Kyoto ryokan recommendations please!
 

We are a family of five including three teen boys visiting Kyoto for five nights this April. We have traveled in Japan previously but not with our boys and think this would be a great experience for our family. Would we need only one large room or two rooms? We wish to stay in a mid to high level ryokan preferably downtown within walking distance of popular sights. Any recommendations and price range would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Fodorites!

Moved from The Europe board to the Asia Forum and tagged for Japan

Most ryokan include dinner and breakfast with the room rate. I would check to inquire whether you can opt out for some meals as some inns do allow this. While the meals will be high quality I wouldn't want to be locked into eating only at the inn for 5 days, especially in Kyoto which has so many great places to dine at every price point. That said I like this inn which is alongside the Shirakawa canal in the nothern Gion area.

https://www.shiraume-kyoto.jp/english/

On our last visit to Kyoto we stayed at Seikoro Ryokan good location, pretty good food and service but we weren't blown away as we had been at other Ryokans elsewhere. I guess for the price we paid we were a little disappointed. Nothing inherently wrong , just didn't compare with other Ryokans and Minshuku and Monasteries we had stayed at previously. I think we paid in the region of £400 per night , not cheap but not excessive for a Ryokan. We much preferred Sumiyoshi Ryokan in Takayama.

Partly for the reasons outlined by CuriousGeo above, I think 5 nights would be too many. Two would be better, which would allow you to sample other eating option . Plus, sleeping on a futon can get tiresome very quickly (or maybe that's just my back talking!)

Coincidentally I was talking with some friends recently who were trying to persuade their teenage boys to visit a ryokan . They point blank refused say there was no way they were going naked into a communal bath!

One or two nights in the same ryokan is usually enough. In addition, they often repeat meal #1 on the third night! Ryokans are all about the stay..Huge breakfast, huge dinner. Soaking in the tub. A few hours sightseeing in the middle. In kyoto, we've stayed at Sumida, Tawaraya, and Hiiragiya. All were wonderful. I think we loved the service at Sumida the best, but that was back in 2004 or 2005(?) before the crazy increase in tourists to Japan. Tawaraya was the most historic ( late 1990's), and Hiiragiya was absolutely stunning. (2017-ish). There are lots of mid-range ryokan in Kyoto, but again, Idon't recommend any ryokan more that 2 nights. I'd look for a hotel withJjapanese style rooms, but without the dinners and $$$ for the remainder of my nights in Kyoto.

I agree with both crellston and lcuy. While I love the entire ryokan experience, two nights would be as long as I would stay.

curiousgeo, crellston, and icuy:
Thank you so much for your very helpful input and recommendations. This info helps a great deal. We have stayed at Tendi dormatories in Kyoto and Nara and have an open invitation to return. That may be a good alternative for one or two nights, (our backs not withstanding) which we might consider since we would not be obligated to the two obligatory meals at a ryokan. Then our comfort would be assured for the remaining nights in a crossover or fully Western style hotel.
Again, appreciate your postings.

We had five nights in Kyoto and did exactly that. 2nt @ Seikoro and 3 at Cross Hotel. Cross was really nice, it had only been open for a few months, large comfortable, stylish rooms . A good location and terrific breakfasts.

On our first trip to Japan in 2011 we did 5 nights in Kyoto of which 2 nights were at Shiraume Ryokan (we stopped by to visit with the owner on our next trip the following year) and 3 nights in a western style hotel near the main station. In the ryokan we did one night full board and the other night breakfast only so we could eat out locally. In the end I got ill that second night and the ryokan other accompanied us to a local hospital, started with me for over an hour, when she left, pre-organised a taxi back to the Inn, and left food in the room for when we got home. She was amazing and we already adored the ryokan even before that!

On our subsequent 2 trips we did 6 and 7 nights in Kyoto respectively, and stayed at a now closed hotel just north of the cross between Sanjo Dori and Kawaramachi Dori. We really like that location for lots of local dining and coffee shops, and right on very handy bus routes and metro routes.

I know you liked Sumida or those three you listed but between Tawaraya and Hiiragiya, which did you prefer and why? I can't decide between those two and would love any information you could provide, no matter how small.

The rooms are more traditional at Tawaraya and the service & food outstanding. Hiragana did a major upgrade a few years back and it is stunning.They have a gorgeous room with raised beds for those who don't like getting up off the floor. We stayed in that one and DD and her husbands in a more traditional one. Food was great. Breakfast was served in a beautiful dining room, not your bedroom. I would only choose between the two by dates available or price, if they are significantly different. Win win.

Also, the ryokan will often put everyone in the same room if its a family like yours. You can ask for two rooms though. You pay by the person, so unless the rooms are two different price tiers, it will cost the same.