We stayed at Ryokan Ohto for one night. We booked a room with private western bathroom for 9450 yen. Our room was on the 2nd floor and was quite big.

Location:
- walking distance to Sanjusangendo.
- it takes about 15min to get to Kyoto Station by bus. The bus stop is on the main road (less then 5min away from the ryokan).
- there is also a convenience store close to the bus stop.

Room:
- tatami mats were new and clean.
- the futons were old, not clean and had stains on them, the bed sheets they provided did not look clean either.
- towels were not clean either, had stains of them.
- pillows were too small.
- the aircondition in the room was weak at the beginning but warmed up the room after a while.

Bathroom:
- very small but worked alright
- did not feel clean
- enough hot water

Management/Service:
- old lady who could not speak or understand English
- she was not particularly welcoming and friendly
- lacked service

Conclusion:
This ryokan is way overprized. We would not recommend this ryokan because of lack of service and cleanliness. We would rather stay at a comfortable western hotel for the same or lower rate per night. Fortunetely, we only had to stay for one night because the hotel we stayed at was fully booked during that weekend.

I stayed at Ryokan Ohto for 4 nights in July 2005 and although i scored a large room which i think was the old restaurant room(???)... i didnt have the best experience there. The owner/operator was a crazy old lady who spoke no english and pretended to not understand japanese! she hung up on my japanese friends who called me and the bathrooms and toilets were not kept very clean. it was close to the JR Kyoto station however which was convenient but that was about all that was good about it. wouldnt really recommend it at all:(

I just spent about 2 weeks here as part of a group tour. The rooms seem to vary a lot in size. Some are very small. Mine measured about 8 feet by 13 feet, plus a little alcove area whose purpose was unclear, and a hallway. I had upgraded to private Western bath, which I would recommend, since one woman who didn't had to travel to one floor for her bathing and another floor to use the toilet. Can't imagine doing that when I get up in the middle of the night. I'm not sure if any of the public toilets were Western. The one I used on the first floor one day was Asian, which could be difficult if you're not used to them. The sleeping rooms have tatami mats that you are not allowed to walk on with slippers -- just barefoot or sox. The hotel itself has a small entry way where you remove your outdoor shoes and put on slippers. My bath was tiny but functional. Plenty of hot water and a deep tub for soaking. There were futons in the closet which you pile up for your bed. I recommend 4, as you feel the hard floor until you get that many stacked up. They are thin, so it's not as high as you would think. The pillow was buckwheat kernel which I never did get used to. You might consider bringing your own small pillow if you don't like that choice. There was only a thick comforter and no top sheet for summer, but they give you a yukata (cotton bathing or sleeping robe) which I used as a sheet. There is air conditioning, though the one in my room was weak. Also TV, but only a few channels in Japanese. Although I saw an ad saying they have a restaurant, they don't. They do have a breakfast room and will serve you some food in the morning. Or you can carry it on a tray to your room. (Rooms have wide tables, but remember you sit on the floor, not on chairs.) I used my table to spread out all my things on. There is hot and cold water in the lobby and tea bags and instant coffee for use any time. Also free internet service (one computer) which was quite a bonus for me to communicate by e-mail with friends and family. The location is good, about a 20-minute walk from the central train station and a couple of minutes to a train stop on the private line. That will take you north to the areas you will want to explore. Also a Family Mart convenience store right around the corner, which you will use all the time for snacks, drinks, band-aids, stamps, etc., etc. A lot of friendly helpful people were staying at the inn, from many countries. The woman who runs the place is all alone and you don't see her much. As one person said, "it's a do-it-yourself type of place". But I liked it and would recommend it with the cautions above.