Let's talk about Ryokans

[DC3]

Well yes we'll get to that later when I talk about reservations.

Now you’ve got us champing at the bit.

 

[RooFlyer]

How to stay at a ryokan.

Again, from limited experience, but I think if you are a 'obvious' westerner, Vs someone with at least some conversational Japanese (I think like yourself) then the treatment is different as to how the staff interacts with you on arrival. Not as involved, I think, for various reasons (language being the main one). I was never made aware of a Nakai nor were the explanations of the facilities very detailed. At Noboribetsu, a brilliant one recommended by yourself, it was obvious that there was afternoon refreshments in the 'lounge' but I wasn't told about that. Another didn't even mention the onsen!

And with respect, its all very well to say to use the Japanese language sites/versions (as you advised me last time), but often they are impenetrable, even with Google translate and/or they are images, unable to be translated. I was so frustrated I think once or maybe twice that I had to go to booking.com just to book a western room in a place I wanted.

Apologies if I'm jumping the gun again and you are going to cover these :

And there's that funny field you have to fill in when filling out the reservation. I forget what it came up as, but the English version after it asks for your name, there is another name-like requirement, and it was explained that this is for Japanese, to put the name in some standard character? Sorry, I know I've scrambled this, but hopefully you know what I mean and might explain it.

Then there are the ones that if you are only one person, they won't let you book the room you want, but only 'run of house', which means you get what they give you on arrival, which may be Japanese style - impossible for an oldie with arthritis.

generally how does number of tatami equate to typical room sizes?

One tatami is about 1.6 m2, other than that nothing is standard.

Don't some places quote the room size in terms of number of tatami? (apologies again, please don't be annoyed, I am one of the least experienced in the subject here, just making comments as a mug westerner having recently had to go through all this )

 

[rbjhan]

if you are a 'obvious' westerner, Vs someone with at least some conversational Japanese (I think like yourself) then the treatment is different as to how the staff interacts with you on arrival.

Doesn't have to be a westerner, you could be Chinese or Korean, if you don't speak Japanese, then yes I'm afraid sometimes you will have a less than full experience.
The one in Noboribetsu, I must say, when I went there in 2016 I did not speak any Japanese at all. More likely the service level just drop after COVID which seems to be a trend!

Shockingly, even some Japanese people are not happy about some ryokans for various reasons, you know...we are talking about a whole industry here.

And there's that funny field you have to fill in when filling out the reservation.

Your name in Katakana. That is for them to know how to pronounce your name properly. Japanese people need to fill this too.
There are many sites that can convert your name to Katakana, you only need to do it once.

if you are only one person

Some place won't even accept one person, that's just how it is.
I just go look for somewhere else.

 

[rbjhan]

Don't some places quote the room size in terms of number of tatami?

Yes.
The question was about that room I used in my example, where the tatami part is less than half of the total and the ryokan quoted both sizes.
But sometimes they only state the number of tatami mats, you can assume that other parts are not big. Again, like I said, no standard rules.

 

[Quickstatus]

many people go outside in yukata

Aren't they just a dressing gown?. I heard they don't have pockets. How then to carry your wads of ¥ + mobile phone etc?

 

[Matt_01]

Aren't they just a dressing gown?. I heard they don't have pockets. How then to carry your wads of ¥ + mobile phone etc?

Not really, it is a traditional form of dress and even in major cities some will venture out in yukata. Maybe it is slightly different but fundamentally look very similar. If you carry additional items these can be carried in pouch or in some cases attached to the yukata.

 

[Matt_01]

@rbjhan nice write up. We have stayed in a few as I mainly do accomodation bookings for our travel. I am comfortable and at easy when staying in Roykans however MrsM not so much and when our daughter was a bit younger the dining option was sometimes a challenge but nothing that could not be overcome.

Will you be covering costs? Everyone will have different budgets and price points and it maybe worth mentioning as there are some that could be considered 'cheap and cheerful' and you will get idea. Then there is the other end of the spectrum which can be north of $500 per/night/person depending on room size, food, facilities, the establishment etc. We have stayed at both ends of the spectrum with the later not being very often.

 

[Quickstatus]

'cheap and cheerful'

How do I distinguish between C&C and C&N?

 

[Matt_01]

How do I distinguish between C&C and C&N?

What is C&N

 

[Seat0B]

What is C&N

cheap and nasty?

 

[Katie]

We stayed in a Ryokan in Hakone for onsen back in Sept, 2017. While yukata may have been available for many sizes, I was given a man's one as it was bigger than the women's ones available.
I am 6' tall and not skinny, and I could barely wear the yukata in our room. Definitely couldn't wear it around the ryokan.

Just a note from my one experience. We loved it overall, despite my wrangling with the yukata to keep decent inside our room!

