THE TRIP
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The short answer
At a glance
A room with the afternoon light across the bed, the kind of quiet I’d want you coming back to.
Kyoto is a city where the neighbourhood decides the trip, so I always ask what kind of days you want before I mention a hotel. Downtown is alive in the evening and you can walk to dinner. Higashiyama is lovelier and quieter, and means a taxi to dinner. Out of town is for a second trip. These are the places I put my clients, and I’ll say so where I’m describing a property rather than a night I spent there.
Higashiyama’s lanes, with the Yasaka Pagoda at the end of the street.
Paper parasols outside a shop on a Gion lane.
The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto · downtown, on the Kamo river
On the Kamo river at the edge of downtown, and honestly the best big hotel in the city. It’s where I put first-timers who want everything handled and a river view to come home to.
Hotel The Mitsui · across from Nijo Castle
It stands on the site of the Mitsui family’s old Kyoto residence, with the restored Kajiimiya gate still out front and a private onsen in two of the suites, filled with natural hot-spring water from the hotel’s own well. Honestly, the gate alone makes me smile every time I send someone.
Sowaka · Higashiyama
A converted ryotei in Gion with twenty-three rooms across the old building and a newer annex, and my favourite small hotel in Kyoto. It feels like staying in someone’s very beautiful house.
Park Hyatt Kyoto · Higashiyama
Up the Ninenzaka hillside and a walk from Kiyomizu-dera, with the Yasaka Pagoda below you. Ask the hotel which rooms have that view when I book it for you.
Aman Kyoto · north of the city
In a forest garden, serene and remarkable, and a twenty-five minute taxi from anything, which makes it a second-trip hotel for me.
Hoshinoya Kyoto · Arashiyama
You arrive by private wooden boat, about fifteen minutes up the Oi river from Togetsukyo Bridge in Arashiyama, which is a wonderful way to arrive and an awkward way to pop out for dinner.
Rates swing with the season, and mid-November to early December is the best version of the city and the busiest, so I quote you a number once I know your dates. I book Kyoto through Virtuoso plus the programmes I hold, including Marriott STARS and Hyatt Privé, so my clients typically enjoy an upgrade at arrival when there is one, breakfast for two, a property credit, and the concierge relationship that gets you those dinner reservations.
Tawaraya, if you can get in
Tawaraya has been run by the same family since 1709, and with only eighteen rooms it’s one of the great inns of Japan. It doesn’t sit on any booking site and rooms go months ahead, which is exactly why I mention it. Ask me early and I’ll help you try.
Asked often
What is the best area to stay in Kyoto?
Downtown, around Kawaramachi, Pontocho and Nishiki, for most first-timers. You can walk to dinner and the subway is right there.
Is it better to stay in Gion or Higashiyama?
Higashiyama is quieter and lovelier, and Gion gives you the atmosphere, but it means a taxi to dinner some nights.
Is Kyoto Station a good place to stay?
It’s practical for trains, but I put most first-timers downtown.
What is the best ryokan in Kyoto?
Tawaraya, a family-run inn since 1709. It takes bookings directly and goes months ahead, so ask early.
Is Aman Kyoto worth it?
It’s serene and remarkable, but a twenty-five minute taxi from anything, so I call it a second-trip hotel.
How many nights in Kyoto?
My Route covers three days.
Pair this with The Rolodex: Kyoto, The Route: Three Days in Kyoto, The Primer: Kyoto and The Rolodex: Japan.
Tell me when you’re going and what kind of evenings you want, and I’ll tell you where I’d put you.
Autumn maples over the river at Arashiyama, the view that makes November so busy.