The 16 Best Hotels in Kyoto
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Kyoto: the name of this ancient Japanese city has long sparked images of a landscape scattered with timeless temples, scarlet shrine gates, old wooden houses, and peaceful tea rooms. Today, however, travelers can add something no less eye-catching to the already lengthy list of reasons to visit: a growing constellation of some of Japan’s best hotels. The city is currently awash not only with a record level of tourists, but also with a spectrum of high-quality hotels, both old and new.
For some, the ultimate Kyoto hotel experience might involve checking into a centuries-old ryokan, where the art of omotenashi hospitality is expressed through an outdoor bath soak, the whisk of matcha, sliding paper screens, and futons unrolled nightly. Others may gravitate toward a contemporary wellness sanctuary, where the city’s ancient wisdom is filtered through the lens of minimalist design, holistic therapies, and micro-seasonal cuisine. Whether you’re looking for traditional crafts, contemporary arts, a deep culture dive, a food odyssey, a design sanctuary, or simply a place of beauty to rest your head and recover from temple-hopping fatigue, there's something for you on this list. Read on for 16 of the best hotels in Kyoto.
For more places to stay, check out our list of the best Airbnbs in Kyoto.
How we choose the best hotels in Kyoto
Every hotel review on this list has been written by a Condé Nast Traveler journalist who knows the destination and has visited that property. When choosing hotels, our editors consider properties across price points that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination, keeping design, location, service, and sustainability credentials top of mind.
Kai KannohotelRoku Kyoto, LXR Hotels & Resorts
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Hot List 2022More luxury resort than city hotel, Roku Kyoto is a place to stop, slow down, and recharge after the exhausting task of sightseeing in Japan’s ancient capital. The atmosphere treads a finely honed line between contemporary design and Kyoto at its most traditional, with modern echoes of temple aesthetics in the hotel’s minimalist architecture—think clean-lined expanses of light wood and external walkways beneath pitched roofs, all connected by cloud-reflecting pools and gardens of seasonal blooms. The heartbeat of the hotel is the restaurant Tenjin (especially during the dinner-only Chef’s Table), though the property houses another veritable head-turner for Kyoto: an outdoor hot-spring swimming pool.
Banyan Tree Higashiyama KyotohotelBanyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto
A measured balance between accessible and peaceful, Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto sits on the calm forested slopes of the Higashiyama Mountains, marking the eastern edge of the city. Though wrapped in nature, it is within short walking distance of a raft of landmark sites and neighborhoods in Kyoto—including the iconic Yasaka Pagoda, Kiyomizu-dera Temple, and the Gion district (making the hotel the perfect base for early-morning, crowd-dodging visits). Guests arrive by crossing a shrine-like wooden threshold before approaching Kuma’s contemporary façade of interlocked latticed wood above walls of organic stones. Inside the triple-height reception, walls of glass frame rock gardens and forests, all beneath a ceiling swathed in a sea of bamboo. A network of intimate spaces spans the adjacent lobby lounge, where the transition from the outside world to the inner sanctum comes complete with a taste of matcha served to welcome guests.
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Courtesy Moska Rebirth HotelhotelMoksa Rebirth Hotel
$$Forget overcrowded downtown tourist spots—this hotel shines a light on a deeper side of rural Kyoto. The 31-room property is located in Yase, a village at the base of Mount Hiei, known as one of the birthplaces of Japanese Buddhism—picture sweeping forested slopes, rushing ravines, and moss-covered stone steps leading to hidden temples. Arriving at the hotel offers something of a James Bond-meets-Kyoto moment: the clean lines of a modern building shift into focus, with a large circular cut-out entrance offering a modern riff on traditional Japanese tea room architecture. Step inside the airy lobby to find interiors defined by organic elements, plus a tea counter and scattering of contemporary art pieces. The scene-stealer, however, is the view: along one side, walls of glass frame exceptional vistas across a serenely cultivated Japanese garden—which was created six decades earlier for the former residence that once sat on the same site—all wrapped in forested mountains.
