The home was well-appointed and the owners were top notch in communicating before and during our stay.

Lily Machiya was the perfect place for us to stay while in Kyoto. It is a beautiful apartment with all the modern luxuries needed for a comfortable stay. Mark was very good to communicate with and Tomoko was outside waiting for us when we arrived. Thank you for your lovely hospitality! We will return next time we are in Kyoto!

My family of 4 (myself, husband and 2 teens) absolutely loved our stay at Machiya Lily. Mark is a most kind host and gave such a warm welcome and orientation to the home and neighborhood. Very responsive and generous with his knowledge and love of Kyoto, Mark also was so helpful in offering food and site suggestions and in assisting with a lunch reservation at Tempura Endo - a delicious highlight! Machiya Lily is wonderfully unique, designed with care, comfortable and well-situated. It was easy to get to many sights by foot or nearby trains. My running family also appreciated being so close to the beautiful Kamo River to take both short and long runs, and we were lucky to catch the start of cherry blossom season. Our only regret is not staying longer than 3 nights here. We can't say enough good things about Machiya Lily and Mark. We hope to return someday and 100% would choose this home again!

We really loved our four days at Lily Machiya over the holidays in Kyoto. The house is a newly and lovingly renovated traditional wooden Japanese home with a large western bedroom upstairs and a tatami mat bedroom downstairs. There was an ample sized kitchen, a shower/bath and two toilets. It was perfect for our family of four. Host Mark was very responsive, even sending his friend George to meet us when we found ourselves coming in early. Highly recommended.

Nice place close to major tourist attractions. Very clean and authentic place to stay.

Great property located in a great residential section of Higashiyama Ward, where lots of attractions are located. The property is perfect for our family of four with lots of modern touches like heated-floor in the bathroom and dining room to make it extra comfortable in the cold winter. The property manager was extremely helpful in helping us book shuttle service from Itami airport in Osaka.

The host is thoughtful. 1) He arranged my elderly parents to sleep at level one bedroom considering the inconvenience of climbing up the stairs. 2) offered his help on booking restaurants in advance before our stay 3) suggested places of interests and restaurants based on our likes The place is convenient with buses to a lot of places of interests and near to Kyoto station. I would love to be back again and recommend this place to my friends :)

We couldn't be happier with our stay at Tomoko and Marks property. The home was extremely authentic yet updated, clean and spacious. It was in an ideal location, walking distance from the station, food mart, river and sightseeing. We highly recommend renting this home for a stay in Kyoto.

We had a wonderful time exploring Kyoto from this lovely home. Communication with our host was excellent, and we really appreciated a tour of the location and help in using the luggage forwarding service. We were fascinated by the careful renovation of the property, and loved its location for walking to the station, the subway and the many nearby sights. We would recommend it highly.

Lovely Machiya

Highly recommend Machalily. A lot of thought and care has been put into the property giving it a perfect blend of tradition with modern luxuries. Centrally located and easily accessible to everything we wanted to visit, via waking , cabs or using the train system. Thanks to Mark for organizing tours, dinners and generally acting as our personal concierge. A lovely space to unwind in after long days of sightseeing.

Excellent stay in this house! Only to recommended. Super clean, super easy location, the facility have everything including full amenities. Our stay in Japan could not be better without staying in this house. Thank you very much.

Host was amazing, location perfect, an overall great experience.

By far the most gorgeous home we have stayed with vrbo. The modern convinces with the old world charm. Owner met us and explained everything, recommended restaurants, etc... stocked the refrigerator with water , nespresso pods were great appreciated each morning. If only every vrbo was this nice. It was the perfect size for our family of 4. Just heads up there’s no oven or toaster oven so plan accordingly for meals if you plan to dine in.

Excellent house! Loved the woodwork and the details! Very conveniently located for tourists. Everything was perfect! Thanks so much!

The property and property owners were great! They helped coordinate shuttles and baggage delivery to our next location. The home was in the perfect location for the subway and great dining. Thank you Mark.

