Hiiragiya
A · 8.7 / 10anchor a leg
One of Kyoto's original big three, an 1818 inn facing Tawaraya, and KI-NRT's third stay was his best yet, because the appeal lies in depth, in layers of craftsmanship and in service that anticipates what you need, and nothing about it shouts for attention. It is easier to book than Tawaraya, with an excellent English website, and to his palate better fed, but the fixtures are dated and the futons tried his wife's patience. Pick the Honkan for Edo-period atmosphere, the Shinkan for modern light and an elevator.
Scores
Food 4.5 / 5
Dinner is kaiseki served in your room, and KI-NRT found it superb and creative. The standout was a clear soup with hamaguri shinjo, the usually chewy clam reworked into an airy, umami-rich ball, which he called a small stroke of genius, and the sashimi was Shimonoseki fugu with a ponzu and fugu-milt sauce. Breakfast is more restrained but just as good, and to his palate Tawaraya's more rigidly traditional meals are not as memorable.
Bath 3 / 5
There is no hot spring here, since central Kyoto has none, and no communal bath either. Every room has a tub of soft groundwater in koyamaki pine, several honkan rooms have Ogawa Sanchi stained glass over the bath, and there are two free bookable family baths, one in stained glass and one fully lacquered. The craft is in the tubs and the glasswork, and the water is ordinary. Across three stays KI-NRT mentions the family baths but never the soak.
Service 5 / 5
Service is where Hiiragiya distinguishes itself, and KI-NRT puts the omotenashi as high as anything he has experienced in Japan. The preferences from his two previous stays were waiting in the room (extra-large bath towels, dietary quirks, an air purifier), and they set up a dining table and chair for his mother-in-law, which Tawaraya does not do. They wiped her wheelchair wheels spotless and shipped a forgotten item home for nothing.
Room 3.5 / 5
All 24 rooms are distinct and traditional, decorated by master artisans (stained glass, fine woodwork, kakejiku scrolls). The Honkan is slightly dark and richly atmospheric, as if you had slipped back into the Edo period; the 2006 Shinkan annex is more modern, with an elevator, and beautiful in its own right. His 49 m² Shinkan room did show its age: one sink, a Toto toilet two generations behind, a broken humidifier, and futons at night.
Place 4.5 / 5
Hiiragiya faces Tawaraya across a narrow one-way street in central Kyoto, about 20 minutes on foot from the Imperial Palace, Gion and Heian Jingu. Inside, holly-leaf motifs run through the carpets, woodwork and linens, courtyard and pocket gardens appear even on the upper floors, and there is a library and a modern art gallery. The decoration changes with the season, and KI-NRT finds it all subtly overwhelming in a very calm, almost zen way.
Getting there
- Kyoto Stn — 0h15, 0 transfers. ~15 min by taxi from JR Kyoto Stn to central Nakagyo.
- Osaka — 0h50, 1 transfer. Osaka to Kyoto ~30 min Shinkansen/special rapid, then ~15 min taxi.