FACT! I have a thing for hotels. Not just any hotel of course – as far as I’m concerned, the more unique, beautiful and comfortable the better. Ideally I prefer there to be at least one great food offering and a slinky bar or two, plus excellent hospitality naturally, but there also needs to be an ‘it’ factor… something you can’t quite put your finger on.
In Japan I regularly find myself swooning over accommodations with ‘it’ – there’s often an indescribable attraction or connection with the place. It could be the energy of the space, or something small and subtle- yet masterfully curated, like the house ‘scent’ , but more often than not it’s the kind of ‘above and beyondness’ you couldn’t have pre-empted which wins me over . It’s not every day that all boxes are ticked but I definitely enjoy the research – and of course being able to share that information.
In between my tours earlier this year, I was privileged to check out a few new venues – across a range of styles. Unfortunately there was not time for me to sleep in their beds or try their food and beverage outlets. These were private site inspections only, but rest assured, when I make it back, I’ll be updating in more detail.
Among the following were a few beautiful Kyoto hotels I fell in love with instantly and others grew on me as I toured their facilities and spoke with the passionate staff.
Across the board :
Staff demonstrated immense pride
At least basic English was spoken
Levels of quality, comfort and cleanliness levels were high
Decor/Aesthetic/style/design and inclusions were highly considered and appealing.
Now this stunning boutique hotel, full name Moksa Re-birth Hotel, is situated in Yase, at the foot of Mount Hiei on the city’s north-eastern outskirts – away from the throng. I would return here in a heartbeat for a truly peaceful and relaxing break – away from the busy city centre. The location is a good base for visiting sites north of centre such as the Kitayama region, or for tripping or hiking into the mountains and the temples, farmland and scenery of Ohara just for starters. There’s a cable-car to Mt Hiei a 5 minute walk from the hotel.
As soon as I walked into the lobby I could feel myself becoming emotional, even tearing up!. Ridiculous I know – but this place… wow factor. To my left (above) was a tea counter overlooking a traditional Japanese garden.
Behind me, a corner nook was styled with stunning artisan tea vessels and paraphanalia – including highly covetable ceramics, tea pots, strainers etc. The entire property is hung with intriguing artworks.
The tea theme, which ties into the history of these particular location, carries throughout the hotel experience, used both in a healing sense and as part of the general enjoyment of the space which features an original teahouse.
I was invited to sit for a cup of restorative Chinese herb tea, as I might if checking in as a guest to Moksa. Afterwards I toured the property with the GM who also happens to be the chef of their inhouse restaurant which offers healthful, creative menus featuring local ingredients grilled over an open flame, wild herbs and vegetables grown in the farms of Ohara, just 10 minutes away.
There are 31 hotel rooms, more spacious than many in Japan, which enjoy fresh air, sunlight and moss garden or river views, and feature Medicinal teas and organic plant-based cosmetics.
The hotel also offers special treatment areas with bookable private steam rooms ( charcoal, cypress or collagen).
And that gorgeous traditional tea house in the garden is not just for show – you can enjoy tea experiences within.
I instantly connected with this accommodation, located in the historic northern Higashiyama region – and not just because it was a nostalgic few minute’s walk from my old apartment! It’s located near the incredible Heian Jingu (shrine) , several small but wonderful temples and gardens, a range of excellent galleries and museums and there’s plenty of shopping and dining options within easy reach. This is an area I adore and always one of my first stops when in Kyoto.
The design takes cues from several influences, including the primary school which was previously located here. It’s worth asking for a tour of the space, enquiring about the artwork and features – as it’s very subtle but impactful once you understand how they’ve intertwined stories about the school with authentic arts and crafts of the locale .
The furnishings throughout are excellent and there’s an onsite bar in the foyer overlooking an attractive outdoor courtyard (offering tables for enjoying the fresh mountain air) and a lovely looking restaurant downstairs, with private room.
