My husband and I stayed at Arashiyama Benkei ryokan for one night in April 2007 in a ten tatami mat room. We really treasured our brief experience here -- it was like stepping back in time to old world Japanese hospitality but with good heating and plumbing. We also had one of the best ryokan views in Arashiyama.

The staff was very friendly and at least a couple of them speak English. They spoke better English than the Western hotels that we also stayed at during our trip. This was a little bit important since my husband doesn't speak Japanese and I haven't studied Japanese in 14 years. We really appreciated that Mihoko-san translated the names of the wonderful kaiseki dishes for us.

When we were first walking from Arashiyama station to the ryokan, I was a little worried about finding the place even though I had printed out a map from their Web site. Thankfully, although their sign was in stylized Kanji, they very helpfully included the Hiragana equivalent next to it so that I could recognize their name right away and the map was easy to follow. For visitors who don't read Japanese at all, it is likely that any shop owner in the neighborhood can point you to the ryokan. They also have a black plaque outside welcoming each of their guests by name.

The view was absolutely amazing from our room. We could see the hill side foliage interspersed with cherry blossom trees, the Hozu river and the famous Togetsu bridge. We were also able to take an evening walk along the river in the ryokan's yukata. (We felt silly but when in Rome...)

The room was well heated (important for early April). We had a good sized (for Japan) half bath in our room and paid extra to reserve a bath which was a traditional round, wood tub on a private outdoor terrace. The showers were also on the outdoor terrace. I was cold for a minute but once the shower started, it was fine.

The kaiseki dinner and tofu-focused breakfast were very good and had tons of dishes; it's very possible to eat too much. Dinner was in our room and the breakfast was in a communal room. Coffee is served after breakfast in one's own room. (The lack of an immediate, full pot of morning coffee in all our hotels was problematic for me, the caffeine-addict.)

The futons were very comfortable and they provide Japanese style PJs for each guest.

We paid upon checkout and they take U.S. Visa and Mastercard, among others.

Hope this helps! We can highly recommend Benkei-san.