Courtesy Aman KyotohotelAman Kyoto
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Gold List 2025 Hot List 2020 
Readers' Choice Awards 2020, 2022As fresh as the first cherry blossom, Aman Kyoto feels as if it could have existed for centuries, which sets it apart among the flurry of new hotel openings in the city. This delightfully out-of-time quality has much to do with its setting: 80 serene acres of woodland, dense with maples and crosshatched by stone paths and fast-flowing streams. It’s a city hotel enfolded in nature. The aura also comes from the late architect Kerry Hill’s knack for merging traditional and contemporary. Containing just 28 bedrooms, Aman Kyoto’s six pavilions have latticed walls and pitched roofs that echo the forms of machiya houses; every bathroom has its own wooden ofuro tub. Another factor in Aman Kyoto’s curious magic is its slow genesis. Between its conception and completion, Vladislav Doronin acquired Aman, owner Adrian Zecha stepped down, and Hill passed away. Thus, Aman Kyoto bridges old Aman and new Aman, embodying all that has made the brand so exciting and influential. —Steve King
Courtesy Hotel The Mitsui KyotohotelHotel The Mitsui Kyoto, a Luxury Collection Hotel
$$$ | Gold List 2024 Hot List 2021 Readers' Choice Awards 2022, 2023, 2024It’s a bold move to open a design-forward property in a city that has fully tied its identity to the past. Even bolder to build it on the exact site where the long-prominent Mitsui family had a residence from the late 1600s to the 1940s. But once you hear the storybook ending—how in 2015 the Mitsui corporation’s real estate arm bought back this beloved parcel of land—it makes sense. While the sleek André Fu–designed spaces break from Kyoto’s usual decor tropes, the past is everywhere. See, for instance, the 300-year-old wooden gate that once demarcated the original estate. There are subtle signifiers too: a long corridor with blond wood arches that echo the maze of torii gates at Kyoto’s famed Fushimi Inari shrine, a ceiling installation inspired by kimono fabric. But it’s the practical yet cosseting touches—the neatly folded pajama set that appears at turndown, the sprawling underground onsen—that will shape this next chapter of the Mitsui legacy. —Rebecca Misner
Courtesy MarriotthotelSuiran, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Kyoto
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024Set in the Arashiyama district on the western side of Kyoto (an area frequented by Japanese nobles of years gone by), Suiran sits seamlessly on the jade waters of the Katsura River. The original buildings, which now house the restaurants and lobby, are constructed around beautifully manicured Japanese gardens, and sunlight-dappled pebble pathways lead the way to the more modern low-rise buildings where you'll find the rooms. Yukata-clad staff welcome you warmly with a hot towel and tea whilst discreetly whisking your luggage off to your room, leaving you to enjoy the serene surroundings, bathed in light. Here, chaotic city life is a distant memory, and the deliberate and unhurried pace is the catalyst for achieving a state of repose. —Rachel Tranter Davies
Courtesy Hoshinoya, KyotohotelHoshinoya Kyoto
$$$ | Gold List 2023 Readers' Choice Awards 2023Hoshinoya Kyoto, a hybrid ryokan-hotel, is made up of a series of low buildings inspired by traditional Japanese houses that cling to the banks above the Hozugawa River in the temple-rich Arashiyama district. Accessible only by a lazy boat ride in a hinoki (Japanese cedar) vessel, its 25 elegant rooms are also redolent of cedar. Although they don’t have TVs, they do have heated wooden floors, hand-blocked wallpaper, shoji-inspired sliding glass doors, picture windows (all the better to lean out and watch the foxes, deer, and occasional monkeys that prance through the forest), deep cedar soaking tubs, and lofty duvets that sigh when you flop down on them. From the iron lanterns that light the moss-traced stone walkways to the lashed bamboo fences, every detail has been well-considered. In lieu of a bar, there’s a library, refreshed throughout the day with complimentary snacks by the gracious staff (who speak excellent English). As in a traditional ryokan, there are some restrictions—the boat back to the docks runs only from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.—but Hoshinoya is a retreat not only from town but from modernity. At night, after you’ve eaten an excellent Japanese or French meal and changed into the provided lounging clothes (complete with raw-silk robes), you can sit in the Zen rock garden, look up at the star-smeared sky, and forget what century you’re in.
