Guesthouse Namaste

The owner is very friendly, informative, and curious about his guests in a good way. This is a good ryokan, about 10 minutes from Kanazawa station. I gave it four stars because the owner’s rules might feel too restrictive for some people. They worked fine for us, though. In my opinion, they’re clear and easy to understand, and came about because of previous bad experiences the owner had with other tourists.

This was unfortunately the worst accommodation of our three weeks in Japan. The owner made us uncomfortable with very detailed explanations, commands, and rules. It’s usually cheap, but during busy season we paid 9000 yen for two people for one night, which felt far too expensive for what we got. Our room was small and close to the toilet, with just two very thin mattresses. We’ve stayed in Japanese-style rooms before, and this one was much less comfortable than the others. There wasn’t a table with cushions either, which we’d normally expect. I thought it would be a local guestroom, but it felt much more commercial than I expected. The owner didn’t uphold the Japanese standards we were used to, perhaps because most of the visitors were non-Japanese.

The shelves here are full of books, travel guides and manga, so I had plenty to browse. I also loved the spacious room in the morning, with sunlight coming through the windows. The owner is a gracious gentleman who clearly cares about his house, and I felt safe staying alone as a woman. Everything was easy to reach on foot, including the station, restaurants and bars, and the showers and toilets were super clean. I’m really glad I came, and would recommend it if you want to experience traditional Japanese interiors.

The partitions in this old Japanese house are so thin that you can hear other people moving around, which would be tough if you’re sensitive to noise. The owner lives there too, and there are rules and set times. A short stay or trial visit is probably enough.