JC Stays: Hoshinoya, Kyoto Japan

Ours was raised for wonderful views. A wooden staircase inside gave access to the bathroom and living room, in which breakfast was served on the low dining table, where we would sit cross-legged to enjoy a feast prepared on the spot by staff.

On both levels, bedroom and living room windows were carefully divided and shaded to frame fabulous views of trees and water, visible from the low tatami sofa as well as our beds.

Woodblock-printed paper and traditional lighting that casts magical shadows made for the most atmospheric and romantic of lodgings, a stay here is ideal for a honeymoon or anniversary.

Hoshinoya’s kitchen is also presided over by a chef who won a Michelin star at London’s Umu before returning to his native Japan, offering the refined kaiseki Japanese cuisine for which Kyoto is famous.

For its tiny dining room, Ichiro Kubota has created an exquisite multi-course tasting menu served to just a few at a counter, whose seats must be booked well in advance.

With dishes inspired by the seasons and by local festivals, the menu is a modern twist on Kyoto’s traditional cuisine. In Japan’s ancient capital, chefs would have had every ingredient at their disposal: here Kubota aims to blend Western elements too to offer something to new to all guests, Japanese and Western.

There are gentle activities to help fill your days, from morning exercise in a “hidden garden” which mimics traditional raked gravel with tile, to tea ceremonies overlooking the river and Japanese whisky-tasting.

And after soaking up the tranquillity of Hoshinoya’s elegant surroundings, the sights of Kyoto, including its own gardens and temples, are close enough to explore on a day tour too.

 

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