Matsui Honkan

During our stay: 1) The hotel is located in a nice area but it is not as pretty as the photos on the website. There is a small garden at the entrance and the waterfall area is not accessible. It is basically a conversion from a residential building instead of a traditional zen-style hot spring resort; 2) The room is very old and many defects on the wall/around the corner/on the matt/in the toilet. We have taken pictures on the spots as an evidence. It is clearly over-priced given the room condition. The noise insulation was bad, and we could hear cars passing by as the hotel was located right next to a road; 3) There was wifi coverage in both rooms but the reception was bad. We had to keep re-connecting in order to download emails; 4) Both of us caught cold during our stay at Matsui Honkan and my wife was actually on fever. We tried to call the reception in the middle of the night but the receptionist was not really communicable in English hence we gave up. We later found out that the reasons why we both caught cold were i) there was a window left open all the time since we checked in. The window was hidden before the wooden panel hence we could not spot it out. But cold air kept flowing into the room despite that we closed all the wooden panels; ii) the air-conditioning was NOT switched on despite showing display on the pre-set temperature. While we were shown into the room and services provided to us for 2+ hours during our stay, nobody turned the aircon on or adjusted the room temperature hence the room was freezing cold all the time until the middle of the night. The air-con set is really old and you would have to switch it on until you see the red light shining….otherwise the room was literally an ice-box, not to mention that the air-con would not work with a window left open all the time without anyone coming in to close it. It was totally ridiculous and it happened to both nights of our stays; 5) Last but not least, our Kaiseki meal was totally a disaster. It was over-priced and by far the worst Kaiseki experience I’ve had in recent years. We booked in advance the premium Kaiseki set (prepared by the head chef). Instead of serving each course separately and explaining the dishes in details, we were given a Japanese instruction sheet which we could not understand. Then all the courses (appetizer, soup, main dish, seafood dish, hotpot and rice etc.) were dumped onto our tables all at once. We were so surprised as we were confused with the menu, had no idea on which dish was what and cannot find the correct order to have the dishes properly. It took us a long time to just try all the dishes one by one and before we moved on to the 2nd main dish, the food was already cold. It was a disaster and totally not worth it. It totally ruined our Kyoto experience, hopefully our feedback would serve as a warning to future overseas visitors to Matsui Honkan.

Good location. The hotel staff is very friendly, the service is more "personalized" feels rather than the chain hotel style. Make sure you pick the rate include breakfast and dinner; the food is good and is so much cheaper if you eat similar food at the near restaurant. I am not sure the water at hot shared bath on the basement floor is coming from onsen or not, but it does help to release some stress from a day of walking. Overall, I am happy with the stay; my recommendation is to order breakfast and dinner if you are staying, you will get more value out from it.

服務人員的服務態康很好，在等待check in時會安排到大堂坐下喝抹茶及有一塊小蛋糕作點心。酒店有懂普通話的服務人員方便溝通。 晚上的懷石料理也很出色。 酒店內有大浴場，走了一天回去可以好好放鬆。 有機會再來京都會再入住

服務人員的服務態康很好，在等待check in時會安排到大堂坐下喝抹茶及有一塊小蛋糕作點心。酒店有懂普通話的服務人員方便溝通。 晚上的懷石料理也很出色。 酒店內有大浴場，走了一天回去可以好好放鬆。 有機會再來京都會再入住

I came to Kyoto to get a traditional experience from the Tokyo city life. I was very excited to experience my Ryokan at Matsui Honkan. However, the disrespect and unprofessional staff was a surprised. The room I purchased was a traditional ryokan with tatami bed. Not a handicapped room with a bed and amenities. I’m not handicapped; what happened Matsui Honkan? As a solo traveler and foreigner I wasn’t going to asked due to safety reasons. I left the next morning. Hopefully, the next solo traveler won’t have to go through this. Pictures are below. I’m still shocked! Your staff as mentioned by other travelers was great; but this service wasn’t what I received. I have traveled over 30+ countries and 6 continents this have never happened to me.

Si vous êtes à la recherche d'une expérience très "japonaise" et que vous êtes prêts -soyons honnête- à y mettre les moyens sans devoirs sortir du centre de Kyoto, matsui honkan sera parfait pour vous. En effet, l'hôtel est situé à côté du nishiki market et des rues typiques et touristiques à visiter. Le service était exceptionnel, on sent qu'il y a une bonne ambiance dans l'équipe et tous parlent anglais. Les bains (séparés homme/femme) permettent de se détendre après une journée de visite et sont ouvert jusqu'à tard dans la nuit. Je conseille le petit déjeuner en supplément, au moins un matin car il vaut le détour. Si il fallait trouver un point négatif, je dirais un prix un peu élevé.

The staff were so kind and welcoming. This is set up as a traditional ryokan so you will remove your shoes inside the front door of your room and sleep on a futon on the tatami mat floor. With that said it was comfortable enough that even with a bad back and hips I slept pretty well. The location is fantastic a couple blocks from Nishiki market and walking distance to Gion and its surrounding areas. My husband used the onsen and said it was great. We didn't book a dinner as we had too much on our schedule, but if our elaborate delicious breakfast was any indication of their skills I bet it would be a fantastic experience. I would stay more than one night the next time

If you go to Japan you must stay at a traditional ryokan. Worried at first what to expect but just as the whole Japan: you get a great sense of exotics with a maximum travel comfort. Also, the reputation of Japan being expensive I gladly cannot accept. Matsui has a perfect location in the centre of Kyoto next to the Nishiki market, we pretty much walked everywhere or for day trips walked to the closest train station. Very nice entrance, all the interiors and room (we had one with French doors opening into a small Japanese garden), cool little bathroom. Be aware of the walls being very thin and definitely not soundproof. All staff very nice, not everybody spoke English but (again, as everywhere in Japan), everybody extremely polite and helpful. Traditional Japanese breakfast I enjoyed very much, for dinners we were going out. Did not make use of the spa.

Superb hospitality, excellent location near Nishiki market and Gion. Nice room with tatami mats and great bath!

I prepaid for a reservations here, booked months in advance. Two days before I’m supposed to check in I call them to have my luggage sent there, and they tell me I don’t have a reservation. So I’m in a foreign country with a mediocre grasp of the language and no place to sleep. I wasted a full day of a once in a lifetime trip to try and fix this and the staff was less then helpful. I had no advance knowledge of any problems with my reservation. They had my money for 110 days. They had my email address sans phone number. They could have contacted me through the booking agency I used. They did none of this. They offered no excuse, no explanation. They made no effort to fix this situation. I got a refund but that’s about it. Be very wary of trusting them, honestly, why take reservations if you’re not going to honor them? Especially considering I prepaid over $1400 for this. These people are without honor.