While located just outside the main concentration of Kyoto’s CBD, the Hotel Higashiyama is super convenient (walkable to CBD, Gion, Maruyama Park and the Kiyomizu temple area) with a wide range of room types and sizes to suit various budgets and situation. The suites, with kitchens and dining areas, are absolutely divine, as are views over the mountains or the central courtyard.
The hotel has really linked arms with the surrounding community – storing/ displaying the neighbourhood’s festival floats , and regularly playing basketball in the old school gymnasium with the locals who used to play or school there. Within the foyer is a display of beautifully curated local arts and crafts – available for purchase. There’s also an excellent laundry, a gym and spa/onsen facilities – with wheelchair access to all.
Slightly north-west of the CBD you’ll find this small , luxurious hotel with all but a couple of its rooms overlooking Kyoto’s most splendid Nijo Castle (a must visit if you haven’t been!). Ground floor rooms, are not high enough to peek over moat walls so they instead look directly onto Garrya’s lush moss and bamboo garden – and honestly, they might be my pick of spaces (most definitely for a short stay) – soooooo calming!
But the higher you go in this low rise property , the broader the view, which takes in the northern mountain ranges beyond the castle and plenty of sky – it’s pretty spectacular. If I was there for a week, I’m pretty sure I’d go for the wider scene. Oooh, but it really is hard to choose. As the property is also slightly terraced, the shape and length of rooms varies from one floor to the next.
The red lacquerware cupboards (brilliantly hiding TV’s) along with other room details and inclusions are elegant and considered. The hotel also encourages yoga and mindfulness so there are all kinds of cool things to order to your room. I have to give these guys extra points for their superior eye for style, and not just because they had a copy of my book Zenbu Zen in the foyer (they swear it wasn’t planted for my arrival!).
The foyer area is swoony enough to linger longtime , again looking out through enormous glass panels onto the garden ( even though it was the middle of winter you can see there’s still enough moss to lure you gaze – just imagine spring or autumn, or the ultra green of summer), staff are really friendly and there’s a very attractive inhouse restaurant which also acts as a bar. I’d be happy hanging out here for a week with a few good books. Beautiful and very welcoming.
The Hiramatsu is a luxurious boutique hotel with just 29 rooms, located downtown in a grand, superbly refurbished Machiya (once a merchant’s shop-house). It’s the only authentic accommodation I inspected this trip and as such, offered a very different stay experience to the rest.
The space will have you believing you’ve stepped back into another era – only the new sleeping quarters are inevitably larger than they might once have been (and for the record, larger than many in Kyoto) – and your stay includes a mix of plush modern furnishings and stunning antiques with luxe bath and beauty products and a choice of two elegant restaurants – Japanese and Italian. There’s also a cosy bar situated inside the old kura (storehouse) – make sure you take a close look at the very fine antique tapestry on the wall!
One thing about being low rise and right in the thick of things, in a precinct both residential and commercial, is that one has to be very mindful of noise and avoid disrupting the lives of neighbours at all cost. This means that guests are requested not to open the windows. Not only that, they also ask you to keep the blinds, or shoji screens pulled shut across the windows – for the privacy of neighbouring houses (and yours of course). Now some people will be fine with this, but I know others may find this a little restrictive, potentially claustrophobic (despite the spacious rooms) – especially us Australians who are used to wide open spaces and lots of natural light!. The upside is that it’s really quiet and restful. And of course the experience of sleeping in a cultural property with such history cannot be compared with a new hotel. The craftsmanship across the property is quite something.
Please note that my iphone snaps certainly don’t do this property justice so please be sure to check out the website which better captures the atmosphere.
The Blossom is a larger, modern hotel with 180 spacious, handsomely decorated rooms which somehow exudes a boutique hotel atmosphere. It boasts an internal bathhouse for traditional soaking and a very appealing restaurant and communal breakout spaces. There’s also vending machines and an internal coin laundry for DIY – extremely handy for longer stays. It’s conveniently situated downtown – not far from the north side of Kyoto station.
Sadly my iphone seems to have sucked up a bit of steam from the bathouse area – the images are a bit foggy – so please be sure to check out the website for full visual stimulation!
