Ace Hotel finally opened the doors of its first Asian outpost in Kyoto’s Shin-Puh-Kan complex after months of delays due to the pandemic, and the photos below testify that it was worth the wait.
A collaboration between Commune Design and architects Kengo Kuma & Associates, the hotel ticks all the boxes on what we’d expect from the Ace brand and Kyoto itself: tasteful, minimalist, low-key luxury, and equal parts traditional and contemporary. “There are many places where Ace and Kyoto meet,” says Roman Alonso of Commune Design. “They’re brought together here through a love of the handcrafted. It’s a concept of East meets West, with lots of layers and emotional connections.”
Across the hotel’s 213 guestrooms, public spaces, chic boutiques and three restaurants, guests are treated to the works and creations of artisans, a large number of them hailing from the Kyoto prefecture: metalworks, paper lanterns, original art, screen printed canvases, pottery, bespoke furniture and stencil-dyed textiles. Typical of Japanese hotels, Ace offers both Western and Japanese-style rooms, some equipped with soaking tubs, turntables and Tivoli radios. Those already in Japan can book a room here; for the rest of us, we’re bookmarking the site until travel becomes a possibility again.
Photography © Yoshihiro Makino for Ace Hotel (via)