Kyoto's 1818 inn of writers and film stars — near-flawless service and kaiseki, koyamaki-wood baths, and no hot spring
Hiiragiya has welcomed guests in central Kyoto since 1818, and Japanese reviewers treat a stay as a once-in-a-lifetime event: it averages 4.89 out of 5 across 42 reviews on Japan's leading luxury booking site, with 4.95 for service. The original wooden building, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, has rooms dating from the Edo and Meiji eras; a seven-room new wing was added in 2006. Guests remember the details — a room 'without a speck of dust', a young attendant telling a nervous first-timer not to be so tense, the old building's corner rooms associated with Charlie Chaplin and Yasunari Kawabata. The 2026 reviews keep returning to small personal touches: celebratory sekihan rice for a birthday the staff had overheard mentioned, an early check-in, a free upgrade when a room had a fault. Kyoto kaiseki is the other reason to come: grilled ayu, hamo in early summer, simmered tofu and clay-pot rice at breakfast. Know what it is not: there is no hot spring. Every room has a tub of fragrant koyamaki wood filled with gentle groundwater, and there are two small family baths. The criticisms are few but real — thin walls in the old building, Kyoto seasoning some find too delicate, the smallest rooms without their own bath or toilet, and, in 2026, a new-wing guest who disliked sharing an unpartitioned dining room. Prices start around ¥73,000 per person with two meals before tax.
Latest updates
What newer Japanese stay reports, posts and official notices have added since this review was written
Kyoto's accommodation tax rose in March 2026 (up to ¥10,000 per person per night at this price level), and one major booking site now refuses under-12s — families should book direct. Recent guests praise small personal touches.
Room Selection Guide
What the guests who stayed here actually recommendRecommended
Old-building (旧館) corner rooms
The rooms guests write home about: shoin-style tatami rooms with Edo-period sliding doors and a koyamaki-wood tub. A 2020 guest in a second-floor corner room loved even the slightly warped tatami; a 2022 group stayed in the rooms associated with Chaplin and Kawabata. From about ¥73,000 per person with two meals, before tax.
New wing (新館, 2006)
Quieter and more modern, from about ¥86,000 per person. A guest who spent two nights here in 2021 described a wooden-floored space facing a courtyard garden, a sunken reading nook and 'nothing unpleasant at all'. Room 52 has a floor of ancient jindai-sugi cedar by a Living National Treasure, and the new wing has a barrier-free room with a Japanese-style bed.
Request To Avoid
The smallest old-building rooms (4.5–6 tatami, no bath or toilet)
Sold on some booking sites as the entry-level option. A February 2026 guest in one said that, because of its age, the room was not really comfortable. If the in-room koyamaki tub is part of the dream, pay for a room that has one.
Old building, if you are a light sleeper
A guest in a Meiji-era room in 2019 noted that soundproofing is limited. It is a wooden building of paper and timber — part of the charm, but you will hear neighbours.
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Dining Deep Dive
Breakfast Consensus
4.8/5Yudofu (simmered tofu), grilled fish, rice cooked in a clay pot and the inn's own pickles; guests mention refills of tofu and rice porridge. A Western breakfast is available on request.
If floor seating or futons are hard on you, ask for a bed, legged floor chairs or table seating when booking — the inn offers them on request, and two September 2026 guests with bad backs and knees struggled without them. Drinks in the in-room fridge and in the Fuji-no-ma library have officially been complimentary since 1 October 2025 (other drinks are charged); one 2026 guest found the free minibar more than they could manage.
Dinner Insights
4.7/5Kyoto kaiseki of nine to twelve courses, starting at 18:00 or 19:00. Guests describe grilled ayu, hamo sushi, tilefish soup, Spanish mackerel grilled yuan-style and rice with yam bulbils, and praise the chef's explanations; one called the flavours 'pure, with no off-notes at all'. Seasonal extra-order dishes such as wild hamo and ayu are a recurring 2026 highlight. The one repeated reservation is seasoning: a December 2025 guest was surprised how light Kyoto cooking is and found a dipping sauce almost tasteless. Where you eat varies — reports mention in-room dining, a private room and, for a 2026 new-wing guest, a shared restaurant without partitions — so ask when booking.
Onsen & Wellness Realities
Not a hot spring. The inn describes its bathwater as gentle groundwater; one blogger was told it comes from about 200 metres underground.
No large shared bath. Rooms have their own tub made of koyamaki (Japanese umbrella pine), prized for its scent, and there are two small family baths for two or three people (15:00–9:00). One guest found the water very hot; a 2025 guest enjoyed a newly renovated bath that smelled of fresh wood.
Not addressed in any source we read. With in-room and family baths only, you never share a bath with strangers.
Local Warnings & Nuances
- 01
Prices on the official site are per person with dinner and breakfast, service included but consumption tax and Kyoto's accommodation tax extra: from ¥73,000 in the old building and ¥86,000 in the new wing. Since 1 March 2026 the accommodation tax is based on the room-only part of the rate: ¥4,000 per person per night where that part is ¥50,000–99,999, and ¥10,000 from ¥100,000. Room-only and single-meal plans also exist.
- 02
Check-in is 15:00 and check-out 11:00.
- 03
Both buildings have lifts and wheelchairs are available. Children aged 12 and under cannot be booked through Japan's leading luxury booking site, and the official site asks families with children of primary-school age or younger to consult the inn first, as rooms for children are limited — book directly and ask before you plan.
- 04
Don't confuse it with Hiiragiya Bekkan, a separate, simpler inn nearby with no in-room baths.
- 05
Recognition: one Michelin Key in each selection from 2024 to 2026, and membership of Relais & Châteaux from July 2026, according to the inn.
