"This Ryokan was wonderful. The room we stayed in fit our group of four fairly well, although with the four futons down it was a bit tight walking through if people left stuff on the ground. It was a beautiful room, with a nice, deep Japanese bath
The hotel offers Japanese breakfast and dinner for an additional charge - both a bit pricey, but when you see the large variety and the quality of the items served, it is worth that cost. We had one breakfast and one dinner. The dinner is Kaiseki style (not sure if the breakfast fits that category). Both served very small portions of many items that were tasty and artistically presented. On first sight you'd expect to go away hungry because of the small size but there are so many items served that it was filling.
The front desk and dining area staff were very helpful and friendly. They seem able to speak some English but we speak Japanese and used that to communicate.
We purposely chose a location in Higashi-yama, and it was great for what we wanted - a 10-15 minute walk to two train stations, one of which goes to the main Kyoto station, right next to Maruyama Park and Yasaka Shrine, and a 15 minute walk from Kiyomizudera my favorite temple of all. Walking the other way Heian Shrine was also in reach. Everyplace we wanted to go outside of Higashi-yama could be reached by the two nearby trains."