金剛三昧院 -Kongo Sanmaiin-

Nice room and lovely pond with chorus of frogs

Lovely temple stay with great food and gorgeous location! We stayed one night at Kongo Sanmai-in with dinner and breakfast. The temple is located withdrawn from the main street which makes the location very quiet and serene. The food was very good and a great way to experience the buddhistic vegetarian dishes. And the morning prayer was a great experience as well. We were very happy that we stayed at this temple for our temple stay experience at Koyasan! Some things to know if you wanna stay here as well: - Some of the staff could speak English, but it's definitely a benefit to know Japanese, especially for the morning prayer where all (for our prayer session at least) was explained in Japanese. - The rooms are not the most soundproof, meaning you might be able to hear the ones staying in the neighbouring room if they speak loudly. But it wasn't really an issue for us - The baths are shared (even if you have your own toilet) and they are traditionally Japanese like the ones you might see at a public bathhouse with a shared bathtub and showers on a row. Its a fun and authentic experience, but if you're shy or uncomfortable with showering with others, just ensure you have showered before arriving here.

Amazing experience.

As expected

宿坊も世界遺産に登録されているとのことで、施設はそれなりの古さでした。食事は完璧なまでの 精進料理でした。胡麻豆腐は絶品ですが、人によっては量に不満を覚えるかもしれません。飲み物の注文などはなく、真夏でも暑いお茶が供されました。もちろんアルコールの注文などはできません。実に質実剛健な宿坊で、本物の宿坊での宿泊を経験したい方にはとてもおすすめです。ホテルのようなサービスを期待していると大きな肩透かしを喰うでしょう。でも、高野山でに泊まるならこのような環境がある意味ベストかとも思いました。