Tsubakian / Kyoto / Vacation STAY 65291

This felt lived-in, homey, and welcoming in the best way. Unlike so many cookie cutter vacation rentals, sitting in the dining area gives the impression of a professor's house - someone with a quirky and scattered mind, while retaining the wabi-sabi charm of spare simplicity in the upstairs tatami rooms. A true machi-ya experience in a convenient location - easy access to Enmachi station, buses, and local restaurants. The yakitori place on Marutamachi is a treasure. Proximity to Myoushinji was wonderful! Great hosts who met us at check in to make sure we felt at home. The interior koi pond was a treat during late-night bathroom trips!

Nothing

It smelled terribly due to two open fish ponds in the middle of the house. The accommodation was full of the owners stuff, it felt like being in a place of those people that collect everything. We didn’t have space for leaving our luggages. The rooms were upstairs, which you needed to climb very steep stairs, which made it very dangerous for my parents. The whole space was not properly lighten up, it was dark and overall felt not cleaned at all. Like thick air. The bathrooms smelled really bad and had very poor conditions. The whole house was in very old conditions (not vintage; old). They gave us a huge book on how to use every single appliance of the house, such as heating, hot water, etc, instead of having it already prepared for us in advance. The house was freezing, the kitchen dirty and full, FULL of stuff. We spent only one night even though we had booked for four nights. The second day early in the morning we changed to a different place. We asked the owner to give us the money back from the remaining three nights, as the pictures on internet were completely not true to the reality. However they denied our request. This is the first time I have such a bad experience through a home stay in more than 15 years as user. I hope Booking can help us out to get our money back. It made the whole experience a stressful one for all my family, as I was travelling with a kid of 5 years old, my parents of 71 years old, my brother and my sister in law. We were six people in total, and made the entrance into Kyoto a very unpleasant one. I am sorry to leave this review as the owners seemed to be good people, but I also think it is important to have real feedback in order to improve the experience of themselves and of potential future guests.

Comfortable place, easy access to train station. Lovely hosts, very friendly. The fish pond was a nice touch.