Jinya Sunset Inn by Murasaki

The location is great, the place is cute, and my room was very clean, with comfortable beds, opening windows, and a luxurious shower. But as a woman traveling alone, I felt uneasy with nobody working in the lobby. Someone guided me through remote check-in, and I had no problems during my stay. The neighborhood felt very safe, but I still wished there had been staff on site. Most of the guests seemed to be male backpackers, and if someone had followed me inside, no one would have been around. I skipped the laundry and rooftop bar because I didn’t feel safe spending time in shared spaces or drawing attention to being alone. The halls quickly smelled of dirty feet from everyone putting shoes in the cubbies. Staff might have been able to deal with that to some extent. Some drunk women were also very loud, running up and down the stairs. I assume that with no staff on site, they can’t forward or receive luggage either. The Jinya morning market is right across the street. I’d also recommend the larger Miyagawa market, which has street food.

The neighborhood is quiet at night, with plenty of restaurants and a supermarket close by. The location is perfect. We found the remote check-in surprisingly quick and efficient, and the instructions were so detailed that we didn’t need staff there in person to explain everything. The kitchen was clean and well equipped, and the washer and dryer were free. The stairway is extremely steep, as previous guests have said, so don’t bring heavy luggage upstairs.

The location is fantastic, with a great view of Takayama Jinya and the morning market. Self check-in was easy, and the staff member on the video call was friendly and informative. The room looked just as advertised. Room 2B had terrible soundproofing and insulation. In December it was incredibly cold. It was 14 °C (57 °F) when I checked in, so I had to run the AC at full blast throughout my stay. It was too loud for me to sleep with it on, even as a heavy sleeper, so I turned it off. Four hours later, I woke up because the room had dropped from 20°C to 15°C.

The rooftop bar feels like another world, and the view from up there is wonderful. Our room was cozy and comfortable, with real tatami, and felt like a different world from the small room we’d come from in Tokyo Shinjuku. Sunset Inn sits across from Takayama Jinya, the town’s old government building, making it a great choice for a stay in Takayama. The house is old and has stairs only. We were lucky to have the first room, so we didn’t have to carry all our luggage very far up.