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Hotels in Arashiyama, Kyoto: 5 a short walk from the stations
Approximate, at the rate on 2026-10-02. You pay in yen.
- Hotels in Arashiyama, all within a short walk of Hankyu, Randen or JR stations
- Hotel Arashiyama says every room faces the Togetsukyo Bridge; Hananoie serves dinner in your room
- GrandWest sleeps five to a room, Ranzan has a large bath, Riverside takes pets
The five
| Best for | Where to book | Score | Weeknight (per person) | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Every room looks onto Togetsukyo Bridge, the hotel says — if you can’t decide | Hotel Arashiyama Check price |
84/100 | ¥10,000–18,000 | ¥14,000–18,000 |
| Ryokan 7 min from JR Saga-Arashiyama, dinner in your room | Kyoto Arashiyama Hananoie Check price |
75/100 | ¥13,000–17,000 | ¥16,000–22,000 |
| Rooms for up to 5, 5 min from Hankyu Arashiyama | The GrandWest Arashiyama Check price |
73/100 | ¥18,000–43,000 | ¥19,000–43,000 |
| 5 min from Randen Arashiyama, a bath house and English help | Kyoto Arashiyama Ranzan Check price |
70/100 | ¥9,000–41,000 | ¥12,000–41,000 |
| 3 min from Hankyu Arashiyama, rooms for guests with pets | Riverside Arashiyama Check price |
61/100 | — | — |
Prices are the cheapest per person found on Rakuten Travel for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 2026-11-18 – 2027-01-09, for 2 adults in one room (checked 2026-11-08). They move daily — the link shows live prices.
The booking links go to Agoda, which shows today’s price and lets you pay in your own currency. Its price can differ from the Rakuten Travel figures above.
Every room looks onto Togetsukyo Bridge, the hotel says
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.60/5 (360) · Agoda 9.3/10 (381) · 741 in total
- 11 rooms; check-in 14:00, check-out 10:00, last check-in 23:00
- Children of primary-school age and under stay free (Rakuten listing)
- Free rental bicycles, first come first served (Rakuten listing)
Why it made the five
- About ¥10,000–18,000 per person with breakfast on a weeknight.
- Five minutes from Hankyu Arashiyama; two minutes to the Togetsukyo Bridge.
- The hotel’s own Rakuten description says every room looks out on Arashiyama and the bridge.
- 4.6 across 360 reviews, with breakfast rated 5.00.
Getting there: Five minutes on foot from Hankyu Arashiyama station, eight from Keifuku (Randen) Arashiyama and fifteen from JR Saga-Arashiyama; two minutes to the Togetsukyo Bridge.
Language and payment: Per Rakuten, a few staff understand a little English. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club and Discover are listed. Free Wi-Fi throughout.
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Right for: Looking out on the bridge and the hills from your room.
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Not for: Wanting a hot spring or a large bath; the listing shows none.
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Worth knowing: No children’s bedding or extra beds can be added. The six free parking spaces must be booked. The building is non-smoking, e-cigarettes included, and Kyoto’s accommodation tax is extra.
Score breakdown — 84/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★☆☆☆ | The categories Rakuten does show (room and others) average 4.36 |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | ¥10,000–18,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 55% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Five minutes from Hankyu Arashiyama, eight from Keifuku Arashiyama and fifteen from JR Saga-Arashiyama; two minutes to the Togetsukyo Bridge; the hotel’s description says every room overlooks Arashiyama and the bridge; a few staff understand a little English; free Wi-Fi and 24-hour access; non-smoking inside, with a smoking spot on the ground-floor terrace. |
| Trust | ★★★★☆ | 4.6 across 360 reviews (Rakuten Travel 360) |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | The hotel’s own description says every room looks out on Arashiyama and the Togetsukyo Bridge; breakfast rated 5.00 and location 4.74. |
Ryokan 7 min from JR Saga-Arashiyama, dinner in your room
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.35/5 (121) · Agoda 8.9/10 (77) · 198 in total
- A 21-room ryokan that describes itself as right by the Togetsukyo Bridge
- Wheelchair accessible, with a barrier-free room (Rakuten listing)
- Rental bicycles at ¥500 a day
- Check-in 16:00, check-out 10:00
Why it made the five
- About ¥13,000–17,000 per person with breakfast on a weeknight.
- Seven minutes from the south exit of JR Saga-Arashiyama.
- Dinner served in your room, 17:00–21:00; breakfast in a dining hall.
- 4.35 across 121 reviews; location rated 4.56.
Getting there: Seven minutes on foot from the south exit of JR Saga-Arashiyama station (Sagano line), and twelve from Hankyu Arashiyama.
