Hello all -
Am hoping that you can provide some suggestions/recos! Thanks in advance for your help!

Hubby and I are going to Japan from Dec. 8th to Dec. 17th. We are planning to see Tokyo and Kyoto. We also want to spend one night at Ryokan in an area somewhere in between Tokyo and Kyoto.

This is what we are looking for:
* Budget - 18000 Yen per person.
* Indoor or outdoor onsen/hot spring. This can be shared.
* Preferably, private bathroom in room. NOt sure if possible in our budget.
* Preferably, dinner served in room. This is not that big of a preference.

I read somewhere on the forum that Hakone is a good place to stay at a Ryokan. What do you think? Any other good neighborhoods/areas in Japan?

Also, any recommendations for Ryokans that fit our preferences above?

Thanks,
Manisha

* That is a good budget
* Expect the shared baths to be segregated by sex. At some places you may be able to arrange to go privately, as a couple.
* Yes, you can expect a private bathroom
* Dinner in your room is the standard. Breakfast would be in a common area.

At japaneseguesthouses.com you can take a look at some of the ryokan.

At the following link you will see a nice place Hakone. This place is "Category A/B", with category B places being in the 15,000 to 20,000 yen per person. Unless it says differently that price would includ the room plus dinner and breakfast. You can see that there are same-sex shared baths but also private, family baths that can be reserved.
http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/d...e/senkyoro.htm

See how (just like KimJapan said) this place has indoor and outdoor shared baths and some of the guest rooms ... oh just read the text under the photos!

mrwunrfl - thanks a lot! Appreciate it

I recommend that you stick to your budget, but that if you change it then the only change should be to increase it. You are smack in the middle range of ryokan rates and can get a very nice authentic traditional ryokan experience. You should maintain, or increase, that standard imho.

Wow - it has been quite some time since I checked this post. I have been doing some research on www.japaneseguesthouses.com and googling. mrwunrfl - do you know anything about Kansuiro Ryokan? The room that I want is above our budget (26400 per person) but it seems nice in the website. Do you know anything about it?

I haven't been to Kansuiro, but when I saw their website I instantly recognized it as a place that someone had asked about before, maybe a year and a half ago. Did you find anything by searching this forum for Kansuiro? Originally built in the early Edo period. Looks great. Nice onsen baths. If skipping the breakfast will get it to your budget, you might consider doing that. You must not skip the dinner (unless that dinner doesn't interest you; it does interest me, tho, and now I want to go back to Japan). The B room looks nice. I would be happy with the B room and dinner but unhappy with the A room and no dinner (even C+dinner > A).

mrwunrfl - you are right. When I earlier did a search on this forum for 'Kansuiro', somebody has posted a question about it but no one had stayed there at that point in time. That's why I posted a separate thread asking about Kansuiro in the hopes that perhaps someone has stayed there since then. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful. No response yet by someone who has stayed there

Thanks for responding to both my threads. Your suggestion of skipping breakfast and staying in the Type B room to bring the cost down is a great idea! Thanks for also suggesting to not skip dinner. IN your other response, you'd mentioned that Ichinoyu is half the cost of Kansuiro. You are right - it is turning out to be significantly cheaper (5000 yen cheaper per person). And I am just looking for a reco from someone on whether they think it will be worth it. Tough to tell from websites, I know. Just trying my luck and asking your opinion

Thanks again!

Manisha, if you have not already done so, try asking on the forum at www.japan-guide.com regarding whether anyone has stayed at Kansuiro.

ALso, I got some hits there when I searched that site for Kansuiro. In one of the posts a Japanese speaker reported and translated on several reviews of that ryokan that were posted in Japanese.

I strongly suspect that Kansuiro is worth it. You get what you pay for. Usually.