How do you choose where to stay in Kyoto?
For anyone who wants the hours at the hotel to count, here are three hotels with something unusual to try.
All are easy to reach from a station and from the main sights, which suits anyone who would rather not spend the day travelling.
Some also let you spend time with what is particular to Kyoto.
Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyoto Kawaramachi Jokyoji: A Hotel That Shares a Temple
Jokyo-ji is a Jodo-shu temple founded between about 1171 and 1175 by Taira no Shigemori, the eldest son of Taira no Kiyomori.
It is also a hotel: Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyoto Kawaramachi Jokyoji, where temple and hotel share the site.
Inside the restrained monochrome building are ornaments carried over from the temple.
Like a Museum Inside a Temple
The lobby holds a calligraphy work seven meters high.
It takes up the interior themes of the hotel: the beauty of empty space and travel and ku.
In the lobby and the second-floor lift hall are the shishi-tsuki tomebuta-gawara, lion-topped ridge-end tiles that once sat at the north and south corners of the main hall of Jokyo-ji.
A tomebuta-gawara keeps the tile ends from being damaged by rain or typhoon winds, and is also meant to ward off misfortune.
Other decorations from Jokyo-ji appear as wall art and lobby columns throughout the hotel.
The Jokyo-ji Morning Service, for Guests Only
The morning service is asa-gongyo: the head priest chants a sutra and gives a short talk, and you offer incense.
It is open to guests only, and those who ask receive a goshuin. The goshuin of Jokyo-ji goes only to people who take part.
The hotel’s own goshuin book is sold for 1,500 yen, which is worth knowing if you collect them.
Afterwards you can look around the main hall of Jokyo-ji, in the short window the morning allows.
Jokyo-ji morning service
Price: service 1,500 yen / goshuin 800 yen (free for under-18s)
Held: on set dates announced on the hotel website
Meet at: 6:40
Service: 6:50–7:20
Booking: through the dedicated accommodation plan, or at check-in
Jokyo-ji main hall visit
Price: free
Held: on the same dates as the morning service
Time: about 7:15–7:40
The Large Bath and Its Art
In the large bath, art appears on a wall of light, with quiet music.
The men’s bath carries a bold work on mujo, impermanence; the women’s bath a gentler one on rinne, the cycle of rebirth.
Both were made by Kami Asakura, a maker of handmade washi that supplies art panels to companies.
It is work that suits a hotel sharing its site with a temple.
At the center of the bath stands an object shaped after a chozubachi, the basin where visitors rinse their hands and mouth before worship.
The traditions of Jokyo-ji reach even here.
One more thing worth knowing
Source: https://www.gardenhotels.co.jp/kyoto-kawaramachi-jokyoji/
The hotel also sells goods available only at Jokyo-ji.
· Goshuin book (1,500 yen): it carries Ku, the calligraphy work that fills the lobby. Only this hotel sells it.
· Omamori (500 yen): a card-shaped charm that fits in a notebook or a phone case, for anyone hoping to see a wish through.
Sights nearby
| Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyoto Kawaramachi Jokyoji Address: 620 Teianmaenocho, Teramachi-dori Shijo-sagaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto Tel：075-354-1131 HP：https://www.gardenhotels.co.jp/kyoto-kawaramachi-jokyoji/ |
Kyoto Pleasant Hotel: Games and Manga After a Renovation
Kyoto Pleasant Hotel has enough to do that you may end up spending longer inside than you planned.
It is well equipped with games, manga and private rooms.
Game Corner: From Current Titles to Retro Cabinets
The Pop Culture Park, open to guests only, holds more than 3,000 games.
They run from two-player titles such as Mario Kart, The House of the Dead and Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3DX to older machines such as Dragon Ball Z and Wani Wani Panic.
The one to try is Candy 25, a single cabinet holding 2,821 games from the Showa and Heisei eras. Even people who rarely play end up at it.
Manga and Board Games, in Several Languages
The Pop Culture Park also has a manga corner with 3,000 volumes, including Demon Slayer, Slam Dunk, Dragon Ball and One Piece.