Courtesy Ace Hotel KyotohotelAce Hotel Kyoto
$$ | Hot List 2021"Modern Americana meets handcrafted Kyoto" is not a conventional formula—yet Ace’s first Asia outpost was always going to break rules as well as turn heads. In an ancient Japanese capital famed for its aesthetic discretion (latticed facades, minimal tea rooms, sliding screens), the direction here is unapologetically unorthodox. From tacos and DJ parties to paper lanterns and temple-inspired joinery, it’s a confident cross-pollination of east and west, courtesy of LA-based Japanese architect Kengo Kuma (plus 50 homegrown artisans). The hotel inhabits a cavernous century-old building known as the Shin-Puh-Kan, plus a new build with a striking angular facade whose abstract lines hint at the city’s famed townhouses. In the lobby, music fills the industrial-edged space, with young staff in striped jackets hovering by a shiny pink copper front desk. Rainbow-bright bursts of contemporary artwork cover the walls, while local creatives gather beneath a high timber ceiling at a long communal table, and craft coffee lovers can get a taste of Portland at the hotel’s on-site Stumptown Coffee. The compact guest rooms mix up Judd-inspired benches and TEAC turntables with washi ceilings and tatami areas plus vintage-tinged textiles and bold artworks. Food belongs unwaveringly in the US camp: zesty tacos—a Kyoto novelty—at Piopiko (by Wes Avila of LA’s Guerilla Tacos), and quality comfort food at Mr. Maurice’s Italian, by Marc Vetri. Another highlight is Kosa, directed by chef Katy Cole; enjoy modern farm-to-table treats and natural wines in a contemporary tea room-inspired space—an unapologetic finale to perhaps the ancient city’s most novel hotel yet.
Six SenseshotelSix Senses Kyoto
$$$ | Hot List 2025Right in the heart of Higashiyama, a scenic (and busy) downtown area famed for its constellation of temples, shrines, and cultural landmarks, sits the serene haven of Six Senses. From its contemporary design and wellness rituals to its sustainability efforts and locally sourced ingredients, the property is perfectly steeped in the surrounding ancient former capital. In typical Six Senses fashion, the spa is also quite impressive. Here, guests can enjoy four treatment rooms inspired by the senses, an Alchemy Bar, an Herbal Tea Lounge, a Watsu pool, a larger pool, a Biohack recovery lounge, and a studio for meditation and yoga. After a long day of relaxing, head to one of the 81 spacious rooms and suites overlooking either Toyokuni Shrine or the plant-filled inner courtyard. Finish off your night with a delicious meal at Sekki—named after the Japanese word for season—with an ever-changing menu tapping into Japan’s calendar of 24 subtly shifting micro-seasons.
Ben RichardshotelThe Shinmonzen
$$$ | Hot List 2022A smooth modern riff on a traditional ryokan inn (and the chic little sister of Villa la Coste in the South of France), The Shinmonzen sits on a quiet lane in Kyoto’s Gion district, with a traditional-style wood façade leading to a contemporary interior cocktail of modern design and world-class artwork. Each of the individually designed suites is flooded with natural light and showcases a smooth mix of modern Kyoto craftsmanship (picture minimalist screens and hinoki cypress-wood bathtubs) and hints of its Provençal DNA, as reflected in the lingering scent of jasmine from each of the balconies overlooking the river.
