Jinja and Shoga: Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

   We stayed at Matsui Honkan the first night of our Kyoto trip this past week. It was an upper-middle range hotel in the travel agency's listing, but WOW. I honestly can't imagine what the high range hotels are like, if Matsui Honkan is merely middle level. The quality of service there was simply amazing, as was the food and our room. For some reason we were upgraded to the VIP 2-room suite, perhaps because we'd mentioned that we were celebrating our wedding anniversary while there. Whatever the case, I'm guessing that the suite was almost as large as our entire apartment, and a lot more beautiful! Included with the suite was VIP treatment, although perhaps they're simply that nice to all of their guests? We were also given anniversary gifts (chopsticks, chopstick rests, and sweets, among others), and they had a children's promotion going on at the time, so Keila got to 'toss' a ring and win a stuffed rabbit. Definitely the place to stay if you want to relax after viewing the major temples and shrines, too---it's quite close to the main shopping street with quick access to the subway. 5 stars on all counts for this place!
  Here's the link to some photos from the hotel; I'm giving Flikr a try for photo hosting so hopefully it works ok! http://www.flickr.com/photos/66602122@N04/sets/72157627351429683/