst and had no cost benefit. It was very expensive for what was offered. In fact, the ingredients, taste, service level was something you would get in Japan for about 1/3 of the price. Perhaps it is an interesting place to stay but the food needs significant improvement. For the same price, you can dine at a michelin 3 star ryotei restaurant.

Our bus tour of Japan took us to the Yoshida Sansa for a ‘be my guest experience’ in a traditional ryokan and we had a beautiful, carefully made lunch in this beautiful hotel. The dining room was set up for us all when we arrived, in their gorgeous hundred year old building, overlooking their lovely Japanese garden. You must first remove your shoes when coming into the building (it is Japanese tradition) and there were attendants to help. There are also slippers to wear to the bathroom. The lunch they served us was beautiful, traditional and tasty. It included tempura, teriyaki chicken, sashimi, miso soup, Tamago, shrimp, etc. the service was wonderful and it was a lovely experience! Now that I know it is a hotel as well, it would be a great place to stay in Kyoto.

We could not recommend this Ryokan highly enough. Convenient to Kyoto but feels like a world of its own. With beautiful mountainous background and peaceful gardens, this is one of the most blissful places we have ever stayed. The food was second to none; we were not expecting such high quality which also included locally grown produce famous for the Kyoto region. Our rooms were incredibly clean and comfortable. The service was outstanding as the hosts were highly attentive, responsive, polite, and went out of their way to assist. Don't skip this opportunity - it's an experience to treasure for a lifetime.

Great location. What we were expecting from a ryokan! Great experience. Would definitely come back. It is expensive but great value for us. The negative reviews are mostly because of the cafe in the premises that is open to the public. Tomoko, our host, was great. She worked in New York City hence very adept with English. I would highly recommend this place if you want to get the real Ryokan experience. It’s not that far from downtown Kyoto.

Yoshida Sanso was our best stay during our vacation Japan by far. The property is a boutique ryokan with only few rooms, thus the rates. The rates are totally worth the experience. We were able to travel back in time. The staff was very friendly and communicated with us without any problems. They made sure we had a enjoyable time in the property. They had recommendations for where to walk around and eat in the area walking distance.

Beautiful Ryokan with historic significance (used to be inhabited by a member of the imperial family). Comfortable and spacious accomodations; quiet, tucked away location, but still convenient to get into key sites of Kyoto. Delicious traditional Japanese meals and helpful staff who are members of the family who have owned and operated the property for many decades.

From the outset this was an outstanding experience, we were met and immediately engaged by the owner who made us feel very welcome. The room was beautiful and comfortable with a view over the garden, and the surrounding Northern Higashiyama area and temples. |Dinner was exquisite, served in a beautiful private room, kaiseki style, presented on beautiful pottery and laquerware. The cuisine was excellently chosen for the season and paired well with a local sake.|Breakfast was similarly wonderful, and we were seated in a beautifully appointed room upstairs overlooking the local area. The Japanese breakfast was excellent, and included yodofu and other local specialties, again presented beautifully.|We had matcha in the tea house before leaving with wonderful crackly old jazz records playing, with very kind and thoughtful service and attention to detail.|A wonderful experience.|

I stayed here my first night ever in Japan and really got the full traditional experience that I was looking for. I wanted to stay at least a few nights in a ryokan and stumbled upon this place. After doing some research I decided to go with the hanare, which is the private cottage. I had read that this place was once the residence of the Japanese Prince, Higashi-Fushimi, and grandfather of Japanese Emperor Akihito. The ground are absolutely stunning. It is located in a residential area but you cannot tell with how green the place is. Like a lot of Japanese places, even when something has a certain age to it, they keep it well maintained. My favorite part was the kaiseki dinner. Each course was like a work of art and you can tell a lot of effort was put into them. The breakfast was excellent as well. This place was very pricey but worth it if you are looking to really experience Japan.