Completing our theme park stint at Disneysea and Disneyland in Tokyo, my husband and I then made our way to Kyoto for a change of scenery. When researching for hotels, this one in particular piqued my interest because of its contemporary aesthetic and a certain character it had about its spaces.
Opening its doors in 2019, this 141-room hotel built its concepts, products and experiences around the themes of nature, wellness and sustainability. The entire property supposedly operates on virtually 100% renewable energy! There are even special concept rooms like the Sauna Room (has a private sauna and water bath) and the Meditation Room (has a mini white-walled room for meditation) centred around helping guests to relax.
As usual, I reserved our stay here via Trip.com. Thanks to their generous promo codes, I managed to save at least $50 per night in addition to rebates from Trip coins!
- Inclusions:
- 3-night stay in Superior Double Room
- Spent: SGD$289.24 + $115.13 in Trip coins
Check-in
The hotel reception is located on level 4, a bright and open area with outdoor seating amidst lush greenery and warmth from an actual fire – a very inviting space indeed ❤ Our check-in was smooth, though we did have to pay an accommodation tax of JPY200 per person per night (which came up to a total of JPY1200).
Room
As rooms in the Superior Double category range from 28 to 35 square metres, we asked the reception staff if they could assign us the largest one and they kindly acceded to our request! Nestled on level 7 (out of 9 floors), our room donned earthy tones and pastel colours that created a soothing vibe. It was definitely spacious, although it felt a tad under-furnished. I was very pleased with their no-shoes-in-the-room policy. This was politely communicated via having bedroom slippers laid out at the entrance and a line on the ground to signal to guests that shoes were disallowed beyond that point.
Waiting on the table were lovely amenities like coffee and tea from their Good Cacao in-house brand, as well as complimentary chocolate bon bons from their in-house chocolate store, Rau.
At the time of our stay, housekeeping services were only available between 10am to 1pm (but they did come into the room around 2.30pm on one of the days though). I requested for a firm pillow and was promptly brought 3 options to choose from, just wow. The bed was nice and firm too.
The bathroom was segmented, with the shower and tub in one section, the water closet in another, and a standalone sink on the outside. As expected, everything was spotless (: One tiny complaint I had was that the electronic bidet seat wasn’t heated.
Certain amenities like toothbrushes, toothpastes, combs and shavers aren’t provided (to reduce single-use plastics) so you can either bring your own or purchase them at the reception.
Facilities
During our visit, there weren’t many facilities available but it seems like they’ve opened up quite a few since then. Now, there is a gym, spa and guest lounge, though still no swimming pool.
The hotel also works with external vendors to conduct activities for guests, such as yoga, meditation and night trekking up Mount Daimonji at an additional cost. My husband wanted to do the Mount Daimonji hike but after enquiring, the staff regrettably informed that they were unable to secure a guide at such short notice. Having had his interest piqued, my husband decided that we make the trip up on our own anyway.
Staying guests can also sign up for a complimentary tour to learn more about the hotel’s concepts and spaces. At the time of our stay, there were two tour timings to choose from (11am or 5pm, we opted for 11am) but currently, it is only one timing at 4pm.
We met Tanaka, our guide, at the reception area. She is such a sweet and sincere lady, plus she did a fantastic job despite it being her first time giving the tour in English (: As there were no other guests joining, it basically became a private tour!
She started us on level 4, where the hotel lobby and reception is located. This space is inspired by Kibune, a famous forested spot in northern Kyoto where people go to enjoy nature, with the copper squares and vertical wood ceiling representing the flowing rivers of Kibune.
At the lift lobby, there is an impressive outdoor vertical garden cultivated from seeds native to Japan. Tanaka shared that these spaces are designed to give guests an experience in nature even though they’re right in the middle of the city.
It’s super cool how they used natural materials for various fixtures in the property. For instance, the reception counters are made from compressed wheat waste and lava rocks from the Kagoshima prefecture are used as lights above these counters!
Taking the escalator down to level 3, Tanaka brought us to the retail space stocked with organic body and skincare products carefully procured from within Japan or from disadvantaged communities in other countries.
