The Shinmonzen

Located in the city’s Gion district, the exterior of the Shinmonzen echoes the typical timber slats, kawara roof tiles and low profile buildings that are traditional in this part of Kyoto - you might mistake it for a regular machiya teahouse.

Gion (the district where the hotel is located) is designated as a traditional and preserved district by the city of Kyoto, explains Ando. ‘So we were obliged to create a wooden façade and Japanese roof tiles known as kawara. Therefore we tried to design the outside in a traditional Japanese style, but a completely different new modern world can be found inside.’

Step inside the hotel, however, and the atmosphere veers into the future: a long corridor, sharply lined with a sweep of raw concrete on one side, and vertical wood slats on the other, flows deep into the unexpectedly modern building. The hotel represents a nuanced fusion of the past, the present, and the future.

The nine suites are spacious and contemporary, with either Western-style beds or low-rise futons on tatami, all with private balconies overlooking the adjacent Shirakawa river – which is shaded by the flowers of cherry blossom trees during Japan’s Hanami season.

More European influences also come in the form of silver-plated door handles made in France and Italian bed linen alongside artworks by the likes of Damien Hirst, Annie Morris and Louise Bourgeois, as well as Kohei Nawa and Yoon-Young Hur.

The hotel has an on site restaurant (opening soon), day spa and fitness facilities. Each room also has a traditional Hinoki bathtub for an in-suite ‘onsen’ experience and the hotel provides complimentary Farm-to-Table Breakfast each day.

Facilities

• 24-hour front desk
• Air conditioning
• Breakfast
• Coffee machine
• Essentials
• Fitness centre
• Heating
• Hot Tub
• Restaurant
• Spa facilities
• Wi-Fi (free)