Hoshinoya Kyoto

The road ends at a small jetty beneath Togetsukyo bridge in Arashiyama, on the western edge of Kyoto. From there a covered wooden boat takes about fifteen minutes to carry guests up the Oi river, between wooded hills, to a stone landing where the staff of Hoshinoya Kyoto are waiting. There is no other way in for a guest with luggage, and the boat sets the tone for everything that follows.

History

The site, on the right bank of the river where it leaves the Hozu gorge, is associated with Suminokura Ryoi, the merchant who opened the river to boat traffic in the early 1600s, and it later held a riverside villa and an inn. Hoshino Resorts took it over and opened Hoshinoya Kyoto in December 2009, the second property of its Hoshinoya brand after Karuizawa, keeping the terraced layout of the old buildings against the hillside. Arashiyama has been a retreat for the Kyoto aristocracy since the Heian period, when nobles came for the cherry blossom in spring and the maples in autumn, and the inn's year follows the same calendar.

Architecture and design

Rie Azuma of Azuma Architect & Associates, who designs the Hoshinoya houses, restored and rebuilt the pavilions as a stepped village of two-storey buildings linked by stone paths and small gardens. The landscape was laid out by Hiroki Hasegawa. The walls of the rooms are papered with karakami, woodblock-printed paper, made by Kira Karacho, a Kyoto studio founded in 1624, and the furniture was made in Kyoto to the architect's designs. A garden pavilion called the Salon, with an open fire and a library, serves as the guests' lounge, and there is a tea pavilion over the water.

Rooms and suites

All 25 rooms face the river. Each has a sitting area by the window, a low sofa, a desk and a bathroom with a deep tub, and the larger ones open on to private terraces or small moss gardens. The paper screens and the karakami give each room its own pattern. Rooms do not have television sets; the river and the hill opposite are the entertainment.

Dining

Dinner is a multi-course kaiseki menu built on Kyoto vegetables, river fish and seafood, served either in the dining room or in the guest's own room. Breakfast is a Japanese hotpot or a Western tray. Tea, sake and seasonal sweets are served in the Salon through the day.

Wellness

There is no spa building. Treatments are given in the room, and the hotel runs morning stretching sessions by the river, incense ceremonies and seasonal activities such as boat trips to see the autumn leaves in the gorge. Meditation sessions can be arranged at nearby temples.

Weddings and events

Hoshinoya Kyoto has no function rooms and takes no banquets or meetings. A group can take the whole inn, and private dinners for a party are served in the dining room.

Location

The inn lies on the Oi river above Arashiyama, in Nishikyo ward. Tenryu-ji temple, the bamboo grove and the Togetsukyo bridge are at the landing stage; Saga-Arashiyama JR station is about 15 minutes on foot from the jetty, and Kyoto Station is about 30 minutes by taxi. The Sagano scenic railway runs through the gorge above the inn, and the Hozu river boats pass the landing on their way down from Kameoka. Kansai International Airport is about 90 minutes by car. Among luxury hotels in Kyoto, this is the one that is least in the city and most in the landscape.