This hotel provides a wonderful experience for those visiting Kyoto, Japan. The rooms are fairly minimalist, but much more spacious than most Japanese hotels, which have rooms that are often very cramped. The rooms here were not. The bedroom space and bathroom, especially the shower and tub areas, were very large for Japan standards. The staff were very gracious and helpful. The breakfast was exceptionally good. However, if you are one of those Westerners who is stuck with eating the standard American or European breakfasts and do not want to go outside the norm and experience Asian foods, you may be disappointed. For us, this was a highlight of the hotel. The food was excellent and the presentation very nice. The hotel is deserving of an its five star rating.