Ryotei Rangetsu



About
Ryotei Rangetsu is an excellent choice for travellers visiting Kyoto, offering a luxury environment alongside many helpful amenities designed to enhance your stay.
Ryotei Rangetsu is a luxury onsen ryokan offering a refrigerator and air conditioning in the rooms, and it is easy to stay connected during your stay as free wifi is offered to guests.
The onsen ryokan features newspaper and baggage storage. Plus, guests can enjoy an on-site restaurant, which has made this a popular choice among travellers visiting Kyoto. For guests with a vehicle, free parking is available.
For those interested in checking out popular landmarks while visiting Kyoto, Ryotei Rangetsu is located a short distance from Hogonin Temple (0.1 mi) and Jojakkoji Temple (0.6 mi).
If you are looking for a good Chinese restaurant, you may want to check out Saikan Wong, Kanzan, or Gyoza-No-Ohsho Gojo Katsuragawa while staying at Ryotei Rangetsu.
If you’re looking for something to do, Arashiyama (0.3 mi), Okochi Sanso Garden (0.4 mi), and Tenryuji Temple (0.2 mi) are a nice way to spend some time, and they are all within walking distance of Ryotei Rangetsu.
Enjoy your stay in Kyoto!
Location
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My tip: there is a square box in your room, in a corner: this is actually a complete tea-set with the most incredible Oolong and Japanese Sencha.
First, before I get into any further details, I will say that if you plan to have dinner at the ryokan, confirm with them (at least a week in advance) prior to your stay. We didn't realize that our booking did not include dinner and when we contacted them on the day of, asking if we could include dinner, we were told that they could not accommodate us. Fortunately, after we arrived, they made some changes and told us they would be able to serve us dinner for one night (which was fantastic). We appreciated that they were able to make this change on such short notice. You'll quickly learn that the other restaurants in the area fill up quickly or close early (e.g., 6PM). Even the vendors selling souvenirs will be closed at that time. You don't need to fret, thinking that you'll starve, there is a convenience store open (Lawsons) in the event every place nearby is closed/full or you can always take a taxi back into town. We were originally concerned (after reading other reviews) but when we walked around we were able to find a few places that closed later than 6PM. You just need to walk around, ask others, etc.
When we arrived, we were greeted by our hosts with snacks, tea, and face towels. You will learn that the quality of service at this ryokan is excellent. Staff are extremely polite and respectful, and although the English capabilities of the staff were not as great as other locations we've been to in Japan, they try their best and their English is fantastic (my Japanese is so-so).
Breakfast (included) is fantastic; I always chose the Japanese style breakfast and was always offered seconds for miso soup and rice (which I seized because everything was so delicious). I don't believe they offered any lunch meals but this should be your opportunity to explore the area and other destinations. There is a Murasawa steak place nearby which turned out to be my #1 steak spot in the world. Regarding dinner, ideally, the price we paid would have included dinner -- having to pay what we did total for our stay was quite expensive but we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and the quality of the food was quite high. In terms of value, you will be compromising that attribute but this should be a known factor when looking at these types of hotels.
The location is excellent. We planned our trip where we stayed 4 nights in a Western style hotel in Kyoto downtown and the remaining 2 nights in Ryotei Rangetsu. For the 2 days, we planned to explore the nearby offerings (e.g., bamboo forest, monkey park, etc.) and we were glad that we planned everything in this manner because it worked out perfectly. The location of this hotel is right across the river from the monkey park and is walkable distance to the bamboo forest.
The onsen experience, as others have described, is not the best in my book but was still very good. Although we did not book a room with a private onsen, we did use the onsen available to all guests and I was the only person ever using it. The facilities were clean and function well.
The bedding/mattress was quite comfortable and was setup/taken down by staff during our breakfast/dinner. The staff also refill the two water thermoses in your room (hot and cold) which was much appreciated.
Overall, we had a fantastic experience in Kyoto and this was our most memorable stay in Japan. The quality of service, rest, food, etc. we received were all excellent. In addition, the staff made us feel like VIP when we stayed here. We very much appreciate the staff and their hard work. Ryokans, especially in this level of quality, are typically more expensive but I would highly recommend this experience if you've never done it before. In the future, we look forward to coming back and staying in this ryokan again.


Excellently located ryokan. Excellently dedicated service. Excellently big rooms. Exquisitely prepared and presented Kaiseki dinners, traditional Japanese breakfasts and tea breaks.
Exclusively ours during our stay.
My one tip: if you have heavy luggage with you, do take a cab from Saga-Arashiyama station to the ryokan cos it's hard to pull them along crowded cobblestone paths.
Ok, now onto the disappointments. The main thing was around price: for a similar experience of stay, we paid much less in other areas. We were expecting this hotel to be the highlight of our trip given the price we were paying each night, and in some ways it was. However, in other hotels we had free drinks waiting in our fridge after the hotsprings (basically equally $5-10, but made you feel really at home), but Rangetsu's drinks were the typical overpriced hotel rates. For a luxury hotel, it really hit home that these guys were here to make a buck. The other thing is that despite it's great location, the view is terrible. There's no view of anything from our room aside from a small garden, or anywhere in the hotel - likely for privacy. The hotel is located on the banks of the river with a great view of the fall foliage across the river, yet we had to walk outside to see any of it. Finally, it was around the service. I understand that having privacy is great, but the hotel felt very understaffed. We seldom saw any of the staff around or any activity anywhere around the hotel. There was also nothing to do in the hotel itself, so we found our time in the hotel... peaceful but a bit boring. I guess that's what the hotel is going for so we didn't hold it against them.
All in all, would we go back? Maybe, but not at the same price we paid.



