On any given month, Kyoto receives from 3 million to 4 million tourists, outnumbering residents at least two to one. So it is no wonder that every international hotel brand has been intent on planting its flag in Japan’s cultural capital.
In 2024, wellness pioneer Six Senses – known for resorts in such far-flung beach spots as the Maldives and Fiji – opened one of its first urban properties in Kyoto to great fanfare. Within the next 12 months, the so-hot-right-now brand Capella will open its doors in the city’s Gion district.
The choice of luxury hotels is so wide it has become ever harder to sift through the prospects. And with eye-watering prices, it is a choice most travellers cannot afford to get wrong.
With that in mind, here is a selection of Kyoto’s most talked-about luxury hotels that cost US$1,000 or less a night, including reasons to book them and some caveats worth considering.
Tourists walk through the streets of Higashiyama, a historic neighbourhood in eastern Kyoto. Every month, Japan’s cultural capital receives 3 to 4 million visitors. Photo: AFP1. Ace Hotel
Who it is for: City slickers on their second trip to Japan.
AloJapan.com