Beautifully remodeled spaces very tastefully done for American tastes anyway.. The upstairs bedroom is a nice roomy space with toilet and basin but no shower. It could use a mirror and some hooks to be more practical. I used the downstairs tatami room as a bedroom and was quite comfortable. I loved the little garden outside the sliding door so I could have air. Nice relaxing and dining spaces for friends or family. The kitchen is nice size with the basics for eating but little for real cooking. The basement food halls at the department stores have great take out food but it was hard to make a meal from ingredients. Washer/dryer as a single unit is a super plus even though it takes three hours to complete one cycle. Great location not far from the National Museum and the train. Very nice space and very gracious accommodating hosts. Also very organized. Excellent overall.

Machiya Lily is a beautiful place to stay. Our family really enjoyed our stay in this home. The location was great and quiet. Mark & Tomoko did a wonderful job with this Machiya. There is so much detail in the design. I wish we had more time to relax and enjoy the tranquil garden and water feature. After spending each day touring Kyoto, it was a perfect place to return to for a great nights sleep. We hope to return in the future.

Beautifully appointed. Mix of old Japanese architecture with ultra modern plumbing. Great location. The hosts helped me figure out a way to get my luggage shipped to Kyoto. And then once there, they helped us to arrange for a shuttle van to Osaka airport. The walk around the immediate neighborhood to orient us was also very helpful. Would clearly choose to stay hete again! -Howard

Stunning renovation which combined a Japanese sensibility with western taste. I could go on and on but it lives up to all the reviews I read before booking. One small detail I loved is that the hand held shower had an option to put it at western shower height. Mark was a great host and was readily available to answer questions and make recommendations. I will definitely stay here when I return to Kyoto.

We really enjoyed staying in this house. It is a great combination of traditional Japanese architecture and modern convenience, making for a very comfortable place to stay (there is also a nice collection of books on traditional Japanese architecture, from which I learnt a lot!). The location is good, with a number of cafes, restaurants and convenience stores nearby. It is within walking distance to Gion and the Kyoto Station and the subway station is just around the corner, allowing easy access to everything. The hosts were super-responsive and nice. We look forward to being able to return to the house.

My husband and I loved our two weeks at the Machiya Lily. It was the perfect home base for our stay in Kyoto. Mark did a sensitive job of updating the old kimono shop machiya bringing it into modern practicality while maintaining aesthetics and tradition. Mark and Tomoko were amazing hosts. Tomoko met us and walked us around the neighborhood, which is close to transit, restaurants and stores. Mark and Tomoko are the most generous and responsive hosts. The machiya is beautifully appointed; comfortable bed, great kitchen, and a superlative bath and shower. We became acquainted with the grocer on our street who had great fish, fruit and vegetables.The 8-seat sushi restaurant across the street was excellent, and very convenient. We could not have asked for a more ideal place to stay for our memorable first visit to Kyoto.

This has been the best house we have stayed so far. Mark has thought about everything to provide the best comfort and even decorated the house and had a cake ready for my daughter's birthday! Communication is excellent with Mark and he provides suggestions on where to eat and how to get to places. Excellent place and host! We will definately come back to stay here again.

Great stay at this very well placed house near shops and everything you need when self catering.Mark met us at the property on arrival and showed us around the property and told us all about the area.Would like to visit the property if we return to Kyoto. The rooms were immaculately clean and the house had been restored to a very high standard. Well equipped with adequate dishes , cutlery , and good washer dryer..

This converted kimono shop is on a quiet street in old Kyoto, the prettiest part of the city. You can easily walk to temples, shrines, gardens, museums, Gion, train stations, buses, and along the Kamo River. The traditional house has been Westernized (modern bathrooms, kitchen, furniture), yet has kept a strong sense of Japan with it's interior garden, shoji and lattice screens, tatami, and beautiful wood. The host, Mark, is incredibly helpful and has wonderful insights to share. We could not have had a more enjoyable time.

