Japan during pandemic

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They announced today in Japanese newspapers that Japanese PM will announce further relaxations during his visit to the US next week.

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A belated review of The Mitsui Kyoto, Luxury Collection Hotel and Spa

I stayed here for 1 night for the Moon viewing weekend as a spa break.

I was supposed to stay at Westin Kyoto had issues with their xenophobia so cancelled and rebooked.

I paid 82k Bonvoy points for The Mitsui (cash price cca £700) and applied a suite night two days before arrival. I selected Nijo Suite first, but when it didn’t clear, I added Deluxe Junior Suite (City View) which cleared immediately. This suite retailed for about £900.

Room

Deluxe Junior Suite is more a proper suite than a junior suite. It has a separate living area and a bedroom with doors in between. It’s just stunningly decorated and has all the modern cons and more. Usb plugs right where they should be. Nice entrance and minibar (with Hibiki). Bathroom is huge and has a very big bathub with TV. Bath salts are also provided. Amenities are by Japanese brand Parfum Satori. They only had very small bathrobes, but the housekeeping found a bigger one in storage. The bed is plush and I just didn’t want to get up from the bed in the morning.

Arrival and benefits

The moment I arrived, I didn’t have to lift a finger. Staff are just brilliant. Almost nothing is a problem. All Titanium benefits were honoured incl. 4pm late checkout (there was a bit of misunderstanding from one the check-in agent, so she checked and said that’s ok). I was also given a welcome drink and a cake to eat in the beautiful lobby overlooking the gardens while they sorted all the formalities. In-room there was a very nice spread consisting of local sweets, cake and a cold green tea in nice bottles as well as welcome letter.

Breakfast

Breakfast is your choice from set menu (American, Continental, Japanese and Vegan). I went for Japanese which was brought in bento style box. Everything was very delicious and fresh. You also get a continental breakfast as extra (croissants, coffee/tea, orange juice). No buffet, at the table order. It was crowded at 8:30am, but that’s the normal situation at weekends. Breakfast is 6600 yen (about £40) so by no means cheap, so it was good that it was included. For a couple that would be £80 saving, although you could to any of the cafés and it would cost you much less.

In the end, I met with a friend for a dinner, so didn’t eat in the hotel. There was a nice looking Italian.

SPA
This is where this hotel excels for me. In the basement there is thermal spa/onsen with all sorts of areas to relax and enjoy. Think of The Langley in the UK, but five times better. This is free of charge

Then there are also private onsen rooms which you must reserve in advance and are payable. On the night in question they ran a special promo packages for massages so I took advantage of that. I can’t remember the price for the private onsen, but I think it was ¥10k as a special deal. Private onsen is like a huge room itself. With a long entrance, dining room, living room, huge bathroom, zen garden and of course big onsen area. Included with this comes a free mini bar with alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, huge platter of fruit and an assortment of sweets. There is also a steam room.

Hotel and staff

Staff were excellent, attentive, caring, know when to keep a distance, when to small talk. Absolutely great. The hotel gardens are also beautiful. You can also book a tea ceremony experience in the teahouse in the garden for ¥2200.

Anyway, this is one of my favourite hotels in Japan now.

The only thing that might bother some is the location, it’s a bit further away from Gion and Higashiyama where the main city sights are, but then you are not far from
Kyoto Station, there’s Nijo Castle and it’s kind of in between East and West so could work. Btw ANA Crowne Plaza Kyoto is right next door and in one section they share walls.