the house was amazing and well finished as a great getaway stay.

nothing, this place was fantastic!

I think this was a brand new house or seemed like it. Everything was very clean and having 2 bathrooms seems like a luxury in Japan. I’ve stayed in a lot of beautiful & historical homes in Japan and don’t think I’ve ever had soft carpeted stairs which also seemed like a luxury. The kitchen was spotless and stocked with almost everything one would need for cooking meals but we never needed anything beyond the electric tea pot for boiling water. I don’t drink coffee so I didn’t care that there didn’t seem to be a coffee maker. I drank the complimentary green tea. We used dishes and utensils too for a birthday cake. The zen garden in the middle of the house was pretty and it’s nice that it’s completely enclosed so mosquitoes and other things can’t swarm you like I’ve had in other machiya type houses here. Only 1 dead cockroach on the stones in the garden so hopefully that meant they have bombed the place to get the rest. (it’s common in Japan & not necessarily a reflection of lower standards) The bathroom was huge! The bathtub too. I think it’ll confuse people how to use the tub though. My Japanese friend took a while to figure it out. Don’t drain it after 1 use. It’s like a tiny pool & you should use it more than once. The towels were great! Some houses have bad, thin towels. The double bed was comfortable and futon in the second bedroom seemed ok but I only sleep in beds. The location is great for exploring Arashiyama and it’s not as far from central Kyōto or inconvenient to get to/from for day trips. I live in eastern Kyōto & Arashiyama feels far away but it was actually very quick. My friend took the Hankyu train and it was closer & quicker than taking the JR train and walking from JR Saga Arashiyama Station. But not too far of a walk if you’re a JR Rail Pass user.

I rarely like pillows in Japanese hotels or houses and these were hard as usual. My Japanese friend didn’t like the pillows either but maybe it’s just our personal preference. Having 2 soft pillows along with the hard ones would be nice for pillow options. We drank our wine in juice glasses and didn’t have a wine opener so adding 2 wine glasses & a corkscrew would be good. Not a big deal for us though. We were fine. Arashiyama is dead at night. We only found one bar open and it was close to the house. The Italian-Japanese fusion restaurant about 8 minutes walk away looks amazing but was very mediocre. I’d stick with the traditional Japanese Kyōto cuisine in Arashiyama. We had delicious “yudofu” dinners too. Much better than the 32,000 yen spent on so-so “Italian” food. The Lawsons in Arashiyama is soon to be closing down so unless something else takes its place, you’ll only have the Mini Stop near the house and Hankyu Arashiyama Station to buy snacks at night.