We spent New Years in Kyoto at Machiya Lily. The location is perfect, on a quiet street about 5 minutes from the subway and also 5 minutes from many of the most historic temples. The Machiya itself is very lovingly done, with nice finishes, real sculptures, a traditional Japanese washitsu room with tatami mats, heated floors, and of course computer controlled toilets. We cooked using the surprisingly strong inductive stove and there are a couple of full grocery stores within a 10 minute walk. The Machiya alone would have added to our experience in Kyoto and would easily have earned 5 stars. However our host, Mark, helped make the experience truly extraordinary. He helped us gain admittance to the Moss Temple (Saihoji) which requires sending a postcard from a Japanese address in advance. He also helped make restaurant reservations, including helping Japanese restaurants to understand food allergies, which can sometimes be quite difficult. I tried having my credit card concierge do these tasks first and they were unsuccessful. Mark even made a folder for our itinerary with entrance tickets, directions and bus routes, and a pre-printed explanation of our food restrictions in both Japanese and English. Mark was a wonderful host and he made our entire experience in Kyoto go far more smoothly than we ever could have hoped for. We love Kyoto and hope to return. If we do, we know where we will be staying.

Machiya Lily was a spectacular experience. No details were missed throughout our entire stay. Mark did a great job explaining the city and showing us around the home. A few of my favorites included the Japanese bath, the tatami room and the garden. Mark gave us a handful of local recommendations and Tempura Endo was a very memorable dining experience. Machiya Lily shaped our Kyoto trip and I’d recommend to anyone. Enjoy and don’t think twice about booking!

The house is spacious, well-located, and full of amenities. Mark and Tomoko are exceptionally helpful and gracious. My wife was under weather. Mark and Tomoko actually picked up an herbal supplement for her and brought it to us. Mark provided us with restaurant recommendations and special attractions to see. Mark and Tomoko made us feel at home and welcomed. We unreservedly recommend Machiya Lily.

Mark was very easy to work with and answered our unending questions in a knowledgeable and timely fashion. He even went so far as to purchase a pack and play travel crib so our infant would be more comfortable. He really thought of everything and even gave my husband a tour of the surrounding area so we could get our bearings. It was just lovely. Don't hesitate to book this amazing place.

Loved our stay at Machiya Lily and will be back someday. Perfect location to explore from and a lovely welcoming environment to come home to after a busy day in the great city of Kyoto. Owner Mark and Tomiko could not have been kinder or more helpful. The house is quiet and beautifully and lovingly restored. We've never stayed in a place quite like this and are very grateful to Mark for making it available. Machiya Lily is a marvel of beauty and convenience. We could hardly stand to leave and only managed to do so by promising ourselves we would return!

We had a magnificent stay in Kyoto, based in this renovated old traditional house. It was truly a beautiful place to stay - calm, serene, simple and elegant. We were met at the door by the owner, who showed us through his labour of love, gave us hints and tips about how to keep the house cool, what we might need, where we might want to go and how best to get there, recommendations and ideas for vegetarian food, even providing his mobile number in case we needed help. A great host - thank you! The place itself was wonderful, from the traditional Japanese bathroom to the tatami room looking out on the traditional garden with water feature. All renovations completed with an eye to detail. It had everything that we needed and more! Somewhere to get the laundry done, coffee machine stocked and ready to go, bottles of water already cold in the fridge, air con already on so the house was comfortable, slippers for inside the home, a great selection of books to browse and read. We were able to walk to everything we needed, but there was also a train station around the corner. And a beautiful traditional place to return to in the evening to relax. We couldn't ask for more.

We appreciated such a beautiful home for us to feel so comfortable. The creativity and care are outstanding. The location excellent. The library, a very interesting source of information. Last week we stayed 4 nights. We are traveling to other places this next week, then return to Kyoto. We were happy to see there was availability for us to have use of your home, once again, our last few nights in Kyoto. Definitely recommend and will look forward to staying our next visit to Kyoto. Thank you for sharing your peaceful house.