Machiya, ryokan or hotel?
Three ways to stay in Kyoto, and who each one suits.
What is the difference between a machiya, a ryokan and a hotel?
All three will give you a bed in Kyoto. What differs is how much of the evening is arranged for you, and how much of the city you live in rather than look at. In short, and with plenty of exceptions:
| Aspect | Machiya | Ryokan | Hotel |
|---|---|---|---|
| The building | A wooden townhouse built before 1950 | Purpose-built inn, traditional in style | Modern building |
| Rooms | Tatami rooms, or the whole house | Tatami rooms | Western rooms |
| Beds | Futons on tatami, sometimes Western beds | Futons, laid out by the staff | Western beds |
| Meals | Usually none; often a kitchen | Dinner and breakfast, often in the rate | Restaurant or breakfast, extra or included |
| Baths | The house's own bathrooms | Communal baths, often hot-spring water | Private bathroom |
| Service | Light: the house is yours to run | Attentive and timed | A front desk, usually staffed late |
What is a ryokan like?
A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn, and its evening is the point. Rooms are tatami, and while you are out the staff move the table aside and lay out your futon. You are given a yukata to wear around the inn. Nearly every ryokan has communal baths, usually separate for men and women, using hot-spring water where there is a spring to draw on. Most serve dinner and breakfast, often included in the rate, and dinner is commonly kaiseki: a run of small seasonal dishes. Meal times are fixed, and you are expected to be there for them.
It is a wonderful night. It is also a structured one, which is worth knowing if you want to eat out in Kyoto every evening.
What is staying in a machiya like?
Closer to living in Kyoto than visiting it. You have a house, or rooms in one, on an ordinary street, and the evening is yours. There is rarely a restaurant or staff on hand; there is often a kitchen. What is a machiya? explains the building.
At Cadent House there is no breakfast service. The kitchen is yours, and there is a market two streets over. You have the house's own bathrooms rather than a communal bath, and the choice of futons on tatami in the Machiya Room or Western beds in the Garden Twin.
When is a hotel the better choice?
When you want a lift, step-free rooms, or someone at a desk when you arrive late. An old machiya has steep stairs and a raised threshold, and a small house keeps set hours: at Cadent House you arrive between 16:00 and 21:00. If those matter more than the house, a hotel is the honest answer.
Can I do both?
Easily: a night in a ryokan for the bath and the dinner, and the rest of the stay somewhere you can come and go. Starting prices for our three rooms are on the rates page.
Book a stay
Choose your dates. The next page shows the live price for your stay, and you book it there at once, directly with the house.