Japan’s pandemic lockdown has coincided with a flurry of new hotels, especially in Kyoto, where Park Hyatt, Aman and Four Seasons were joined by a group of independent properties and the archipelago’s first Ace hotel. When the country finally reopened to foreign visitors in October 2022, tourists came flooding back to the 800-year-old temple town and its spoiled bamboo forests for a choice of accommodation, at various price points. The number continues to grow: Next month, wellness-focused brand Six Senses will open its first Japanese outpost in the city’s Higashiyama district, home to many of the main tourist attractions. Here, a look at five of Kyoto’s newest hotels that are redefining the city’s hospitality scene.
Andre Fu, the interior designer behind hotels such as the Upper House in Hong Kong and Villa La Coste in Aix-en-Provence, France, has infused his signature aesthetic (highly refined, with warm woods and luxurious textures) into on the edge of a particularly historic area of ​​Kyoto. The 161-room Mitsui, which opened in late 2020, is located opposite Nijo Castle, a massive 17th-century complex and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It stands in stark contrast to the hotel, whose only worn element is an imposing entrance gate — a traditional wooden structure more than 300 years old and a remnant of the days when the Mitsui family lived on the grounds. Once through the gate, you’ll find a glass and steel building designed by Japanese architect Akira Kuryu, and landscaping meant to echo the Mitsui residence’s original garden paths, planted with cherry trees and steps winding over a glass pond. The four food and beverage venues include the Franco-Japanese Toki, overseen by Chef Tetsuya Asano (formerly of the Ritz Paris), and the Garden Bar, strategically positioned to capture seasonal views such as spring cherry blossoms and the sparkling autumn foliage. by huge double windows. Rooms from about $1,360 a night.
Young hotel brand Ace may seem like an odd fit in staid Kyoto. But this 213-room property, which opened in 2020, fits seamlessly into the city center thanks to a collaboration between Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and California-based design firm Commune. Kuma, who designed Japan’s National Stadium (the centerpiece of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics), renovated the imposing red-brick 1920s-era Kyoto Central Telephone Office while adding an industrial-looking building — clad in copper sulphide, cedar, glass and concrete — next door. Commune infused the rooms with Ace’s signature combination of bright colors and patterns: original painted prints by Japanese folk artist Samuro Yunoki alongside Tivoli radios, turntables and vintage records. The most popular part of the hotel, however, may be the street-level branch of Stumptown Coffee Roasters — the first in Japan. From about $300 a night.
Like Kyoto’s dozens of temple gardens, this 10-room property offers an immediate sense of tranquility. His entrance is so subtle you could easily miss it. (Look for the flowing white fabric curtain with simple black signage, behind which a garden path leads to a minimalist building of wood, concrete, and glass.) The hotel’s location informs the interior design: Thirty minutes west of central Kyoto, Arashiyama The area is defined by nature, with the Katsura River at its center, and filled with bamboo and surrounded by forested mountains. Rooms are simply furnished with beds, chairs and tables handcrafted by both Kyoto craftsmen and Danish furniture maker Carl Hansen & Son, and each has a bathtub. Rooms from about $540 a night.
The Gion district epitomizes Kyoto for many visitors, with its maze of narrow streets and ryokans, traditional Japanese inns. Here, on a quiet side street among artist studios, antique shops and galleries, Shinmonzen opened in December 2021. Although it is a new construction, the aim was to harmonize the hotel with the surrounding structures. To achieve this, the famous Japanese architect Tadao Ando created a wooden facade that replicates a machiya, one of the venerable mansions found throughout Kyoto. There are only nine rooms, but they are unusually spacious and all have balconies overlooking the Shirakawa River. Each is an ode to Japanese interiors, furnished with tatami mats, shoji (rice paper-lined panels) and cypress soaking tubs. And for food, chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, whose restaurant empire spans the globe, has devised a menu that combines French, American and Asian influences, sourcing much of the produce from local farms. Rooms from about $1,500 a night.
A three-suite hotel near the 16th-century Toyokuni Temple, Maana Kiyomizu is the latest offering from Maana Homes, the small local hospitality group, which manages two other properties in the city. This one, which opened in the winter of 2022, is located in Higashiyama and is a complex of four machiya which also houses POJ Studio — a boutique selling Japanese handicrafts and homewares. There’s also Kissa Kishin, the second branch of a popular Gion cafe, which serves coffee, matcha and pastries and serves as the unofficial social center for the property. Japanese architects Uoya Shigenori and Takeshi Ikei renovated the suites to create a minimalist wabi-sabi ideal for city living, where handmade ceramics from Shigaraki (a city famous for its ceramics) are the only decorative flourishes. Rooms from about $560 a night.