Language and payment: Rakuten’s listing does not say what languages staff speak, so ask when you book. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, UC, NICOS and ORICO are listed. The large bath is communal and nude; if you have a tattoo, ask the ryokan first.
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Right for: Coming from Kyoto Station on the JR line and wanting a traditional ryokan with dinner in the room.
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Not for: Arriving late: last check-in is 18:00.
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Worth knowing: Last check-in 18:00, and the door closes at 23:00. Even if you pay in advance, Kyoto’s accommodation tax is paid in cash at the ryokan. Parking (12 spaces, first come) is free until the end of December 2026, then ¥1,000 per car per night from January 2027.
Score breakdown — 75/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★☆☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.31 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | ¥13,000–17,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 72% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Dinner in your room, breakfast in a dining hall; seven minutes from the south exit of JR Saga-Arashiyama and twelve from Hankyu Arashiyama; the hotel’s description says it is right by the Togetsukyo Bridge; a large bath with artificial mineral hot-spring water; a tea room; rental bicycles (paid); bags held before check-in and after check-out. |
| Trust | ★★☆☆☆ | 4.35 across 121 reviews (Rakuten Travel 121) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | A 21-room traditional ryokan seven minutes from JR Saga-Arashiyama, with dinner served in your room and a tea room. |
Rooms for up to 5, 5 min from Hankyu Arashiyama
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.53/5 (154) · Agoda 9.0/10 (94) · 248 in total
- 10 rooms; some have a microwave and mini kitchen, booked in advance
- Breakfast is served in the restaurant, rated 4.62
- Check-in 16:00, check-out 11:00, last check-in 22:00
Why it made the five
- About ¥18,000–43,000 per person with breakfast on a weeknight.
- Up to five guests in one room, with children’s items to borrow.
- About five minutes from Hankyu Arashiyama.
- 4.53 across 154 reviews; cleanliness rated 4.73, the highest of the seven we scored.
Getting there: About five minutes on foot from Hankyu Arashiyama station.
Language and payment: Per Rakuten, a few staff understand a little English. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express and Diners Club are listed.
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Right for: Families who want to stay together in one room.
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Not for: Anyone who struggles with stairs or has heavy luggage: there is no lift.
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Worth knowing: No lift; stairs only. Free parking is four spaces, first come, a four-minute walk from the hotel. Kyoto’s accommodation tax is collected at the hotel.
Score breakdown — 73/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | The categories Rakuten does show (room and others) average 4.53 |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | ¥18,000–43,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 100% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 11:00; about five minutes from Hankyu Arashiyama; 10 rooms, up to five guests per room; plenty of children’s items to borrow; free coffee, free iPad use and rental bicycles; a rooftop overlooking Arashiyama; paid coin laundry; a few staff understand a little English. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.53 across 154 reviews (Rakuten Travel 154) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | Up to five guests can share a room, with children’s items to borrow; cleanliness rated 4.73. |
5 min from Randen Arashiyama, a bath house and English help
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.26/5 (2,014) · Agoda 8.7/10 (1,164) · 3,178 in total
- 40 rooms; breakfast and dinner in the restaurant
- Free parking, 15 spaces with no height limit, from the morning you arrive to noon when you leave
- Check-in 15:00, check-out 10:00
Why it made the five
- From about ¥9,000 per person with breakfast on a weeknight, the lowest start of the four we could price.
- Five minutes from Randen Arashiyama; three minutes from the Togetsukyo Bridge.
- A large bath; several staff handle everyday English.
- 4.26 across 2,014 reviews, the most of the seven we scored.
Getting there: Five minutes on foot from Keifuku (Randen) Arashiyama station and three minutes from the Togetsukyo Bridge; JR Saga-Arashiyama is the other nearest station. The hotel puts Kyoto Station about 15 minutes away.
Language and payment: Per Rakuten, several staff handle everyday English, and transformers can be borrowed. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club, Discover and debit cards are among the cards listed. The large bath is communal and nude; if you have a tattoo, ask the hotel first.
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Right for: Sorting things out at the desk in English, and ending the day in a large bath.
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Not for: Staying out late: the door closes at 23:00.
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Worth knowing: The door closes at 23:00 for security, but opens later if you tell the hotel in advance. Guests on dinner plans must arrive by 19:00; if you booked without dinner, order it by 15:00 on the day.
