I had a one-night stay at Karaku recently, and in short, it was not good. The overall experience was basically a typical Japanese hotel (including meals being served in the restaurant with little privacy), with none of the character, history and service levels which you expect from a ryokan.

They've done a good job of creating a very Instagrammable place with a decent decor in public areas. The outdoor onsen of the room was pleasant, and the bed was comfortable, but the room otherwise had a slightly nicer version of the soulless dark grey wood decor you find in a typical modern business hotel.

The dinner was the absolute low point. It was served in the restaurant with absolutely atrocious service - completely inexperienced, inelegant and clumsy staff who clearly had no experience in a luxury setting whatsoever. At one point, the server dropped one of the small plates of tsukemono onto the table tray below, and to everyone's amazement, he hastily used a fork and his fingers (!) to put the pickes back into the plate, and then tried to serve it without seeing the need to bring a new one. There was no explanation of each course beyond the scant description on the menu. Despite the menu stating that the rice is cooked to order, the freshly cooked rice pot was not presented before serving, and it certainly did not taste freshly made. The quality of the food was, at best, a JPY 6000 meal. In the context of the terrible experiene, the upsells indicated on the menu for the fish and meat (JPY 4000 and 4500 respectively) felt like a cheap money-grab.

Our group concluded that the Indigo, where we stayed the next night for half of the cost, was a far better experience overall. Even the restaurant there ended up being a much better meal than the Karaku.