About Our Hotel
Concept
Kyoto is renowned for its many ancient rivers and waterways, such as the great Kamo River, and abounds with fresh spring water from the surrounding mountains. Working together with young, talented designers, we aimed to create a hotel that retains the unique atmosphere of this city.
Designer
Sadayoshi Mino
First-Class Architect
Putting special emphasis on the many different types of “spaces” associated with daily life and its necessities, Sadayoshi Mino creates buildings that shape these spaces into structures designed to bring out the potential of each location while envisioning the future of their inhabitants.
Artist
Kanako Shintaku
Performance Artist
Kanako Shintaku is a performance artist known for covering the entire surface of her body in paint of various colors. A graduate of the renowned Kyoto University of Art and Design, she has held solo exhibitions in Kyoto and Tokyo and has participated in art fairs throughout the country. We are delighted to display her unique art on the sliding screens of our Japanese tatami room.
Floor Plan
Ground Floor
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Upper Floor
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Room Overview
Living Room
Relish the unique atmosphere of Kyoto while enjoying the comforts of a modern hotel in our spacious living room: Take a relaxing break on the sofa, appreciate the view of the elegant stone garden or have a pleasant conversation while preparing a meal at the kitchen island. Looking up at the underside of the roof from below, past the bridge connecting the rooms on the upper floor, will fill you with feelings of liberation and tranquility.
Kitchen
Utilizing the state-of-the-art building material “Mortex” to create a sleek, modern design, our compact but highly functional kitchen island allows you to have a pleasant chat among the members of your group while preparing a meal.
1F Western Bedroom
Enjoy the peace of night in Kyoto in our cozy double bedroom with wooden flooring. Depending on the time of day, its “reverse latticework” (gyaku-gōshi) design decorating the northern wall might treat you to a mysterious play of light filtering through the transparent parts of the lattice.
Shower Room
How about a soothing bathtime after a long day of sightseeing? Our shower room, which is fitted with a bathtub, is completely barrier-free and can be also accessed by wheelchair users.
Stone Garden
In our elegant stone garden, designed to bring people together and let them open up their hearts, take a break from the hustle and bustle of daily life and spend some peaceful time with your family or friends. Sit down and gather around the stone water basin in the middle to enjoy a meal in fair weather or experience a private tea ceremony right inside the garden.
2F Japanese Bedroom
Our Japanese-style room features special square-shaped Ryūkyū tatami mats without fabric edgings to create an impression of unity and harmony. When lying down on a futon and gazing up at the underside of the roof, or when opening up the sliding screens to take a look at the bridge across to the other bedroom, you will feel as if you had been whisked away to a different world.
2F Western Bedroom
Fitted with three beds, the Western-style room on the upper floor is the largest bedroom in the building. With its light colors and airy atmosphere, you are sure to have a relaxing time during your stay. It is connected to the other rooms by a wooden passageway designed in the image of the many bridges spanning Kyoto's great Kamo River, which allows you to appreciate traditional Japanese art displayed on the southern wall.
1F Bathroom
The bathroom on the lower floor is completely barrier-free and was created to offer anyone the opportunity to enjoy staying at a traditional Kyoto-style townhouse, regardless of their physical circumstances. If you open up the custom-made sliding doors all the way, it provides enough space for even large-sized wheelchairs to utilize.
2F Bathroom
The bathroom on the upper floor is located right at the top of the stairs and is fitted with a second toilet and washbasin to allow for a comfortable stay even with groups of many persons.
Our Hotel's Highlights
The Stone Garden:
A Place of Tranquility
As a unique feature of traditional Kyoto-style townhouses (machiya), a small inner garden (tsuboniwa) is created, surrounded from all sides by the walls of the building and at the property’s boundary, to let in light and air. Our hotel's stone garden retains this traditional design and provides our guests with a completely private space, protected from any glances from outside.
It features a stone water basin in the middle, encompassed by a low engawa-type walkway which may also be used as a bench. Please feel free to place the acrylic board, found behind the tableware wagon in the kitchen area, on top of the water basin to turn it into a table and enjoy a meal or a pleasant chat in the sun. On days of fair weather, it can also be used to perform tea ceremonies for our guests.
The Atrium-style Living Room:
A Bright, Open Space to Unwind
The open-ceiling space above the section of uncovered earthen floor, which spans the area between the front entrance, the kitchen and the back door of a traditional Kyoto-style machiya-townhouse, is known as hibukuro (fire box). At our hotel, we have created such an atrium-style space, boldly reaching from the living room up to the underside of the roof, to give our guests an even more liberating experience than a conventional machiya. When you look up inside the living room, just as if you were gazing at the sky, the wooden beams and boards, which have been supporting the roof tiles for more than a hundred years, come into view, and the bright, open space stretching out above you gently beckons you to take a rest.
The Bridge: A Passageway
of Beauty and Serenity
The two bedrooms on the upper floor, which are boldly separated by the airy open-ceiling space above the living room, are connected by a slender wooden bridge; with its original design, it is one of our hotel's most intriguing features and adds another layer of mystery to the unique atmosphere of the interior.
When crossing the bridge, just as if you were crossing a river, please take a moment to pause, take in your surroundings with a clear, unspoiled gaze, and calmly appreciate the traditional Japanese art displayed on the southern wall.
