Ieno House Kyoto

Lovely place in an amazing neighborhood.

Clean and cozy.

I came back for a second stay because I was really happy with my first visit. The inn still has a nice atmosphere, but this time there were too many inconveniences, and I left disappointed. The washer was there, but its dryer function showed an error and didn't dry anything. I was traveling with children and had picked the place partly because I expected to need laundry. I told the staff, but they didn't know what was wrong and asked me to wait and see, so I had to dry the clothes in the room. I wouldn't have needed to ask for extra laundry if the machine could wash and dry as expected. Getting in touch with the front desk was another problem. I called to ask about the dryer and towels, but the calls wouldn't connect, even though it didn't seem busy. After a while I got a call back from a 050 number. I wish they had called from the front desk number. When I looked it up, the number seemed like a suspicious sales line, and the call sounded distant, perhaps because reception was poor. Towel details weren't explained either. I hadn't checked in advance whether towels were replaced during a multi-night stay or whether extras cost money, but that information wasn't provided. Extra bath towels cost 550 yen each, and only adult-sized towels are supplied. With both adults and children using them, that wasn't enough. Breakfast had changed since my last visit, and I felt the quality had dropped a lot. Before, a bread sommelier baked several kinds of delicious bread in front of us in the morning. Now the breakfast menu comes from Ogawa Coffee. It takes a long time to prepare: the coffee beans have to be ground one small mill at a time, and bread can only be baked one serving at a time. There's no toaster, so you use the oven, but there are no directions for the right temperature or baking time. You have to figure it out by trial and error. The scrambled eggs served with the salad were cold, and I think I'd be happier just going to Ogawa Coffee for breakfast. Even with all that preparation, the food doesn't arrive until after 8 AM, so it's better to finish getting ready to leave before then. They also apparently don't store luggage before or after check-in on public holidays because their partner liquor store is closed. Nobody explained this at all. It seems like a service people would especially need on public holidays, so I found the lack of explanation strange. My first stay was quite satisfying, and the inn itself has a lovely atmosphere. This time, though, there were so many disappointing things that I can't say I was very satisfied.