GettyhotelHiiragiya
$$$ | Gold List 2020Discovering this ancient ryokan is part of the fun. The namesake wild holly protruding from the eaves lends a certain natural element to the environment. Creaky floors, cypress tubs, and tatami mats heighten the senses at each turn. In-room dining is a must: Slip into your robe and hunker down on your tatami for an in-room kaiseki meal of simmered razor clams, billowy yuba dumplings, tender bamboo shoots, and sea urchin chawanmushi served on handmade Kiyomizu ceramics. It's on a quiet back road and just one street away from a main thoroughfare, but you would never know. It's so quiet, I could hear a white eye warbler tweeting in my private moss garden. It offers an intimate Kyoto dining experience that the big chains cannot offer. —Adam Graham
Courtesy Park Hyatt KyotohotelPark Hyatt Kyoto
$$$ | Hot List 2020 Readers' Choice Awards 2023, 2024Kyoto’s Park Hyatt is a 70-room masterpiece of Japanese architecture built into Higashiyama’s temple-dense hillside. At the entrance, you'll find a plaque honoring the partnership of the Pritzker, Takenaka, and Kyoyamato families. The true meaning of this plaque deserves some unpacking. The Pritzkers get a mention because they’re the American family behind the Hyatt and the iconic Park Hyatt Tokyo. Takenaka, the builders, are a 17th-generation Kyoto construction company responsible for many of Japan's temples, shrines, ryokan, and skyscrapers. Kyoyamato is behind the 360-year-old wooden tea house standing among the hotel's modern buildings, a warren of immaculately restored tatami mat rooms offering kaiseki meals and garden views. The Park Hyatt’s interiors are the work of Tony Chi, who used fragrant ash wood for the angular ceilings, basalt stone work, and shoji screens made with local washi paper to create serene rooms. He also commissioned the legendary 16th-generation potter Asayaki-san in nearby Uji for the tableware, weaving a golden thread of heritage through this modern hotel. —Adam Graham
Shinsho-anhotelShinsho-an
$$$ | Hot List 2022The atmosphere leans more toward a luxurious private home than a hotel at Shinsho-an, in both scale and ambience. Sleek interiors use top-quality materials sourced from across Japan with contemporary design touches, adding to the scene-stealing modern Kyoto restaurant and next-level hospitality—right down to the cashmere-covered hot-water bottles you can request beneath the sheets at night. Each of the four suites is uniquely designed and extremely spacious, with minimalist flower arrangements from one of Japan’s oldest florists. All meals are created by Michelin-starred chef Toshiro Ogata, from mouth-melting squid sashimi at breakfast to a nine-course omakase dinner.
hotelArashiyama Mansion MAMA
$$$ | Hot List 2022Modern, minimalist, and beautifully crafted, Arashiyama Mansion MAMA is a 10-room hotel and restaurant just a short walk from the famed bamboo forests of Arashiyama. It offers a textbook-perfect snapshot of contemporary Kyoto style—fusing materials crafted by modern artisans with Scandinavian furniture, stone baths overlooking private gardens, and a low-key but stylish pizza restaurant (yes, really). Simple and minimal with a natural edge, it’s a world away from the luxury sheen of five-star hotels, but it’s still the kind of place that makes you instantly want to redesign your own home. All in all, Arashiyama feels like the ultimate Kyoto insider secret.
Christopher CyperthotelThe Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2024If room views made up their own category, this Ritz-Carlton, set along the shores of the Kamogawa River, would be in a class all its own. Besides its prime real estate by the water, the hotel also offers views of the nearby Higashiyama mountains (you can also opt to overlook a traditional Japanese zen garden, or the city of Kyoto itself). Rooms have impeccable details, like shippo (a type of cloisonné, or painted metalwork that the city is proudly known for). Try the garden suite, where you can sit on the balcony after a soothing bath with Shabonya handmade soap and kick back in your Imabari bathrobe and slippers.
Maana homes KyotoMaana Homes
Located down a quiet, narrow lane near the 16th-century Toyokuni Shrine in Kyoto’s culture-packed Higashiyama district, here "over-tourism” will feel like a distant dream. The property is a serene hat trick of suites, smoothly renovated across a network of century-old machiya townhouses. The three unique spaces, which each sleep between two and four people, bring a taste of ancient Kyoto to the modern world through design, craftsmanship, materials, and atmosphere: sweeps of sand-toned walls, bathtubs crafted from Shigaraki clay, and curated Kyoto antiques find their home alongside more contemporary and international design notes like sculptural French pendant lights and clean-lined Danish sofas. The contemporary riff on Kyoto aesthetics continues in the on-site café Kissa Kishin (farm-to-table breakfast highlights include the soft and tasty bread made from amazake and koji).
This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date.
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