To make sure you’re all caught up with my Japan blog entries, start here:
- How we booked 12 FREE tickets to Japan
- The perfect starter card to travel for nearly free
- The mad rush to get ready for Japan
- Flying ANA + our first few hours in Tokyo
- How to book a large AirBNB for a big group
- One day in Tokyo
- All Things Osaka
- Kyoto AirBNB for 19? No problem!
- Visiting Fushimi Inari Shrine
- Kyoto Days: Historical Ninenzaka
- All things Kyoto
- How we booked 3 FREE nights in a Tokyo Hostel
- Lost and Found Tales in Japan
- Tokyo MariCar – our GoKarting experience in Japan
- The Japan Takeaways
We left Osaka on Tuesday morning. We took the JR train to Kyoto. But it was a shorter ride unlike the Tokyo to Osaka trip. Once we got to Kyoto, we We had plans on going to Nara, but we decided to check in to our AirBNB, drop off our stuff and then make our way to Nara. That was the plan and we stuck with our plans, sorta 🙂
Once we arrived at Kyoto Station, we took a local train toward Kuramaguchi Station (6 stops). That’s how we guided our group of 19. We told each other how many stops to expect, and when we’re about to approach our last stop one or many of us would send a message that we’d be getting off our next stop.
For some reason, I was under the impression that our walk to our AirBNB from Kuramaguchi was going to take 15 minutes. I was glad I was wrong. It was an easy left turn out of the station, head straight, cross the stop light,, and turn left again and bam, there it was, our home for 4 days, 3 nights in Kyoto, EMI Cottage.
We were greeted by Kimiko, our hostess, and I believe that she owned the AirBNB as well.
We had to remove our shoes and place them in the shoe cabinet, and we all had access to our own slippers.
Our rooms were still being cleaned and were going to be ready by 2pm. We were in no rush.
Unlike our other two AirBNBs in Japan, Kimiko was the only one who actually took the time and talked to our large group. I started having flashbacks. It reminded me so much about the leadership camps I joined in high school. Kimiko assembled us in the main room downstairs (kitchen area). We had a little group meeting with her. She assigned us eight rooms for all 19 of us, occupying the 3rd and 4th floors.
She also gave us tips around the area, places to eat, place to go to. All in all, she made the effort to make us feel comfortable at her place.
Our eight rooms fit two to three guests. First impression. CLEAN!!! Very clean!!! Spotless. You can tell that the sheets were clean and washed and folded neatly. There was an air-conditioning unit in each room. The floors were tatami – a Japanese rice straw material.
There were no “beds” per se. We all used a futon mattress and each person had his/her own comforter and pillow. The bathrooms were shared with two separate private shower rooms per floor. The toilets were also in a different room. There was also a washing machine (including laundry detergent) for our use. Kimiko also provided us with toothpaste and toothbrushes. We were just too happy to be there.
While there were four floors at the property, it felt like we were the only ones there at the time. The 2nd floor was for the staff, and first floor was more like a gathering/social area.
If there was one thing Kimiko asked us is to not make too much noise after 10pm. No problem there. There was no curfew or anything. We could come and go as we please. Just make sure that we brought our keys with us to enter the property.
Since we travel lightly, we were able to do our laundry during our stay in Kyoto. While there was no dryer, we were provided with a drying rack and hangers to dry our little items of clothing.
We really enjoyed our stay here at EMI Cottage. I highly recommend it whether you’re staying with a small or large group. Lastly, I did a quick walk through of our AirBNB and shared it on YouTube.