Homestay Visit
 

My husband and I are planning a visit to Japan. We want to stay in a traditional Japanese setting. I mean full out Washitsu style - tatami flooring, sliding doors, zabuton seating, everything. To my suprise, it's difficult to find a hotel like this... they are all western style hotels :crykitty:

But, I have heard about homestay visits. Which sounds so wonderful! But I have some questions that I hope that someone can answer ....

How is the privacy?
Do they offer tours of Japan?
Rates/website info?
When is the best time of the year to go?
Are meals included?
How many people stay with one family?

Please if anyone has had a homestay visit I would love to know how it went! Or if anyone knows of some good traditional japanese hotels that would be awesome too!!

Thanks everyone :lovecat:

why don't you try a ryokan? This is exactly what you are describing.

Bingo. There are ryokan everywhere.

You are having trouble finding one because you are not looking for one. In Japan, hotels are usually western styled. Looking for a "hotel" will only get you western styled accommodations. Japanese style are called ryokan or minshuku (the minshuku usually being the lower in rank/quality - but not always).

Your best bet is going to be to look for a ryokan with onsen attached, as they are almost always 100% traditional.

Speaking about ryokan - a friend visited one with an onsen attached and he was not really pleased :)

Believe me, traditional Japanese environment is definitely NOT the best setting for a holiday and is totally not romantic, private or luxurious...

My friend was in a first class ryokan and he said that actually only things he had in the room were a table (50 cm high) and something like "a bed from dried rice paddies" or something like that, and the room was not single, not double... there were 4 people in one room :) The onsen was divided into men and women, so I dont think you wud be able to enjoy with your husband, and furthermore, meals were extremely small (as they are everywhere in Japan) and there were gokiburi (Japanese cockroaches).

I hope that will make up your mind for a traditional Japanese adventure...

You might try a temple stay at Koya-san. Staying at a temple may not be very romantic, but it'll be authentic with a tatami room and traditional Buddhist food, and walking through the temples and the Okunoin cemetery is very nice...

I`ll toss out my opinion that ryokan are generally very nice, and that they are indeed romantic.

I have never been in a ryokan with cockroaches - I`m sure they exist, but that`s certainly not something "normal".

Judging all by one bad experience of a friend who was clearly looking for something very different and who apparently knew little about traditional Japanese accommodations is, to say the least, unfair.

To me, the level of service at a ryokan sort of symbolizes luxury. You don`t have to do anything - they will bring your meal to your room, set the table, then later come and clean it all up... After that they will ready your futons and put them away in the morning.

As for the meals being small - I guess if you`re used to massive portions you could say that... But I find it hard to picture that happening in a ryokan as they tend to be huge multi-course meals.

I've been to some very nice ryokans with excellent service and the food was awesome and more than plentiful (and I'm a big guy with a big appetite). I like sleeping on futons, my wife and I sleep on them at home.

The rooms certainly are somewhat spartan and won't include things like big leather couches or dining tables and big plasma screen TV's or any of the things you would expect in luxury western style accommodation. Whole point of staying in a ryokan for a westerner though is to have a somewhat uniquely Japanese experience and that's what it is.

I have been to a few where I was a little disappointed with the quality versus price but then there are a lot of places in Japan that are barely getting by and haven't been renovated much over the last 20 or so years.

I think of Ryokan as "expensive camping".;)

The main appeal, I think, is the onsen and the food. The ones I have stayed at are spendier than hotels, so it is a treat to splurge on only every once in a while.

I've been to a few Ryokans myself. I have yet to have a bad experience. I've been to one in Kyoto, Gero Onsen, a couple in Kanazawa, and various places in Toyama.

I've never heard of Gokiburi in one of those... I think your friend really had a bad experience if he or she saw them. I'd be quite upset about that myself as I'm actually quite... scared of them.

They don't all have onsen attached... but most of the ones I've been to do. The one I went to in Kyoto had like a personal Onsen-- which would be like a wooden bathtub. I can't imagine fitting two people in one of those.

However, if you are willing to dish out the dough, you can get a room with a personal Rotenburo-- which is like an outdoor bath. I have no idea how much that would cost, but I could imagine it would be a fortune. I've been in one of those rooms before and been in the onsen that it had and it was quite amazing (could probably fit about 8 people in it comfortably). If you're concerned about not being able to enjoy it because you can't take a bath with your loved one, you might look into something like that (but like I said it will come at a cost).

Most places have separate baths for men and women, like other posters have said. You'll still get that "Japanese" experience if you decide not to take a bath because of that, but there's something so refreshing about a really nice washitsu after going in an onsen!

Another option you have is to try to find a restaurant that has an onsen in it. These are actually quite common. You can get a meal for $50-100 at a place like that. Most of the time, actually, those places will be like hotels/ryokans too. There is a particular one in my town (in the mountains) that you can eat at for about $60 a person. They have an outdoor onsen/baththing overlooking a giant dam in the river nearby and some rooms to relax in before/after taking a bath. There's no time limit or anything, you just kinda drive to the bath and hang out as long as you desire. I can imagine that type of place is extremely uncommon though. I think to find places like that you'd have to be in the countrside.

There are a lot of nice places in the Hokuriku region (I'm pretty biased cause thats where I live), but Gifu prefecture is pretty famous for their onsens. Unfortunately those places are off the beaten path as far as tourists are concerned. Gero city in Gifu is pretty famous in Japan, though, so you might be able to find some reasonable transportation there (you can take a train but I believe it's slow... but I imagine it'd be very scenic).

Like everyone else said, a Ryokan would be a way better idea than a homestay if you're concerned about privacy and travelling and things like that. I personally think the best time to go to a Ryokan would be in the fall or winter. That's when the food will be the best and when the onsen will feel the best. It's been a hot summer, but I'm already looking forward to going to a hot rotenburo (onsen w/ a moon roof/outdoor onsen) while it's pouring snow outside.