Ryokan Sumiya Kihoan

The hotel is a traditional ryokan and the facilities were wonderful with private rooms, a beautiful lounge area and a fantastic restaurant. The shuttle to and from the local railway station was excellent. By far the best part of the hotel were the wonderful staff and the truly outstanding food - an experience to be remembered and cherished.

The staff were very lovely, polite and spoke very good English. They did everything to make my stay perfect. I had a bath in the "secret" private onsen which was amazing. It was nice to be secluded most of the time but if you get hungry or needed something, you couldn't go out and get anything nearby so its best for a couple of nights. Would love to go back if I go to Kyoto again!

We traveled with our twenty-something daughters for some quality time together. The ryokan was the highlight of our 10 day Kyoto/Tokyo trip by all accounts. Convenient to Kyoto from Kameoka station (hotel shuttle). We stayed in the spacious four futon tatami room with private bathroom. Staff is excellent and speak English. Amazing in-room generous authentic multi-course dinner. Two in party were vegetarian and two regular meals. Awesome Japanese breakfast as well- ours was in dining room. Reserved secret garden onsen for private use and also experienced the public onsen. Very clean. We enthusiastically recommend this ryokan. We wish we checked out the scenic train instead (need advance reservation) and stream rapids boat ride nearby. We can try that next time!

I wanted a typical Japanese setting with hot springs and found this excellent one. Highly recommend

We loved staying at the Ryokan and enjoyed the extremely wonderful hospitality. They went above and beyond to do everything to make our visit perfect. The onsen is a great place to relax and we enjoyed ending the day with the baths. On some nights there were other guests in the baths but often it was empty. Service was a bit off for dinner in the restaurant but we thought they might have just had a bad night. Hope to come back soon!

Great place, wondeful staff and outstanding room and food

Stayed for one night with a party of four. Ordered the Secret Open Air Onsen (private hot springs) for about $40 USD. Could not reserve the spa, even though we asked several months in advance. Pros - Friendly staff. - Free 30 minute shuttle bus to/from Kameoka station. - Delicious food (Bento Box and Tempura). - Relaxing atmosphere. - Room reasonably comfortable as it can get with futons on the floor. Cons - Food expensive. No other options for food in area. - Nothing in the area, although you are best spending the whole day in the ryokan relaxing. - Secret Open Air Onsen was a little dirty and had more bugs than I would have expected. A significant part of your time-limited paid experience will be spent trying to find it. - If they removed the television from the room, it would have made things significantly more authentic feeling. Overall pleasant, relaxing experience. It was very much needed after 6 days of exploring Tokyo on foot.

Very good. Feel like we are treated like a VIP. No wifi in the room. Opt for the japanese style dinner & breakfast. Not used to it. If you want to try the Secret Onsen, suggest book days or weeks before as we booked when we check-in and given time slot 10pm to 10:45pm and late at night is quite scary.

Staying at the Ryokan Sumiya Kihoan is truly a one of a kind experience for travellers. Though on the pricey side, I highly recommend a short stay for those looking for something different.

A must stay for the full Japanese experience. Wish I had time to stay longer, and will definitely book again. Beautiful traditional-style rooms and hot spring. Great service with authentic feel. Only negative is somewhat far from the city, but the hotel provides a shuttle back to the train station after checkout.