Kyoto—Japan’s most famous sightseeing city. Kyoto is endlessly mesmerizing, and the wide variety of hotel options available, from traditional ryokan inns and glamorous luxury hotels to local buildings reimagined as guesthouses, is one of many enjoyments.

 

Opened in April 2019, the BnA Alter Museum hotel is another new initiative. BnA runs the hotel, designing and managing utilizing art in Tokyo and Kyoto, and real estate developer Columbia Works.

 

BnA Alter Museum is based on the concept of a “hotel-style museum.” All 31 rooms have been designed as “artworks” by various up-and-coming artists including Daito Manabe from Rhizomatiks and art director Akiyoshi Mishima.

“Not a silent and solemn art museum, but one with laughter echoing through its halls. Not a museum for viewing artworks on stark white walls, but one where people can stay and be immersed in art. Not an art museum celebrating distant, faceless artists, but one where guests can chat over a beer with them. Here, the relationship between the artist and the public is blurred, and anyone can be transformed into an artist themselves.”

(From the official website)

 

This museum hotel also serves as a public space. Exhibitions and events are held here in a space that facilitates exchange between both Japanese and international artists and art lovers. We expect these personal interactions between artists, travelers and local art lovers to inspire new and captivating artworks. A percentage profit from each reservation will go directly to the artist who created the artwork in that room. Just by sleeping in a room, guests become patrons of the arts.

 

Kyoto—a place that respects traditions but loves new things. Visit BnA Alter Museum to start interacting with art in a whole new way.