Maki No Oto Kanazawa

Maki no Oto is a charming Japanese ryokan close to the historical Geisha district in Kanazawa. The ryokan has just four rooms spread across two buildings in very close proximity one another. Each building has one room decorated in a ‘Western’ style and the other in a Japanese style. However, to the casual observer, it would be hard to distinguish one style from the other. Each of the rooms are spacious and provide for a sleeping area, sitting area, balcony, a kitchenette and a large bathroom with wet room and enclosed WC. The rooms have blackout curtains, a king sized bed with down pillows and down comforter and ample plugs near the bed for devices. One of the highlights of Maki No Oto is its breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is served in the small restaurant downstairs in the main building and is a multi-course affair that combines both Western and Japanese elements. I will say that they served one of the best croissants I have ever had for breakfast! As a ryokan, dinner is also provided. In our case, we stayed two nights and the ryokan provided dinner in the restaurant one night and dinner at a nearby restaurant on the other night. Both dinners were excellent. The dinner prepared by Maki no Oto was at least 12 courses (I lost count) and was very special. Seats are organized a long counter which offered great view of the chef and his team at work (see picture). One quick note… should you be in need of doing some laundry, there is a coin operated laundromat 3 mins walking from the ryokan, across from the police station.

My mother and I just stayed here for two nights (literally checked out today) and I was so charmed by this little intimate ryokan. I knew I didn’t want to stay at a hotel in Kanazawa so went around looking for options. I had read somewhere that the food provided here was excellent and I was sold. The service is exquisite and intimate. The owner Yamamoto-san is this incredibly friendly, avuncular gentleman whose family apparently farms rice and he also has another ryokan in nearby Toyama (he and his family are from there). His daughter manages the Toyama inn. First off, the location of Maki No Oto cannot be beat!! It’s in the Higashi Chaya district which was by far my favorite neighborhood in all of Kanazawa. Secondly, the food was fantastic here. Yamamoto-san said that he loves food and loves to eat so it was important for him to bring that same experience to his customers. That kind of care really showed!! On our first night, we had a 16 course dinner at the restaurant inside the inn Higashiyama Wakaon and it was incredible. They use local ingredients and it was such an elevated dining experience. I come from New York City which is the food capital of the world but of course Japan takes it to another level. On our second night, we were told to go to Kaidou (see my review of this restaurant. Also exquisite. Lovely owner) for teppanyaki and it was amazing!!!! Lastly, we really loved staying here. The room (we stayed in Nishi in the main building. There’s also an annex) has a small kitchen and the bedroom area is off to the side. It’s very simply but classically decorated. Everything you need is provided. It was truly a luxury experience that was so different from the usual typical hotel experience. In some ways it’s a quintessential Japanese experience. I’ll be telling everyone I know about this place. Thank you Yamamoto-San and his team.