Bed and Breakfast SOY (formerly Guest House & Cafe SOY) 

04 Jan 2025

SOY impressed us on many levels. First of all our host Tai was very helpful long before we even flew to Japan. He spoke to us using the chat feature on Booking.com and helped coordinate some plans. When we arrived, he welcomed us warmly into his living room (with a nice fire going and a cute cat awaiting us). The room we stayed in was great (we got the one that had two floors). We stayed during the winter but our rooms was always warm and comfy. The food his family made was really nice and they even offer you two different styles of meal. I could go on and on about how much we enjoyed this stay. The location for us was great, but that could have been because we rented a car. Tai offers shuttle rides, but we never needed one, as we drove everywhere.

02 Dec 2024

not many accommodations are rated so highly -- 9.8, as i write -- but this VERY exceptional ryokan certainly deserves at least that! it's beautifully & aesthetically maintained, with carefully selected artifacts throughout & comfort at a premium. tai is super sweet, truly cares about making your stay as pleasant as possible & is certainly worthy of all the praise reviewers have heaped upon him. our breakfast, wholeheartedly prepared by his very nice & caring mother, was abundant & absolutely delicious. we stayed in the spacious "maisonette" room, which is actually on 2 floors (connected by an internal staircase) & seems ideal for 3 people ... which, in our case, was a couple & their adult child. thanks to tai's kind cinematographer father, the top floor space had an excellent "old-school" audio-visual setup: with a good sound system & assortment of movie videos that u can project on to a large-sized screen .. which we enjoyed while kicking-back after an excellent dinner in "downtown" takayama. in short, we thoroughly enjoyed "soy" & highly recommend it!

27 Nov 2024

We had a wonderful stay, pity we didn't remain for longer! Tai-san and his family have been fantastic hosts, warm, kind and always willing to go the extra mile to help us out. From the moment we got off the bus, we felt treated like family members. The guesthouse is a beautiful, 100 years old traditional house. Every detail is extremely well taken care of, inside and outside, and its a perfect space to relax and enjoy the peace of the garden and the surroundings. It's a few kilometers from the city centre but that won't be a problem, Tai-san will take care of you. And I haven't even mentioned the delicious breakfast (both the Japanese and the Western-style) that Tai's mother prepared, another reason to come back!

26 Nov 2024

Amazing experience, one of the best places we stayed on our trip to Japan. Everything was even better than we expected and we had high expectations after reading all the prior reviews. Thank you Tai and family 🥰

25 Nov 2024

The hospitality from Tai and family was wonderful, as was breakfast, ambience and comfort. They went out of their way to make us feel welcome

20 Nov 2024

Where to start.. I highly recommend this place. Tai and his parents are lovely, friendly and helpful. Little Tara (the cat) was a joy to watch, playing around with her little ball as we were having breakfast. The food is amazing, the common area very laid back, a place to enjoy a cold beer next to the fireplace. Tai happily drove us to the city centre and gave us several useful recommendations for restaurants, places of interests, onsens,... The room was spacious and the futons comfortable. The showers and toilet rooms were very clean and well looked after. It's a quiet area, a place to truly relax and use as a base for exploring the surrounding area 😊

20 Nov 2024

We had a fantastic stay at SOY. Tai-san and his family are very welcoming hosts, and extremely focused on making your stay as enjoyable as possible. The rooms are impeccably curated, and the breakfasts are delicious. Tai-san is also always ready to drop/pick you up from the city if required, and provides great recommendations on things to do and where to eat - even makes reservations for you! Absolutely recommended stay in Takayama 😃 (the cute cat Tara-san is the added bonus 😁)

18 Nov 2024

Tai and his parents were fantastic hosts. We felt so at home and were so comfortable in the beautiful house and room. Tai went above and beyond to make our stay in Takayama memorable and special. We are so grateful for our time at SOY and are very much looking forward to our next visit. The Japanese breakfast was amazing, and Tai makes a great and beautiful flat white! We were picked up and dropped off in town very promptly, which made staying in the area so much easier. Although the house is located somewhat out of the centre of town, we did not feel that this was a problem at all as Tai and his parents were so accommodating and helpful. The house is so beautiful and everything is so well thought out, this is a phenomenal place to stay. Thank you for everything! This was such a memorable and fantastic trip for us!

07 Nov 2024

Everything. It is a fabulous place to stay. From the delicious breakfasts, both western and Japanese, to the wonderful warm hospitality from Tai, and his lovely alum and Dad.

07 Nov 2024

Our stay at Soy was amazing! Tai and his parents made us immediately feel at home. They are so nice and warm. The house is realy impressive. It is built in the old Ryokan style and renovated by the family itself which gives your stay an authentic feeling! Thank you so much for everything! Many greetings to Tara from us :)