A Stay at The Westin Miyako Kyoto

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We stayed at the venerable Miyako Hotel, which first opened in 1900

Its current official name is The Westin Miyako Kyoto

After leaving Katsura Imperial Villa, I headed to where I’d be staying that night: The Westin Miyako Kyoto. It may not be 300 years old like Katsura Imperial Villa, but a hotel with a history of more than 100 years is still pretty impressive.

It now belongs to the Kintetsu Group, but this is the original Miyako Hotel—the true flagship, and Kyoto’s state guest house in spirit.

Sparkling clean after a full renovation

You might wonder whether a long-established hotel would feel worn out. And isn’t the current building from 1960…? There’s absolutely no need to worry. It underwent a complete renovation in 2021, so everything feels spotless and brand new.

On the other hand, although the building was designed by Togo Murano, almost none of that original atmosphere remains anymore, haha.

A quick break in the club lounge

Thanks to that Marriott Bonvoy Amex platinum perk, I was able to check in at the club lounge. Since I arrived late, it rolled straight into cocktail time.

There was a good selection of alcohol, and the sparkling wine was Japanese.

The snacks were served set-meal style in a box that looked a bit like stacked jubako lacquerware.

Since we were planning to eat dinner out, I kept it light and stopped there—probably the proper way to use a club lounge, really.

Visiting Murano Togo’s Kasuien

The Westin Miyako Kyoto has an annex called Kasuien. It’s said to be one of Togo Murano’s masterpieces, and if you’re into architecture, it’s a name you come across all the time.

Even if you’re not staying there, they’ll still let you see the front section of Kasuien, so I went to take a look.

It sits up on the hill behind the hotel, and you reach it from the 7th floor. The entrance is a little on the small side.

Once inside, there’s a sukiya-style building. The key point is that it’s not actually sukiya-zukuri, but rather sukiya-inspired.

At first glance, it can look like an ordinary Japanese-style building, but the roof is what really stands out. The design layers remarkably thin roofs, which gives the whole structure a light, airy feel.

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It really is completely different from Katsura Imperial Villa, the sukiya-zukuri masterpiece I had seen just a few hours earlier. Apparently those thin roofs were also incredibly difficult to execute from a technical standpoint.

Since it’s winter, the bamboo grass is brown. They’re gourds.

Ahh, I’d love to stay here someday…

This is Kasuien as seen from the hotel’s rooftop garden. The views look wonderful too.

A very comfortable hotel stay!

The room was a Junior Suite

Thanks to my Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status, I was upgraded to a Junior Suite. I’d read that during the renovation they combined two rooms into one, and I think this was probably one of those.

There’s a spacious living room,

with the bedroom farther in back.

The air purifier is a bit unfortunate, haha

There’s a TV in both the living room and the bedroom, and the design makes generous use of curves.

The toilet is a Neorest!! It’s so cute and rounded!

Of course, the bath and toilet are separate, and the vanity has double sinks.

I didn’t use the bathroom since the hotel has a large hot-spring bath, but it felt luxuriously finished and very nice.

(After this, we head out for dinner.)

At night, I soaked away the day’s fatigue in the beautiful large bath

After eating dinner out and coming back to the hotel, I headed to SPA Kacho, one of the new facilities added in the major renovation.

The design somehow feels like a spaceship. The lighting is lovely too, and the curved forms feel like a respectful nod to Togo Murano.

The large bath was excellent, with both the indoor bath and open-air bath feeling spacious, plus a sauna as well.

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The design is inspired by the Suirokaku Aqueduct at Nanzen-ji.

Buffet breakfast in the morning—and this was another big hit

For breakfast, I went to the hotel restaurant, the all-day dining venue Rakuu.

Of all the hotel buffets I’ve had recently, this was probably the most substantial—and the most to my taste. They even had fresh-squeezed orange juice that was fun just to look at!

The made-to-order onigiri were fantastic too.

That morning, I found myself promising that if I stay here again, I’ll definitely go for the buffet breakfast. It was crowded and there was a wait, though, so if your schedule is tight, you might want to go early.