Miyajima Kinsuikan

I absolutely loved my stay! Dinner and breakfast was kaiseki style and I was superbly full by the end of dinner. The mattresses were perfect for me and you get to pick your own pillows out in the hall. They give you yukatas to wear which you can wear around the inn. The public bath was nice too. It’s very hot so don’t forget to drink water so you don’t get dehydrated!

Nice room , excellent location, but…… We booked a nice traditional Japanese room with Kaiseki dinner in the room which we were very much looking forward to. I eat almost everything and love fish but my partner is vegetarian. We have stayed in a Ryokan twice before in Kyoto and it was awesome. I assumed (my mistake) that there would be a vegetarian option (not vegan) for dinner. We had no issue ordering vegetarian dishes at other Ryokans. I should have checked when I booked but I thought it will be okay. When we arrived we were told that there is no vegetarian option. My partner asked if he could order some vegetarian dishes from the Restaurant menu when we checked in. That was 7 hours before Dinner. Only vegetable tempura and steamed rice was available, so we ordered it. It was complicated to communicate with the front reception staff, but they said they will ad the dishes on, at additional costs - which is fair. When we (I) had the Kaiseki dinner it was good. Sone dishes were excellent but way too much oyster dishes for my taste and the sushi was way too cold and some pieces almost frozen touching the ice underneath. The waiter was very friendly but his English was very bad and he could not explain a single dish as well the differences of the 3 different sakes we ordered. We have had so much better experiences in the past. The “vegetarian dishes” arrived were one piece of tempura okra, eeg and eggplant, lotus root as well as pork, shrimp and oyster despite clearly stating that we like to order extra vegetarian . The plain rice did also never arrive. This is really ridiculously bad and not acceptable in my view and probably also not acceptable for Japanese standards. In summary - we should have checked beforehand, so definitely partially my fault. But I also believe if a Ryokan accepts bookings from foreigners that there should be a basic ability to communicate in English. For the price we paid I also expect a bit more flexibility. I love Japan for their amazing attention to detail and kindness. We traveled over 5 times to Japan. But this Kaiseki Dinner was the most disappointing Japan experience we had.

English speaking tourists - we visited Miyajima for a night, and stayed at Kinsuikan. It was a fantastic trip, and the hotel was brilliant. On arrival, the staff were friendly and welcoming, took our bags, and provided a voucher to exchange for a sweet in the market while we awaited our room (we arrived early). At check in, they toured the facilities, including the Onsen, and provided yukata for each of us to wear. My wife has tattoos, which needed to be covered for the onsen, they provided many many (many - she has a lot of tattoos) to cover them, but were friendly as well which was appreciated. The room was great, futon beds were especially comfortable, and the roof terrace gave superb views over the island. Free drinks around the hotel as well, and a great restaurant in place (you can also have food in the room if reserved in advance). Would highly recommend!