She also introduced us to products from Nemohamo, their in-house cosmetics brand. You get to sample some of these, like their soap, shampoo and conditioner, as they are found in all guest rooms. They apparently have a farm in Kyushu where they grow ingredients specially for these products (chemical-free, no pesticides and powered by clean energy). In addition, the product packaging is made of biodegradable sugarcane material. Such care for the environment (:
On this same level, you can find beautiful self-sustaining plants in a plethora of glass bowl lights. The hotel chose to collaborate with Takaaki Murase from Re:planter to design and maintain these plant artworks as his philosophy is also about reusing waste materials to create art.
Level 2 is mainly occupied by restaurants, notably TAKAYAMA with 1 Michelin star and VELROSIER with 2 Michelin stars.
Our last stop was RAU Patisserie & Chocolate store and Good Nature Market on level 1. RAU, helmed by a Japanese chocolatier, specially sources and imports cacao beans directly from a Costa Rican farm that is Fair Trade Certified. They then create beautiful homemade bean-to-bar chocolates that look like absolute works of art. It was an intentional choice to do away with conventional display casings as they wanted guests to have a more intimate experience when selecting their desired desserts.
Good Nature Market is essentially a supermarket selling mostly organic products. Good Cacao, an in-house brand they stock, aims to reduce waste by using the husks of cacao beans from RAU to supplement products like tea, Japanese curries, cookies and even cola drinks. You can sample this cacao tea for free as it is available in all guest rooms – the cocoa aroma in it is unmistakable (:
Furthermore, we learnt that leftovers from all the hotel restaurants are collected and converted into fertilizer in their own composting facility within the property. This fertilizer then gets sent to their rice farms, which then supplies their restaurants with rice, an incredible full circle!
Concluding this insightful and inspiring tour, we were given the option to either have a shot of wine or a cup of organic mixed nuts to enjoy at the seating area within the supermarket. No prizes for guessing which we opted for! Anyway, it was a lovely way to end the tour ❤
There many dining options within the hotel but we only managed to try 3 of them. The first was Roku on level 2 with a simple menu of noodles done in a Japanese-Chinese fusion way. These noodles are made and supplied by VELROSIER, the 2-Michelin-starred restaurant next door. Tanaka shared that this restaurant closes once their broth runs out so do come early to avoid disappointment!
For our lunch on Day 2, I ordered Roku’s Chinese noodles (JPY1100) while my husband had the special Chinese noodles with truffle (JPY1400) with an added soft-boiled egg (JPY200). The noodles were indeed of a different league – slightly soft (my preferred type), bouncy and held up well despite being soaked in broth. The clear broth was hearty and flavourful too. However, the only pork slice in my bowl was too salty for my liking. I tried my husband’s broth as well and it was nice that the truffle flavour distinctly came through without being overpowering.
The second restaurant we dined at was ERUTAN on level 1 for lunch on Day 3. There were only set meals available, with the basic set including a salad, a soup or bread, a main and coffee or tea (JPY1980). We weren’t big fans of the soup or bread as the former was very cold (something we aren’t really used to) and the latter was very dense (we took a bite and then left it alone).
For our mains, we picked a pasta and a pizza to share. The ricotta cheese and bacon pizza was cheesy and tasted like any good pizza should taste. Alas, the pork and asparagus pasta in lemon cream sauce was rather off-putting as the pork had an extremely pungent smell and the lemon cream sauce was too light to mask it. My husband ended up eating most of it while I ate the pizza.
On our last day here, we had dessert at RAU Patisserie & Chocolate cafe on level 3. After the hotel tour, I just had to try their signature cacao choux (JPY990), which is meant to look like a cacao bean! It looks pretty realistic but it’s actually made of a crispy choux pastry filled with chocolate cream. The cream was light and not too sweet, with a creamy texture that paired perfectly with the crispiness of the shell, yum. My husband ordered a hot coffee (JPY660) to go along with it.
My overall rating of the experience: 5 out of 5 stars. I absolutely love the stylish hotel spaces inspired by nature and designed with natural materials. These spaces evoke a sense of serenity and hush that almost makes you forget you’re right in the heart of the city. Additionally, its strong emphasis on sustainability and green practices is really commendable – the property purportedly runs on 100% renewable energy! If you’re curious to learn more, you should definitely sign up for their complimentary hotel tour. Our room was most comfortable and immaculately well-kept, plus there was more than enough wiggle room for the two of us. Much of the food we tried was also delicious, save for that unfortunate pasta dish from ERUTAN. The service staff here came across as welcoming and always ready to help, especially Tanaka, our cheery hotel tour guide ❤ All in all, it is a hotel that I’d recommend in a heartbeat!
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
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