Originally Posted by aa4ever
There are two types of ryokans: budget and luxury. The budget ones will be relatively inexpensive and usually come without meals. I don't think they require to take meals, but have never stayed in any of these.
Luxury ones usually require you to take meals (although I have stayed in one that didn't). They are fantastic experiences with a private server/maid. You get in, have tea in the room, take a bath (either in your private one or sometimes, if they have it, in the communal), get into a light bathrobe (called a yukata), have a multi course dinner in the room, and then they make the beds when you are ready.
I'm afraid this is over simplistic and not quite true.
You will certainly find establishments in cities such as Tokyo classifying themselves as budget ryokans where meals are not included in the price. Some of these are little more than hostel accommodation but with futons. Then there is the blurred border between minshuku and ryokan. There are also Kokkumin Shukusha (people’s lodges), and a few other kinds that can’t be easily categorised. And of course there are the luxury ryokans at the top end of the scale.
I’ve never stayed in what I would call a luxury ryokan, I can’t afford to. But I have stayed at a few ranging from 8,000yen per head per night to 14,000yen, and
none of these would I term budget Ryokans either. They were all moderate establishments frequented mainly by the Japanese.
One of these was in Tsumago, and this was not a luxury ryokan. The Matsushiroya instead aims to provide an authentic experience to mainly Japanese guests of what it was like to stay in a pilgrim’s inn on a major highway in a building that has served this purpose for over 200 years. Not a budget choice, certainly not luxurious, but a wonderful experience nonetheless – breakfast and meal included .
I’ve also stayed at a ‘union rest home’ and enjoyed one of the very best meals of my life. Four of us were served privately in a well heated banqueting hall. The building was from the 70s and had its own charms.
The flipside to this was an inn in Hakone which was a gorgeous traditional building, as beautiful as any ryokan could be, but without the level of attentive personal service or high standard of catering you would find in a luxury ryokan. The meals, although basic, were perfectly adequate however, and served in a communal dining room.
All of these places had their own charms, each being very different from the other. Conventional hotel rooms at this price level rarely offer such diversity.