A Stay at The Westin Miyako Kyoto

Table of Contents

Staying at The Westin Miyako Kyoto

A Junior Suite with Beautiful Curves

Whenever I come to Kyoto, this is the place I always want to stay, so I’m back at The Westin Miyako Kyoto again.

It seems my room had been upgraded to a Junior Suite, so it felt wonderfully spacious. There’s a living room with a work desk and sofa…

The bedroom is in the back. There’s an actual door between the living room and bedroom, so you can separate the two spaces.

I’m genuinely so happy when a room is this spacious. Very grateful.

Rounded Corners Everywhere

Rather than just being renovated, the room feels completely rebuilt. The interiors use curves as a motif in tribute to Togo Murano, who designed the original building. In PowerPoint AutoShape terms, everything is rounded rectangles, lol.

Even the work desk has rounded corners.

The mirror and the stool have rounded corners too.

Even the sink by the toilet has rounded corners.

This shelf is only half rounded.

They really love rounded corners here.

The Best Bath

After taking a break in the room, I headed to KaCho, Westin Kyoto’s absolutely amazing spa. This time my room was on the same floor as KaCho, so it was right outside the door. For someone who loves KaCho as much as I do, this was the best possible room assignment.

I wonder if this handrail is an original by Togo Murano?

The lockers are spotless too, and once you experience this level of comfort, it has the unfortunate side effect of making ordinary super sento feel less pleasant by comparison… lol

The men’s bath has a dry sauna, and it wasn’t crowded at all when I went, so I enjoyed it very much. The dry sauna is a "bon sauna" type, with the heat source behind your back.

There’s a cold plunge right in front of you when you come out of the dry sauna, so the layout is perfect.

The semi-open-air bath is covered. There are only two rest benches, but they do have them. (Separate from the ones in the photo, there are also two more of the same benches by the shallow bath and inside.)

The semi-open-air bath has an infinity edge, so it feels like you become one with the reflecting pool beyond it. I love it.

The indoor bath also has a futuristic feel, making great use of curves in the design. There’s a jacuzzi too, and personally, I think if you come to Kyoto, it’s absolutely worth cutting sightseeing short by about two hours to spend that time here instead.

At this quality level, it’s free for hotel guests too (not open to outside visitors). It really is a wonderful place. I came back once more after dinner, and then again the next morning after breakfast, so I ended up enjoying it three times in total.

Evening Fun

A Drink in the Lounge Before Heading Out…

Since I already had dinner booked at a restaurant outside the hotel, I just dropped by the club lounge for a quick pre-dinner drink. I had some white sparkling wine and a few light bites.

The smoked salmon here was absolutely delicious with the sansho berries—I really want to copy that combination!!

The black olives were smoked too. They were also incredibly good. I wonder if they sell them somewhere?

By the way, I saw someone at the buffet counter dumping several plates of already portioned fried food onto one large plate right there on the spot, and I can only hope the idea spreads that this is, in fact, embarrassing behavior… lol

The Start of Day Two

My Beloved Buffet

After a night’s sleep, morning arrived. For breakfast, I went with the buffet as usual. It’s normally very crowded, but I went early that day (7:20), so there weren’t many people and I could enjoy it at a relaxed pace.

Of course I’m going to have the somen noodles and rice balls from the live kitchen, right?? But!? I’ve turned over a new leaf recently, so I’m eating plenty of vegetables too.