- 06
A guest in the Room 30 special suite in 2018 found a new apartment block now intrudes on the garden view they remembered from 2014.
Before your stay
Souvenirs from Kyoto and practical help for your trip.
Kyoto souvenirs on Rakuten
Rakuten prices as of Oct 18, 2026 — check the shop for current price and stock. Supported by Rakuten Developers Rakuten links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Things to do nearby
Kyoto: sights, experiences and seasonal events from Trip Gacha, our sister site.
The Tale of Genji: Radiant Culture of the Japanese Imperial Court
See on Trip Gacha
WONDER NIGHT JINGU at Heian Jingu
See on Trip Gacha
Kiyomizu-dera Autumn Night Viewing
See on Trip Gacha
NAKED meets Nijo Castle (Night Light-up)
See on Trip GachaPhoto credits
- The Tale of Genji: Radiant Culture of the Japanese Imperial Court: 663highland / CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- WONDER NIGHT JINGU at Heian Jingu: Jakub Hałun / CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- NAKED meets Nijo Castle (Night Light-up): Indiana jo / CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Sources
The real blog posts and stay reports this article draws on
- 京都「柊屋」泊・こだわりのうまいもの巡り女子旅 (4travel.jp, by はなまりん)
- 念願叶ってママ友５人で京都旅行① 柊家宿泊編 (4travel.jp, by カトレア)
- 京都市中京区麩屋町、「柊家旅館」① 部屋編その1 (Ameba Blog)
- 柊家 結界リゾートの衝撃 (note, by Chococo)
- 憧れの旅館で過ごす京都♪京の老舗旅館御三家・柊家宿泊記 (4travel.jp, by mei1110)
- <再訪>柊家旅館 特別室宿泊記 (4travel.jp, by たっくん&ゆうすけ)
- 柊家旅館 クチコミ・評判 (一休.com)
- 柊家 (公式サイト)
- 京都市宿泊税 改定について (柊家 公式サイト)
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Read the guidePhoto credits
- Hiiragiya — the frontage on Anekoji-dori, Kyoto · Mariemon / CC BY 3.0
- Mukaitaki in the snow, Higashiyama Onsen, Aizu-Wakamatsu · Fumihiko Ueno / CC BY 3.0
- Gora Kadan — the former Kan'in-no-miya imperial villa, Hakone · 663highland / CC BY 2.5
More Consensus Reports
Area photoKyotoLuxury
Fuyacho-Aneyakoji, Nakagyo, Kyoto — facing Hiiragiya across Fuyacho-dori, a 5-minute walk from Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae Station (Tozai Line) and 15 minutes by taxi from Kyoto Station
10 sources
Tawaraya Ryokan
俵屋旅館
Kyoto's oldest standing inn, bookable online only since 2026: 18 one-of-a-kind sukiya rooms, nearly everything down to the soap designed in-house, and koyamaki-wood tubs instead of a hot spring — from about ¥164,000 a night for two
- Historic Ryokan
- Design-Led
Area photoKyotoClassic
Yunohana Onsen, Kameoka, Kyoto — in wooded hills about 8km from JR Kameoka Station, itself about 20 minutes from Kyoto Station by train
10 sources
Sumiya Kiho-an
京都 湯の花温泉 すみや亀峰菴
A quiet hot-spring inn half an hour from Kyoto, with rice cooked over a kamado, inari sushi left in your room at night and an art-filled lobby — choose a room with its own onsen bath, and expect some dated corners
- Private Onsen Rooms
- Design-Led
Area photoKyotoLuxury
Nakagyō, central Kyoto — on Tominokōji street south of Rokkaku, about 10 minutes' walk from Shijō subway station and 12 minutes by taxi from Kyoto Station
9 sources
Kanamean Nishitomiya
要庵西富家
An eight-room sukiya inn in the heart of Kyoto where dinner is the point — a Michelin-starred kaiseki kitchen you tour before eating, hinoki baths in every room, and two MICHELIN Keys since 2026 — but it isn't an onsen, the water runs very hot, and old floors carry sound
- Destination Dining
- Historic Ryokan
KyotoLuxury
Arashiyama, Kyoto — reached by private boat
11 sources
Hoshinoya Kyoto
星のや京都
Reached only by boat, with no TV and no onsen by design — a stay built around stillness, with a few service slips
- Secluded Retreats
- Design-Led
Area photoUnzen OnsenClassic
Unzen Onsen, Nagasaki — on the quieter edge of the hot-spring village, about five minutes' walk from the Unzen Jigoku vents and roughly 55 minutes by car from JR Isahaya Station
10 sources
Unzen Fukudaya
雲仙福田屋
Milky, free-flowing sulphur water in eight baths and a much-loved kaiseki with lava-grilled abalone and cheese fondue, at fair prices — but most main-building rooms have tap-water baths, and the old building is a maze of steps
- Private Onsen Rooms
- Destination Dining
Area photoUnzen OnsenLuxury
Unzen Onsen, Nagasaki — secluded villas in a wooded garden at the edge of the hot-spring village
12 sources
Ryotei Hanzuiryo
雲仙温泉 旅亭 半水盧
Fourteen private villas of 250㎡ each, kaiseki served in your own tatami room and a milky, tingling acidic spring — superb privacy, but a grand 1992 inn now showing its age
- Destination Dining
- Secluded Retreats
Photo credits: Arashiyama and the Hozu River, Kyoto · KimonBerlin / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Hoshinoya Kyoto — the water garden · Hoshino Resorts / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Unzen Onsen town from Mount Myoken, Nagasaki · 663highland / CC BY 2.5
Hiiragiya
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