Score breakdown — 70/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★☆☆☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.20 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | ¥9,000–41,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, breakfast) — 50% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Five minutes from Keifuku (Randen) Arashiyama; three minutes from the Togetsukyo Bridge; about 15 minutes to Kyoto Station; a large bath; several staff handle everyday English; transformers to borrow; wheelchairs to borrow and an accessible toilet. |
| Trust | ★★☆☆☆ | 4.26 across 2,014 reviews (Rakuten Travel 2,014) |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | Several staff handle everyday English, per the listing, and there is a large bath; 2,014 reviews. |
3 min from Hankyu Arashiyama, rooms for guests with pets
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.36/5 (98) · Agoda 8.5/10 (914) · 1,012 in total
- 22 rooms, with a welcome drink (Rakuten listing)
- Some rooms have a microwave and mini kitchen, booked in advance
- Meals can take allergies into account (Rakuten listing)
- Check-in 16:00, check-out 10:00; no hotel car park
Why it made the five
- No rooms came up in our search window, so we could not check a price.
- Three minutes from Hankyu Arashiyama.
- Pet rooms, with facilities and amenities for pets.
- 4.36 across 98 reviews; service rated 4.52, breakfast 3.00.
Getting there: Three minutes on foot from Hankyu Arashiyama station.
Language and payment: Per Rakuten, a few staff understand a little English. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club and Discover are listed. All rooms are non-smoking, with free Wi-Fi.
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Right for: Bringing a pet to Arashiyama, or arriving late: last check-in is 25:00 (1 a.m.).
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Not for: Putting breakfast first: it is rated 3.00, the lowest of the seven we scored.
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Worth knowing: Pets stay only in rooms marked as pet rooms. Bag storage before check-in must be requested in advance. If you will arrive after 22:00 and do not tell the hotel, the booking is cancelled automatically.
Score breakdown — 61/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★☆☆☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.22 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | No rooms came up in the dates we searched, so we could not check a price and gave the standard three stars (our call) |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Breakfast and dinner in your room; three minutes from Hankyu Arashiyama; pets allowed in pet rooms only, with pet facilities and amenities; all rooms non-smoking, free Wi-Fi; last check-in 25:00; a few staff understand a little English. |
| Trust | ★★☆☆☆ | 4.36 across 98 reviews (Rakuten Travel 98) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | Three minutes from Hankyu Arashiyama, with rooms where you can stay with a pet and facilities for pets. |
Know before you book
- Arashiyama is on the western edge of Kyoto and has three separate stations: Hankyu Arashiyama, the end of the Hankyu Arashiyama line; Arashiyama on the Randen (Keifuku) tram; and Saga-Arashiyama on JR’s Sagano line. They are not linked, so check which one your hotel gives.
- The Togetsukyo Bridge crosses the river in the middle of the area. Hankyu Arashiyama station is on the south bank; the Randen terminus and JR Saga-Arashiyama are on the north side, nearer Tenryuji temple and the bamboo grove. Ranzan and Hananoie are on the north side; Hotel Arashiyama, GrandWest and Riverside are a few minutes from Hankyu.
- From Kyoto Station, the JR Sagano line runs to Saga-Arashiyama; Ranzan’s listing puts Kyoto Station about 15 minutes away. From Osaka, the Hankyu line is the direct route, and Kadensho’s listing gives about 50 minutes from Umeda.
- Day-trippers fill the bridge and the bamboo grove from mid-morning. Staying the night lets you walk them before the crowds arrive and after they leave.
- November, when the leaves turn, is the busiest month. Ranzan’s listing warns of traffic jams around Arashiyama then, so allow extra time by car or taxi.
- Prices here are per person with breakfast, for two sharing. Kyoto charges an accommodation tax per person per night on top; Riverside Arashiyama’s listing gives ¥400 on rates from ¥6,000 to under ¥20,000, and ¥1,000 from ¥20,000 to under ¥50,000.
How we chose: theme, conditions, scoring
How we chose
- Candidates: every property in Arashiyama (Kyoto) listed on Rakuten Travel — 88
- Passed the review filter (counts and averages on Rakuten Travel, the one site that lists every property in the area): 22
- Met every condition below: 12
- Kept: five, each the best at something different
Where the facts come from
- Facts: Rakuten Travel property information (in some articles, each hotel’s own site too)
- Prices: Rakuten Travel live availability, Wednesdays and Saturdays over eight weeks
- Reviews: the count and average on Rakuten Travel, as given in each hotel’s Trust row. Agoda’s reviews are shown under each hotel name for reference only and do not count towards the score
Conditions (all of them, not most of them)
- In Rakuten Travel’s Kyoto City district A, which covers Arashiyama
- At least 50 reviews on Rakuten Travel, averaging 4.0 or better
- The cheapest rate falls between ¥6,000 and ¥50,000 per person per night
- The listing names Arashiyama or Saga in its access details
- Within about a 15-minute walk of Hankyu Arashiyama, Randen Arashiyama or JR Saga-Arashiyama (or Randen Saga and Torokko Saga), or right by the Togetsukyo Bridge, checked against the access details. Hotels in Hanazono, Uzumasa, Takao and Utano, and those reached only by bus or car, are left out
Scoring
Five criteria, one to five stars each, weighted to one hundred points. Every star says where the number came from.