I am a bit of a fan of the Hyatt group of hotels (at least those I know in Japan – including one of my long time favourites – Hyatt Regency Kyoto, where my groups stay ) and feel like they’re continually moving forward with innovative ideas. This hotel is no exception. It’s very well positioned, in the heart of things, not far from the Imperial Palace and attracts a sophisticated youthful crowd – being more relaxed in service style than other Hyatt products (eg Park, Grand, Regency). The idea is that it’s your ‘place’, your home away from home and therefore – make yourself comfy- grab your own breakfast from the breakfast bar, or a cold drink from the fridge etc etc. (24/7 – grab and go selection). Rooms are modern and streamlined and reasonably priced. It sports a fitness centre but you won’t need it as you’ll be walking everywhere from this central location! The group is committed to reducing waste so – usually provided in-room amenities – such as toothbrushes, toiletries etc are only available on request. YAY.
MORE…
While those above were my only formal inspections this trip, I did have the pleasure of hanging out around the ACE Hotel on a few occasions. The hotel is encased within a very smart new update of Shinpuhkan (once a tired and uninspiring shopping centre we’d only visit for the fine cheesecake or spirited expat talks at Papa Jon’s) but now an uber cool mish-mash of shops, eateries and cafes near the Kaleidoscope museum.
Without seeing the rooms, I loved the vibe and fit out of the hotel generally, and enjoyed the coffee experience at Stumptown, although being an Aussie I could have taken it a little stronger. I ate at Piopiko, which – like all ACE spaces – looked utterly fabulous, but the food was not as punchy as expected… however this might be the Kyoto influence , where flavour tend to be more restrained. Also, it was new year’s day and I overheard the staff saying they’d only finished at 3 or 4 am so I reckon I need to go back and try it another time to be fair! PLUS they’ve launched a new restaurant which I’m very keen to try so will report back. The coffee was also good at Maison Kitsune ( a fashion/cafe collab between French and Japanese owners) outside the hotel, and I had a great little tempura bowl in the spunky shopping arcade too – there are a few more places here I’m keen to check out next trip too.
Where I slept (and worked!) in Kyoto last trip …
As always, with my groups I stay at the wonderful Hyatt Regency Hotel Kyoto – (above) where I’ve been staying personally for 15 years, the hotel isn’t much older than that. Kyoto’s Hyatt Regency has a really great energy and story and very comfortable rooms – and the thing about being loyal to a hotel means that you, and in my case – my guests, are very well looked after. Treated like family in some ways, and royalty in others. They know what we like and my guests always feel so welcomed and special, and those who return over and over with me – simply love to walk back in feeling it’s very much their Kyoto home.
I also stayed at the OMO5 Kyoto Sanjo (on Kawaramachi dori, near the Sanjo intersection) for about a week. Being an enormous fan of the Hoshino Resorts group I was excited to road test their Kyoto offerings and in fact joined a couple of the Omo rangers walks from both this property and the Shijo street property near Yasaka Shrine. While the Omo series offer more affordable rooms compared with the resort group’s Hoshinoya and Kai products they are usually very well situated. Rooms are fairly compact but – cleverly designed and decorated – as the properties are on the whole. Importantly they feature the Omo Ranger service – where hotel staff take you on true local walks to discover the surrounding area. I always get something out of these excellent walks and enthusiastic folk, even if I think I know the area really well! (The very tidy OMO3 Akasaka in Tokyo being an excellent case in point!) The higher the Omo number (eg OMO7 as opposed to OMO3) the more service facilities are available and the Kawaramachi dori OMO5 has a great little breakfast room in the foyer and, I’m not sure if it’s changed now , as it was only early days after Japan re-opened when I visited, but there was talk of the restaurant being opened in the evening. Being situated just a few metres from the Sanjo arcade on Kawaramachi/ Sanjo intersection makes this one of the most convenient downtown hotels.
You can read more about the various Hoshino brands and styles here.
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