Aman Kyoto

Aman Kyoto is a hotel of 26 rooms, suites and pavilions set in a forest garden in Takagamine, north-west Kyoto, at the foot of Mount Hidari Daimonji and about twenty minutes' walk (1.6 km) from Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion. It suits couples and honeymooners who would rather sleep in a forest than in the city, and families or friends travelling together, thanks to two pavilions with two bedrooms each. It opened on 1 November 2019 as Aman's third property in Japan, after Aman Tokyo and Amanemu.

An obi collector's garden turned hotel

The estate covers 32 hectares: 29 of forest and 3 of gardens. Its former owner, a collector of obi (the broad sash worn with a kimono), planned to build a textile museum on stone terraces here. The museum was never built, and the hotel's pavilions now stand on those terraces. The large granite boulders in the garden were chosen by the collector as sculptures, and the moss-covered stone paths date from that first garden. The central garden is named after Kerry Hill, the hotel's architect, who also designed Aman Tokyo.

Guests can tour the garden with a member of staff. It holds the Senkutsu tea house, where matcha is served in the afternoon, and a walking trail that climbs from the estate into the hills.

Choosing a room

Every room has a hinoki (Japanese cypress) bath, a tokonoma alcove (the decorative recess of a Japanese room), a personal bar and a coffee machine. The choice comes down to orientation and size.

• The 60 m² rooms are spread across several pavilions. Susuki faces the moss garden and the forest to the east; Susuki Terrace adds a private ground-floor terrace and tatami flooring (rice-straw mats), so you can step straight into the garden; Kaede looks west over the maples, the room to book for an autumn stay; Nara, deep in the woods, faces the garden and its mossy stone walls.
• The Takagamine Suite, at 165 m², has a living room, a tatami room where futons (Japanese floor mattresses) can be laid out, a dining room and a kitchen area with a wine cellar: an apartment for a couple staying longer or a small family.
• The two pavilions, of 226 and 241 m², each have two bedrooms and two bathrooms with hinoki baths. The Takagamine Pavilion looks over the whole garden to Mount Hiei, and its rate includes a private return transfer from Kyoto Station or from Itami or Kansai airport. The Washigamine Pavilion sits at the highest point of the estate, the most secluded of all.

Onsen and spa

A mineral spring rises close to the estate. It feeds the onsen (hot-spring) baths of the Aman Spa, which are included with every stay. Treatments use local ingredients: Kyoto green tea, Tamba kuromame black beans, local sake and cold-pressed camellia oil. The spa also offers yoga in the garden, meditation and shinrin-yoku ("forest bathing", a slow walk under the trees). For the etiquette of shared baths, see our guide to onsen etiquette.

Dining

Meals are split between two venues.

• The Living Pavilion, the central building arranged around a fireplace, serves Western dishes and Kyoto home cooking from breakfast to dinner, with vegetables partly grown in the hotel's own garden.
• Taka-An, the Japanese restaurant, honours the artist Hon'ami Kōetsu (1558-1637), who helped found a colony of artists and craftsmen in Takagamine. The menu follows the season at the chef's choice, and two private rooms allow a dinner apart.

The standard rate includes breakfast, afternoon matcha, the evening aperitif and drinks from the in-room bar. Another rate adds dinner at the Living Pavilion every evening.

Around the hotel

Kinkaku-ji, built from 1397 for the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, opens from 9 am to 5 pm (local time); from the hotel you can be there as soon as it opens. The hotel arranges visits to Kōetsu-ji, the neighbouring temple linked to Hon'ami Kōetsu, and to the Uji tea fields, ikebana (flower arranging) lessons with a specialist, zen meditation with a monk, and evenings at a tea house in Kamishichiken, a geiko (Kyoto geisha) district in the north-west of the city. The rest of the city, from Gion to Fushimi Inari, is covered on our Kyoto page.

Kyoto Station is about 30 minutes away by car, Itami airport one hour and Kansai airport two hours. The Nozomi shinkansen (bullet train) links Tokyo and Kyoto in about 130 minutes; tickets are explained in our guide to trains and the JR Pass.

How it differs from the other Kyoto hotels

The four Kyoto hotels in our selection fall into two settings. Aman Kyoto and Hoshinoya Kyoto are away from the centre, one in a forest to the north-west, the other on the Ōi River in Arashiyama, reached by boat. Aman is the one with an onsen and two-bedroom pavilions; Hoshinoya takes guests from the age of 12. Capella Kyoto and the Imperial Hotel Kyoto are in the geiko districts, within walking distance of Gion. You get around by car, and you come for the garden, the bath and the quiet.