I spent one night at a high end ryokan in Kyoto. It was an interesting experience but not an enjoyable one. I arrived late afternoon and was ushered to my room. There is no furniture other than an arm rest that you can lean on while sitting on the tatami mat. The only distraction was the garden outside the window. The toilet was down the hall and down the stairs. This meant whenever I used it I had to switch from my tatami slippers to my hall slippers to bath slippers and reverse. I was given a multi course meal. I left mid afternoon the next day. My one hip did not enjoy the tatami experience. It took a full day of sightseeing in Kyoto before the hip finally loosened up.

And now I know what staying at (one) ryokan is like.