Countless magnificent temples, old neighborhood streets lit with lanterns and the flow of the Kamo River. All that you might associate with Kyoto is here in Kyoto City’s Higashiyama Ward. In the autumn of 2019, the luxury hotel Higashiyama Shikikaboku opened near the Subway Tozai Line’s Higashiyama Station.

 

The number of guestrooms is only eight. It is a small hotel that could be easily overlooked in this town where numerous new accommodations have been built in the recent years. However, once you step inside you are sure to notice the carefully thought out hospitality that makes the hotel a one-of-a-kind place.

 

The hotel was created by a couple, an architect husband and an interior designer wife. Let’s hear about how the hotel was conceived and learn about the secrets of its design dedicated to comfort and relaxation. 

 

 

It’s no wonder once you know that the owner who designed it, Mr. Takafumi Kawakami, has designed a great number of hotels, houses, and public facilities. Mr. Kawakami has always paid special attention to how his works would actually be lived in or used. While designing buildings that make the best use of the land’s value and advantages is fundamental, Mr. Kawakami has also focused on matters such as “how many rounds of seating would be possible, in this restaurant, with this many seats,” which are generally outside the scope of an architect’s work. 

 

While working on projects commissioned to him, he said he was always thinking about “how I would do it for my own place.” In other words, he sat on the idea of his hotel for decades! The sophisticated beauty of the hotel’s architecture may very well be the fruit of his career and the embodiment of his dreams.

 

The interior designer Ms. Masumi Kitayama, Mr. Kawakami’s wife, has also placed importance on the user experience. She has always carefully imagined “how the user would feel” when she carries out her designs, be it a choice of lighting, wallpaper, or furniture.

 

Ms. Kitayama says of her husband, “I’ve never heard of an architect who seriously considers how the occupiers would run their business,” and Mr. Kawakami says of his wife, “Feminine sensitivity to details and bold resilience with innovative ways of thinking coexist in her.” The couple’s mutual respect has led them to give shape to “the kind of hotel that both of us would want to stay in.” This was how Higashiyama Shikikaboku was conceived.

 

 

One day, however, they happened to become acquainted with a person who worked in the real estate industry. Three days later, they were introduced to this land. Their minds were set the minute they saw it. It was away from the bustle of downtown while within walking distance to places such as Gion, Heian Jingu Shrine, and Nanzenji Temple. There was a sidewalk in front, and there were no telephone poles because the lines had been undergrounded. There was a beautiful view of the mountains of Higashiyama covered with green. This was the place where they could finally do what they had wanted to do for years.

 

Since it was not a hotel built with strict business targets, sales and efficiency were not the top priorities. The top priority was guest satisfaction. What was most important was to make it a place where visitors could feel very satisfied and want to stay again.

 

The hotel’s design and its style of hospitality were built on such thoughts. Kyoto has plenty of attractive, delicious restaurants, as well as impressive shrines and temples. There was no need to try to make the hotel an extension of these exciting places. The time that guests spend in a hotel is short in Kyoto where there is so much to see. So what was important, rather, was to make the hotel a place where the guests could spend the time they have to completely unwind. 

 

Therefore, Ms. Kitagawa and Mr. Kawakami decided to make the guestrooms spacious. And considering that a traveling couple might enjoy some separate time from each other, they built an outdoor bath and a terrace on the roof as places to relax outside the guestrooms. Considering that most guests would have Japanese cuisine for dinner, they decided to serve a Western breakfast that is easy on the stomach, made using Kyoto vegetables. In this way, the two thought out and decided on the hotel’s design and its services one by one from a guest-centered point of view.

 

The idea was not to make the hotel the main character in a story of a trip to Kyoto, but rather to offer a calm, peaceful experience like staying at a relative’s home. The idea was to allow guests to spend time at the hotel as if living life in Kyoto, rather than experiencing it as a part of the package of Kyoto as viewed from the outside.

 

 

The guestrooms are all spacious, ranging from 26 m² to 54 m² in size. From everything to the amenities and teaware, Ms. Kitayama’s interior design brings out the feeling of Kyoto in an unimposing way to make the stay comfortable and relaxing. Everything is meant to enhance the guests’ experience, from the refreshing outdoor bath, to the beautiful rooftop terrace with a 360° view and even the checkout time is at twelve noon, allowing guests to have plenty of time to relax.

A place to have a relaxing time as a part of experiencing Kyoto’s charm is what they hope the hotel to be.

Address: 85-1 Imakojicho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto City MAP

Room rates: From ¥60,000 per room per night including breakfast (taxes and service charges included)

Access: 1-min walk from Higashiyama Station on Kyoto City Subway’s Tozai Line

Website: https://www.shikikaboku.jp/en/