Sumiyoshiya

Everything was perfect. We loved our kaiseki dinner and our stay. It was the highlight of our Japan trip.

Located near the Omijo markets, the ryokan was an ideal location from which to explore Kanazawa. Our room had a separate bathroom and toilet, good air conditioning, and comfortable seats and futons. A good Japanese breakfast was available, along with Western options. The ryokan has laundry facilities and separate male znd female onsens. The staff are very helpful and the owner has good English. We enjoyed our stay there very much and would not hesitate to return.

PROS: 1. Great location! Ryokan is about 1.5 km from Kanazawa station, 200 m from Omicho market, and about 2 km from Kenroku-en garden and Kanazawa castle. 2. Spacious comfortable room with a private toilet and wash area, with a booklet telling guests how to properly behave in a ryokan or in an onsen and even makes a brief introduction about the kaiseki meal. 3. The owner was very hospitable and warm 4. Delicious seafood kaiseki dinner and breakfast. 5. The ryokan's history! It is more than 300 years old and the oldest ryokan in Kanazawa that has been run by the same family. * Note: we were quite too shy to try the onsen since unlike in other places in which you could use the bath exclusively for your group, this ryokan has common baths segregated by gender, although as far as I know they have a few rooms with private baths.

From the moment we arrived we felt welcome at Sumiyoshiya. Not only is the Ryokan lovely to look at, but the owner and staff are incredibly friendly and the rooms first rate. We had a room in the second floor facing the street, but from 10pm to 7 or 8am it was so quiet you’d barely know it was there. The room was large, light and airy with a separate ante-room and lobby. The futons were comfy and the quilts very cosy. We opted for the Japanese breakfasts, which were delicious. Sadly we didn’t arrange in time to be able to have dinner in-house, but it smelt good and, if the breakfasts were anything to go by, would have been great to try. Sumiyoshiya is perfectly located for exploring Kanazawa - it’s close to Omicho Ichiba market, the castle an Kenroko-en garden, while there are nearby bus stops for the Kanazawa loop bus (the hop-on hop-off service which takes you between sights if you don’t fancy lots of walking). The owner told us of a couple of nearby places to buy passes for this. If travelling by car you can stop right outside to drop bags and the ryokan even has a couple of private parking places around the corner (but there are really close paid parking lots if these are full).