No. 01: Aman Kyoto アマン京都
Twenty-six rooms in low pavilions at the foot of Mount Takagamine
Kerry Hill's pavilions sit in a long-established forest garden on the city's northern edge, with a hot-spring bath.
On the recordMICHELIN 2 Keys (2026)
Where to stay · Japan · Updated 5 October 2026
Kyoto 京都
Kyoto has a ryokan open since about 1704 and a hotel built around a 1926 telephone exchange. Three ranked editions of eight.
Luxury Edition
No ceiling on price
No. 02: HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO
The Mitsui family's 1703 gate, opposite Nijo Castle
André Fu did the interiors of this Japanese-owned hotel on the former Mitsui estate. It has a courtyard garden and a natural hot spring.
On the recordMICHELIN 3 Keys (2026) · World's 50 Best Hotels No.46 (2025)
No. 03: The Shinmonzen ザ・シンモンゼン
Nine Tadao Ando suites on Shinmonzen-dori, beside the Shirakawa canal
Stephanie Goto designed its six-seat bar.
On the recordMICHELIN 2 Keys (2026)
No. 04: Tawaraya 俵屋旅館
One family for three centuries, and a first website in 2026
Kyoto's oldest surviving ryokan, open for about 320 years. Its 1965 wing is attributed to Junzo Yoshimura.
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No. 05: Hiiragiya 柊家
Six generations since 1818, and Kawabata wrote here
About 28 rooms in sukiya architecture, on Fuyacho-Anekoji in Nakagyo.
On the recordMICHELIN 1 Key (2026)
No. 06: Hoshinoya Kyoto 星のや京都
A riverside ryokan in the Arashiyama gorge, reached by boat
Hoshino Resorts runs it as a modern ryokan, with gardens by Hiroki Hasegawa. The hotel's own boat brings guests from Togetsu-kyo.
On the recordDesign press
No. 07: Park Hyatt Kyoto パーク ハイアット 京都
A hillside hotel built with a 140-year-old ryotei on Ninenzaka
Tony Chi designed the interiors of the low-rise buildings, which share the site with Sanso Kyoyamato and look towards the Yasaka pagoda.
On the recordWorld's 50 Best Hotels (2025 list)
No. 08: Capella Kyoto カペラ京都
Capella's first Japan hotel, in the Miyagawa-cho geisha quarter
Kengo Kuma & Associates designed the building and Brewin Design Office the interiors. It opened in 2025.
On the recordMICHELIN 2 Keys (2026, new)
Boutique Edition
Smaller hotels
No. 01: Sowaka そわか
A hundred-year-old sukiya house and a new annex near Yasaka Shrine
Eleven rooms fill the restored former restaurant and twelve the annex. The restaurant is La Bombance.
On the recordMICHELIN Guide listed · Design press (Wallpaper*)
No. 02: Kanamean Nishitomiya 要庵 西富家
Seven suites and a kaiseki counter on Tominokoji
The kaiseki restaurant at this small central-Kyoto ryokan held a Michelin star.
On the recordMICHELIN 2 Keys (2026, to confirm) · Relais & Châteaux
No. 03: MUNI Kyoto
Twenty-one rooms facing the Togetsu-kyo bridge in Arashiyama
Ducasse Paris cooks dinner at this owner-led, art-focused independent, which has a riverside garden.
On the recordDesign press (Monocle)
No. 04: Genji Kyoto 源氏 京都
Nineteen rooms on the Kamo River, themed on the Tale of Genji
A restored 1891 machiya serves as the annex. Art and poetry from the eleventh-century novel shape the hotel's programme.
On the recordDesign press
No. 05: Hotel Mume
Seven rooms on Gion's antiques street, run by the owner
Furnished with East Asian and European antiques, it has a long reputation among returning guests.
On the recordGuidebook staple (Condé Nast Traveller readers)
No. 06: Shiraume 白梅
A former Gion teahouse on the Shirakawa, reached by its own footbridge
The okami runs five or six rooms, with kaiseki dinners and a stone bath.
On the recordGuidebook and press staple
No. 07: Yoshida-sanso 吉田山荘
Built in 1932 for an imperial-family branch, now five rooms
The house mixes shoin style with stained glass and has a hillside garden. Its former study is now a café.
On the recordHeritage villa
No. 08: Kinmata 近又
An 1801 inn on Gokomachi-Shijo, by Nishiki Market
Seven rooms sit behind a kaiseki restaurant at the front.
On the recordRegistered Tangible Cultural Property
Value Edition
Under ¥60,000 a night
No. 01: Ace Hotel Kyoto エースホテル京都
Kengo Kuma's building around the 1926 Kyoto Central Telephone Office
Commune Design handled the interiors of the 213 rooms. The hotel runs a large programme of local art and music.
On the recordDesign press (Wallpaper*, Dezeen) · MICHELIN Guide listed
No. 02: Hotel Kanra Kyoto ホテル カンラ 京都
An early Kyoto design hotel, with machiya-inspired rooms and hinoki baths
UDS runs it near Higashi Hongan-ji, with a kitchen-restaurant and a shop stocking Kyoto makers.
On the recordDesign press
No. 03: BnA Alter Museum
Thirty-one rooms, each by a different artist, on the Kamo River
A gallery runs up the ten-floor stairwell, and there is a bar by the river.
On the recordArt press · MICHELIN Guide listed
No. 04: NOKU Kyoto
Eighty-one rooms directly above Marutamachi Station
A design hotel next to the Kyoto Gyoen, the gardens of the Imperial Palace.
On the recordMICHELIN Guide listed · Design press (Wallpaper*)
No. 05: Good Nature Hotel Kyoto
A wellbeing hotel in Kyoto wood above a food hall
Part of GOOD NATURE STATION at Shijo-Kawaramachi, with shops below the 148 rooms. It is Japanese-operated.
On the recordWELL certification (reported)
No. 06: ENSO ANGO
Japan's first dispersed hotel, about 200 rooms in five buildings
Its tea room and gym are spread across the buildings, so guests walk the streets between them.
On the recordDesign press
No. 07: Kyomachiya Ryokan Sakura 京町家旅館 さくら
Machiya inns between the two Hongan-ji temples
A small local operator runs two inns, Honganji and Urushitei, with wooden baths and tatami rooms.
On the recordGuidebook and booking-site praise
No. 08: Nichinichi Townhouse 日々 TOWNHOUSE
A century-old house and clay-walled storehouse, let to two guests
CASE-REAL renovated it in 2015, beside the Nichinichi gallery of fine Japanese craft.
On the recordDesign press (CASE-REAL)
Chosen from awards, guides, press and the hotels' own information. Prices are typical nightly rates and change with the season. Book with the hotel directly.