I don't want to repeat what other reviewers have already stated in their posts because I found myself nodding to all the good things they have said. I will focus on two things that stood out in our minds, which sets this Ryokan apart from others we've stayed: attention to detail and our attendant.
Firstly, the attention to detail is phenomenal. Many of the things are done preemptively and behind the scenes. When we first arrived, as we walked up the pathway, Kume, our front desk, came running out to greet us and immediately insisted on carrying our luggage. The next time we saw our bags, they were already neatly lined up in our rooms waiting for us.
During our meal, each course was brought separately, but their timing was on point such that the next dish was brought out just as we were finishing the last few bites of the previous dish.
When we went up after our meal we decided to go out for a stroll in our yukatas (like a kimono). We were informed that they had changed the sizing of my gf's yukata as she is more on the petite side. Then when we had come down to the front, two pairs of traditional Japanese sandals were already lined up waiting for us.
After the pleasant stroll, we came back to our rooms to find that the table had been moved aside and our futons had been set up.
I'm sure that there had been other things done for us that I hadn't even noticed, but as you can tell, they make it a priority to ensure that our stay was as comfortable as possible.
Next is our attendant, Megumi-san. After we had filled out the registration and were waiting for our room to be prepared, we were met with Megumi-san, who told us she would take us to our room. She had the friendliest smile and most genuine demeanour that you couldn't help but feel relaxed and welcomed to the inn.
Throughout our stay, we would be met by Megumi-san who served us our dishes for the Kiseki meals, helped setup our room and explained some of the details of Japanese culture. In the end, we found that she was the difference between staying at any other 5 star accommodation vs being doted on in a luxurious Japanese fashion.
Plainly speaking, Rangetsu has been hands down the highlight of our two week trip in Japan and we would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat.



The Ryokan is part-modern so it has a general traditional feel (Yukata, Onsen, Japanese food) but it also has modern amenities e.g., elevators, free wi-fi and high-tech toilets (the seat opened on entry to the room!)
On our very rainy arrival we were greeted in the taxi by the wonderfully friendly staff holding umbrellas. The staff were extremely helpful and took all our (very heavy) luggage to our room.
We were greeted with fresh green tea and an afternoon snack (Japanese biscuit)
Our maid came and introduced us to the room and showed us our Yukata robes. I ended up buying one of these for myself (in a store) as it was just so comfortable! We were provided with fresh socks everyday too.
The room itself was sparkling clean with a personal bath/onsen (not hot spring). Though it was not hot spring it was still the wonderful Japanese style with wooden bath, flooring and separate shower. In the bathroom there was a hairdryer and any extra amenities you may need (shower gel, shaving gel, toothbrush etc) even make-up remover!
The food included in stay was incredible value! We had dinner for one of the nights and it was about 8 courses!! The food was all very traditional - a good way to get a taste of things you've probably never eaten before
Our maid was very friendly, sweet and polite and she could speak amazing English
The room had a good air con system. At night they rolled out the futon style beds - very comfortable. In the morning we chose a western style breakfast ~ omelette, toast and sausages (even ketchup!) If you want a Japanese style breakfast it is fish and a lot of raw fish so make sure you can eat that early in the mornings!
Each day when we left the Ryokan there would always be a friendly member of staff to help us or give us a spare umbrella - they would even walk with us down to the entrance and wave goodbye - such lovely attention to detail
Also, the onsen is very nice - they have two onsen pools (in the womens) one indoors and one outdoors. You will need to be prepared to go fully naked into the pools! And be careful if you have any large tattoos as this is not allowed - towels are provided for you as well as shampoos, hairdryers etc.
The location of the Ryokan is pretty good - it's about a 10-15 minute walk to the nearest JR station and to get to Kyoto by train it takes about 30 minutes. Make sure you go to the right station as there is more than one located around the area! When you have walked to the station once it's then very easy to remember.
If you want to go out in the evening and are staying within the area don't get caught out with the timings - most of the eating places/shops/everything shut at 6pm.
We managed to find a great little bar next to the tram station which kindly made us a delicious curry! Had a couple of plum wines here to ~ Great staff and nice little bar :)
The Bamboo forest, Tenryu-ji Temple and Arashiyama Monkey Park are all very close by - all 5/10 minutes walking distance max.
There are many places to eat during the day including street food in the surrounding area and also lots of shops for traditional souvenirs and handmade items.
We really enjoyed our stay here and would definitely visit again! Thanks for having us! :)
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