Dhawa Yura Kyoto – Banyan Group

HOTEL OVERVIEW

So I stumbled into Dhawa Yura completely by accident – honestly, I was looking for another hotel entirely but got turned around in Higashiyama (which happens to literally everyone, trust me). What caught my eye first wasn’t the sleek lobby or anything fancy, but this incredible smell of hinoki cypress mixed with something floral drifting from the entrance. Turns out they’ve got this whole Japanese bathing culture thing woven throughout the property, and you can actually smell the natural wood from their onsen-style facilities from the street.

The location is what really makes this place special though. You’re on Ohashi-cho, which most tourists skip right over because they’re rushing toward Kiyomizu-dera, but locals know this little pocket is where you get the real Kyoto without fighting crowds at 7 AM. I mean, you can walk to Gion in maybe ten minutes if you cut through the right alleys, but you’re far enough away that you won’t hear drunk salarymen stumbling around at midnight. The staff actually gave me a hand-drawn map – not some glossy brochure – showing shortcuts to places like Kodai-ji temple and this tiny sake bar that doesn’t even have a sign. That kind of insider knowledge you just can’t fake.

What surprised me most was how they’ve managed to feel authentically Japanese without going overboard with the whole “authentic experience” marketing thing that makes you cringe. The rooms have these gorgeous tatami accents and sliding doors, but you’ve also got a proper shower with decent water pressure (which, let’s be real, matters when you’ve been walking around Kyoto’s hills all day). The beds are actually comfortable too – not those rock-hard futons some traditional places insist on. At night, when things quiet down, you can hear the temple bells from Kenninji drifting over, especially if you get one of the upper floors facing east. Check-in was refreshingly smooth, no twenty-minute spiel about amenities, just genuine helpfulness when I asked about restaurant recommendations. They steered me away from the obvious tourist traps and toward this incredible kaiseki place that locals actually frequent. The only minor thing – and I’m being picky here – is that the elevators can get a bit crowded during the evening rush when everyone’s heading out for dinner, but honestly that’s true of most places in this part of the city. If you’re the type who appreciates thoughtful details and wants to feel like you’re staying somewhere that actually belongs in Kyoto rather than just dropped into it, this place gets it right.