- Quality20 pts
- The average of the scores Rakuten Travel publishes for the room, the bath and the food.
- Value for money25 pts
- The cheapest breakfast-inclusive rate against the median of the hotels we compared.
- Easy to stay30 pts
- Minutes from the station, a bath house, and check-out time.
- Trust20 pts
- Review counts and averages published by Rakuten Travel.
- Only here5 pts
- What this hotel has that the other six do not.
What we dropped
| Property | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Kyoto Arashiyama Onsen Kadensho | Runner-up (60/100) | 60/100, one point behind Riverside Arashiyama. Its hot spring and five free private baths stand out, but at ¥41,000–45,000 per person on a weeknight it runs 229% of the median, which leaves value at one star. |
| Arashiyama Onsen Hanaikada | Runner-up (50/100) | 50/100, eleven points behind the fifth pick. Its in-room dinner is rated 4.57, the highest of the seven, but ¥28,000 per person on a weeknight is 156% of the median (one star for value), and its category scores average 4.26 (one star for quality). |
| Kyoto Arashiyama Onsen Togetsutei | Runner-up | A natural hot spring and 4.15 across 256 reviews, but its role overlaps with Kadensho and Hanaikada, which we scored instead. |
| Hanazono Kaikan | Outside the theme | 4.22 across 397 reviews, but it is seven minutes from JR Hanazono station, not within walking distance of the Arashiyama stations. |
| Hotel Kyoto Eminence (Manyo no Yu) | Outside the theme | A hot spring and 4.17 across 917 reviews, but it is reached by bus or car, not on foot from an Arashiyama station. |
| Hotel Vinario Saga Arashiyama | Outside the theme | 4.28 across 930 reviews with a large bath, but its cheapest rate falls below this guide’s ¥6,000 floor. |
| 66 hotels | Below the floor | Fewer than 50 reviews, or an average below 4.0. |
Questions visitors ask
Which station should I travel to?
It depends on the hotel. Riverside Arashiyama, Hotel Arashiyama and The GrandWest Arashiyama are three to five minutes from Hankyu Arashiyama. Kyoto Arashiyama Hananoie is seven minutes from the south exit of JR Saga-Arashiyama, the station for trains from Kyoto Station. Kyoto Arashiyama Ranzan is five minutes from Randen Arashiyama.
Can I see the Togetsukyo Bridge from my room?
Hotel Arashiyama’s own description on Rakuten says every one of its 11 rooms looks out on Arashiyama and the bridge; we have not checked each room ourselves. It is two minutes from the bridge. None of the other four make that claim. The GrandWest Arashiyama has a guests-only rooftop overlooking Arashiyama.
Is there a hot spring in Arashiyama?
None of the five has a natural hot spring. Hananoie has a large bath with artificial mineral water, and Ranzan has a large bath. The two runners-up have natural hot-spring baths: Kadensho, a minute from Hankyu Arashiyama, with five free private baths (about ¥41,000–45,000 per person on a weeknight), and Hanaikada at the south end of the bridge (about ¥28,000). Bathing is nude and communal; if you have a tattoo, ask the hotel first.
We are travelling with children or a pet. Which one?
The GrandWest Arashiyama takes up to five guests in one room and lends children’s items, but it has no lift. Hotel Arashiyama lets children of primary-school age and under stay free, though it cannot add children’s bedding or extra beds. Riverside Arashiyama takes pets in its pet rooms only.
How much do these cost?
We searched Rakuten Travel availability for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 18 November 2026 and 9 January 2027 (checked 8 November), took the cheapest plan with breakfast and show it per person for two sharing. Weeknights start at about ¥9,000 at Kyoto Arashiyama Ranzan and run up to about ¥43,000 at The GrandWest Arashiyama. No rooms came up for Riverside Arashiyama. Kyoto’s accommodation tax is extra.
Which one would you book?
Hotel Arashiyama: it scored highest overall (84/100), with 4.6 across 360 reviews, breakfast rated 5.00, and about ¥10,000–18,000 per person on a weeknight. It is small, with 11 rooms, no large bath and check-out at 10:00. If you want dinner in your room and a JR station nearby, Kyoto Arashiyama Hananoie scored 75.
Changes
- 2026-11-08 First published. Scored from 88 candidates.