 

[Quickstatus]

and I could barely wear the yukata in our room

For me it's the tiny (relative to me) feet. Which means any obligatory slippers are going to be too small.

 

[rbjhan]

@rbjhan nice write up. We have stayed in a few as I mainly do accomodation bookings for our travel. I am comfortable and at easy when staying in Roykans however MrsM not so much and when our daughter was a bit younger the dining option was sometimes a challenge but nothing that could not be overcome.

Will you be covering costs? Everyone will have different budgets and price points and it maybe worth mentioning as there are some that could be considered 'cheap and cheerful' and you will get idea. Then there is the other end of the spectrum which can be north of $500 per/night/person depending on room size, food, facilities, the establishment etc. We have stayed at both ends of the spectrum with the later not being very often.

That is a great idea.
I am slightly hesitant since I'm a solo traveler and there are many restrictions in terms of where I can book, which won't be a problem for a larger group....let me think about how to address this.

 

[rbjhan]

We stayed in a Ryokan in Hakone for onsen back in Sept, 2017. While yukata may have been available for many sizes, I was given a man's one as it was bigger than the women's ones available.
I am 6' tall and not skinny, and I could barely wear the yukata in our room. Definitely couldn't wear it around the ryokan.

Just a note from my one experience. We loved it overall, despite my wrangling with the yukata to keep decent inside our room!

I'm an Australian M or L depending on the brand, so not a very large person by our standards.
But I don't normally go shopping for clothing in Japan. L mostly won't fit, not to mention those dreadful "Free Size" ones!
Unfortunately there's so much pressure for Japanese women to be slim....their society norm does not care for inclusivity either

 

[rbjhan]

Now let's talk about money!

First of all, ryokans charge by person, so please use my numbers and multiply by x, x being the number of guests in your group.

I've talked to a few Japanese people about it, they all think anything over 20K Yen is expensive. Meanwhile my Aussie friends are staying in places costing several times that amount. Take this with however much salt you deem necessary....

I tend to agree with the Japanese and aim for something like below 30K Yen. However this also depends on location, a lot.
Hakone for example, is extremely expensive because of its proximity to Tokyo. Ditto Kawaguchiko.

The best value ones, are in Tohoku, in my experience. Nagano, Gifu, Gumna are also not bad.
Kyushu tend to be a mixed bag. Yufuin is very expensive, but Kurokawa is not....
Also note, Kansai is not famous for onsen. There are famous ryokans in Kyoto but you are paying for the service and prestige more than anything, see Tawaraya, Hiiragiya...etc.

I've stayed in ryokans from about 10K Yen all the way to 90K Yen. While the very cheap ones are never going to make anyone's top XX list, they actually tend to be relatively nice (if yo do your research). The most expensive ones otoh, you are more likely to be disappointed just because you expect too much....my favourites are almost always in the 30K range.

I know this is going to be difficult, but the Japanese are very picky, their reviews are generally a lot more critical than foreigners'.. So I like to read Japanese reviews to get a good idea about a ryokan, also practice my reading skills

 

[DC3]

I just go look for somewhere else.

 

[RooFlyer]

One thing I didn’t like in my recent visit to Hokkaido is that you got assigned a dinner meal time without being asked. In my case it ranged from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. As I was planning to go out immediately after checking in and not being back till 6 pm in the 5:30pm case, I asked that I be moved to a later slot, not thinking that it would cause consternation.

They pushed back initially saying no, that’s the time I’ve been allotted but I equally pushed back ( politely ) because I was on holiday, planning to go out and see sights and I really didn’t want to be dictated to when I had to be back in the hotel.

It took a couple of calls to somewhere in the back but ultimately they agreed to move me to 6:30 pm, but they were clearly unhappy. I appreciate it’s a set menus and take some preparation but that might be done more at the guest’s convenience, I would hope.

@rbjhan how would you handle this? Is it a major breach of custom to ask for a different dining slot compared to what you’ve been allotted? In my case it was done as early as possible immediately after checking in which was as soon as as it was permitted.

 

[rbjhan]

As a solo traveler this happens a lot sadly....some don't accept one person at all, some only on weekdays, some only offer the smallest room.....
That is how it is, I don't see the need to get hung up on it.

 

[rbjhan]

One thing I didn’t like in my recent visit to Hokkaido is that you got assigned a dinner meal time without being asked.

Unfortunately I think you get the gaijin treatment my friend.
The only times they didn't ask which time I prefer would be if there's only one dinner sitting.
I'm not sure why because they certainly knew that I was Australian since it's in my IKYU profile.
And I didn't speak any Japanese until after COVID.

 

[RooFlyer]

Unfortunately I think you get the gaijin treatment my friend.

It seems so, although I did have all those lovely phrases you laid out for me and I practiced assiduously