Guesthouse Chikayoshi

The bed was reeeally comfy, and Yoshiyuki's house is in a great location. The ceiling felt a bit low to us, though we’re quite tall at over 1.87m, so it may not bother everyone. The owner was very friendly and suggested lots of restaurants and places to visit. He even offered me a second pillow, which I hadn’t realized I wanted. We’ll definitely stay in his guesthouse again on our next visit to Kyoto.

We booked through Airbnb and had arranged with the host to check in at 11am today. When we arrived, he scoffed at our large suitcases, saying Chinese people bring big luggage and aren’t welcome. I found that racist. He said we could check in “on paper” but couldn’t physically enter the room until after 3pm. I accepted that, then politely asked if we could rest in the living room. He suddenly started jumping on the floor and cursing us in Japanese, then threw our luggage outside the door onto the street. We were frightened and shocked by his behavior. He pushed us out and didn’t even want to return our 800 yen tax deposit. He doesn’t speak English well, but uses that as an advantage to cheat and curse guests, or so it seemed to us. I can’t imagine who could put up with this. As a foreign guest, this is a place I’d never want to go.

I was pushed out of the house, and my luggage was thrown outside, after I politely asked if I could wait in the living room while the host cleaned my room. His reaction was absurd and horrible. He got angry for no clear reason and cursed at me in Japanese, though his English is very poor. I couldn’t understand why he treated a guest so rudely and in what I felt was a racist way, saying Chinese people bring big luggage and aren’t welcome. He shouted at and cursed me, threw my luggage out, and pushed me out of the room. I found the whole thing rude and illegal.

The house is okay, but the host doesn’t know how to deal with foreign guests.