They are stocked in Japanese, English and Chinese, so you can read what you have been meaning to.
The same area holds more than 100 board games.
Disney Villainous and Jujutsu Kaisen are among them, which works with friends, family or a partner.
Noodle Tours: Ramen from Around Japan
There is also Noodle Tours, a frozen ramen vending machine stocked with bowls from well-known ramen shops around Japan.
You boil the noodles yourself and cook them as firm as you like, which helps when you want something at midnight.
Bario for jiro-style, Ramen Hayashida for chicken broth, Tsukemen Tsujita for seafood broth.
If you have room, compare a few.
Rental Rooms for Streaming
Kyoto Pleasant Hotel also has rental rooms for esports and YouTube streaming.
The photo studio keeps cosplay props, for photos with friends or for streaming on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube.
There is a gaming room with current PCs and a fast connection, along with a kids’ room.
The rental rooms are booked without a time limit, so you can stream while you play.
Rooms: Concept Rooms for Anime and Art
Rooms range from standard to family.
The concept rooms, limited in number, suit anyone who likes anime and art.
Illustrations by young artists from the character design department of Kyoto University of the Arts cover the walls.
Anyone who would make time for the Kyoto International Manga Museum will enjoy them.
One more thing worth knowing
The hotel website carries its own guidebook to nearby cafes and izakaya, along with shrines and temples.
Every entry has been seen and eaten by the staff themselves. Copies are handed out at the hotel, and the site is below.
https://kyoto-pleasanthotel.com/service/guidebook/
Sights nearby
| Kyoto Pleasant Hotel Address: 857 Kitafunabashi-cho, Horikawa-dori Imadegawa-agaru, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto Tel：075-366-6711 Mail：info@kyoto-pleasanthotel.com HP：https://kyoto-pleasanthotel.com/ |
THE GATE HOTEL Kyoto Takasegawa by HULIC: Traditions to Try
THE GATE HOTEL Kyoto Takasegawa is built on the idea of a gate between you and the city.
As that phrase suggests, the hotel offers a range of things to try in Kyoto.
In the Hotel: First-Rate Performances, Free of Charge
Many visitors hope to see a maiko while they are here.
THE GATE HOTEL Kyoto Takasegawa stands near Pontocho, the refined drinking quarter by the Kamo River, and holds occasions where you can watch a maiko of Pontocho dance, free of charge.
Besides the dance there are ozashiki games and photographs, which suits anyone interested in the older traditions.
For more of that, there are events with a Shimabara tayu, the highest rank among geiko, who processes, dances and plays the biwa, and tate sword-fighting events staged by actors from the Toei Kyoto Studio.
Dates are limited, but many are free, which makes it a rare chance to see work of this standard.
Outside the Hotel: Brewery Tours and Kimono Dressing
Kyoto has a number of long-standing sake breweries.
Matsui Shuzo is the oldest still brewing in the city, with close to 300 years behind it.
The brewery tour covers how Matsui Shuzo draws out the flavor of the rice, and ends with a tasting.
The hotel also lists a kimono dressing session and making your own postcards by hand-papermaking.
It will arrange a tour if you ask, so mention anything that interests you.
One more thing worth knowing
Source: https://www.gate-hotel.jp/kyoto/
There are 13 room types, including rooms with a Japanese garden inside and connecting rooms that suit travelling with friends or relatives. The Schoolhouse rooms come with a wagon service before bed.
Sights nearby
| THE GATE HOTEL Kyoto Takasegawa by HULIC Address: 310-2 Bizenjima-cho, Takoyakushi-dori Kawaramachi Higashi-iru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto Tel：075-256-8955 HP：https://www.gate-hotel.jp/kyoto/ |
Summary
This article has covered three hotels with something to try.
A hotel does not have to be only somewhere to sleep.
These suit anyone who wants the hotel to add to the trip.
All three are easy to reach from the center of Kyoto and close to the sights.
They are worth a look if you like Japanese games and manga, or want to try the traditions of Kyoto.
