luxury hotels and ryokan in kyoto
Luxury Hotels and Ryokan in Kyoto
The most luxurious hotel in Kyoto, in our judgement, is Aman Kyoto: twenty-six rooms, suites and pavilions in a forest garden at the foot of Hidari Daimonji, with an onsen of mineral water that rises beside it. For a ryokan, it is Hiiragiya, kept by the same family on Fuyacho Street since 1818; for the river, Hoshinoya Kyoto, reached by its own boat; for Gion, The Shinmonzen, nine suites over the Shirakawa. Our tours stay at Hotel The Celestine Kyoto Gion, in Higashiyama.
- On this page
- Eleven hotels and ryokan, each with its own page
- Where our tours stay
- Hotel The Celestine Kyoto Gion, Higashiyama
- Districts
- Higashiyama, Gion, central Kyoto, Arashiyama and the north
Central Kyoto has no hot spring of its own, which is why so few of the city's great hotels have an onsen. Two do: Aman Kyoto, whose water rises near the resort in Takagamine, and Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto, which draws a spring from some 1,000 metres beneath Nijo. For the onsen ryokan of Kansai, the place is Kinosaki, two and a half hours north by train, and that is where our journeys take guests after Kyoto.
where we stay
Where our tours stay in Kyoto
Our Kyoto nights are in Higashiyama, the old eastern quarter, so that Yasaka Shrine, the lanes to Kiyomizu-dera and the teahouse streets of Gion are all on foot from the door.
Hotel The Celestine Kyoto Gion
hotel · Higashiyama
A hotel among the machiya streets between Yasaka Shrine and Kodai-ji, a few minutes on foot from Gion, its rooms in pale wood and linen with deep tubs in stone-dark bathrooms. On The Classic Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan every room is from the hotel's upper categories or a suite.
Our tours stay hereThe Classic Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan, The Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan, Essential Japan, Classic Japan, Definitive Japan
the list
The great hotels and ryokan of Kyoto, in our order
Ten hotels and ryokan, ordered by what a stay in each gives: the setting, the rooms, the water and the quiet. Any of them can be part of a Custom Tour of Japan.
Aman Kyoto
resort · The north
Twenty-six rooms, suites and pavilions in a forest garden at the foot of Hidari Daimonji, the rooms from sixty square metres and made in the spare manner of a ryokan. The onsen at the spa is fed by mineral water that rises near the resort, and Kinkaku-ji is a short drive from the gate.
Hoshinoya Kyoto
ryokan · Arashiyama
Twenty-five rooms in low pavilions on the Oi River above Arashiyama, reached by the resort's own boat, every window turned to the Rankyo gorge. The interiors are the work of Kyoto artisans, and a storehouse of some 130 years holds an incense bar.
The Shinmonzen
hotel · Gion
Nine suites on Shinmonzen Street, the street of Kyoto's art and antique dealers, each with a balcony over the Shirakawa and most with a tub of hinoki cypress. Every suite takes its character from one material: washi, lacquer, silk, bamboo, stone or cypress.
Hiiragiya
ryokan · Central Kyoto
A ryokan on Fuyacho Street kept by the same family since 1818, its main building in the sukiya manner of the tea room, in Kitayama cedar and polished earth walls. Each room of the main building has a bath of koyamaki wood, and dinner is Kyoto kaiseki on the ryokan's own tableware.
Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto
hotel · Higashiyama
Built round Shakusui-en, a pond garden of some 10,000 square metres laid out at the end of the Heian period, with a glass bridge across the water to a tea house. The Heritage Garden rooms look over the pond, and the spa keeps a 20-metre pool.
Park Hyatt Kyoto
hotel · Higashiyama
Seventy rooms beside Kodai-ji above the stone lanes of Ninenzaka, the Yasaka pagoda below the windows. The garden at the heart of the site and its Edo-era teahouse were kept and restored, and Kiyomizu-dera is a walk away.
The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto
hotel · Central Kyoto
On the bank of the Kamo River at Nijo Ohashi, its rooms of about fifty square metres turned to the river or to the eastern hills and Daimonji. The Garden Terrace Suites open onto a private garden of their own, and Gion is a walk along the river.
Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto
hotel · Central Kyoto
Beside Nijo Castle, on the site of the Mitsui family's Kyoto residence, entered through a gate that has stood for more than three centuries. A natural hot spring rises from some 1,000 metres below and fills the outdoor onsen of the Onsen Suites, a rare thing in the middle of Kyoto.
Six Senses Kyoto
hotel · Higashiyama
Eighty-one rooms and suites opposite the garden of Toyokuni Shrine, the design drawn from The Tale of Genji, a walk from Sanjusangen-do. The Premier Suites have a Japanese garden of their own, and the spa follows the twenty-four small seasons of the old calendar.
The Hiramatsu Kyoto
hotel · Central Kyoto
Twenty-nine rooms within a Meiji-era machiya on Muromachi-dori, once the home and shop of a kimono merchant, its lattice front kept almost as it was built. The smallest room is 55 square metres, and The Hiramatsu Suite is panelled in walnut.
by district
Kyoto's luxury hotels by district
Kyoto is a city of quarters, and the district decides the stay as much as the hotel does: what is on foot from the door, and how quiet the evening is.
Where our tours stay
Higashiyama
The old eastern quarter at the foot of the hills: Kiyomizu-dera, Kodai-ji, Yasaka Shrine and the stone slopes between them. The best district for a first stay, and ours.
Gion
The teahouse streets either side of Shijo, and the willow-lined Shirakawa. Evenings here are the reason to stay.
Central Kyoto
The old merchant city between the Kamo River and Nijo Castle, where Hiiragiya and Tawaraya stand a short walk apart on Fuyacho Street.
Arashiyama
The western hills, the Oi River and the bamboo of Sagano, quiet once the day visitors have gone.
our tours
Kyoto, with us
The Classic Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan spends three nights in Kyoto, and so do the three Honshu journeys of The Private Collection. The Custom Tour of Japan can put any hotel on this page into a journey of your own.
The Classic Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan
12 days30 March to 10 April 2027USD $19,500per person, twin shareSee the journey
The Private Collection
9 to 13 daysOn the dates you chooseFrom USD $18,000per person, twin shareSee the journey
The Custom Tour of Japan
From 6 daysOn the dates you chooseFrom USD $3,500per person, per daySee the journey
questions
Questions about Kyoto's hotels
What is the most luxurious hotel in Kyoto?
In our judgement, Aman Kyoto: twenty-six rooms, suites and pavilions in a forest garden in Takagamine, with an onsen of mineral water. For a ryokan, Hiiragiya; for the river, Hoshinoya Kyoto; for Gion, The Shinmonzen.
Should I stay in a ryokan or a hotel in Kyoto?
Both, if the journey allows. A hotel in Higashiyama or Gion puts the temples on foot; a night at a Kyoto ryokan such as Hiiragiya shows the city's own idea of hospitality. For a ryokan with an onsen, the place is Kinosaki, two and a half hours north.
Which hotels in Kyoto have an onsen?
Few, because central Kyoto has no hot spring of its own. Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto draws a spring from some 1,000 metres below Nijo, and Aman Kyoto has an onsen of mineral water that rises near the resort.
Which area of Kyoto is best for a luxury stay?
Higashiyama, for Kiyomizu-dera, Yasaka Shrine and Gion on foot; Gion itself for its evenings; Arashiyama or Takagamine for quiet. The full answer is in where to stay in Kyoto.
Where do your tours stay in Kyoto?
At Hotel The Celestine Kyoto Gion in Higashiyama, on The Classic Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan and on Essential Japan, Classic Japan and Definitive Japan, three journeys of The Private Collection.
Can you arrange a stay at any of these hotels?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created for your party alone, on your dates, and any hotel or ryokan on this page can be part of it. The Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for a guest who would rather travel independently.
further reading
Before you choose
Kyoto, from the right door.
Tell us when you would like to be in Kyoto and how you like to stay, and we will tell you which hotel or ryokan we would choose for you, and how the days around it would run.
Every hotel and ryokan we know, region by region: luxury hotels and ryokan in Japan. Private, on your own dates: private tours of Japan.