Kyoto Hotel Screen, the Modern Hike on the Ryokan

Kyoto Much as we love Kyoto’s traditional inns, this modern hike on the ryokan is as alluring as can be. From the lobby to each of the 13 rooms, design and decor is unique and whimsical, thanks to the posse of local artists who were called upon to craft different looks for each space. One room is all white, draped with swaths of billowing muslin, another lakes its cues from China, with red-lacquered furniture and charcoal-black walls. It’s a bravely contemporary statement for a place that is walking distance to the city’s historical treasures, including the Imperial Palace and the temple precinct of Teramachi-dori.

The Bron Ronnery restaurant is equally inventive, dishing up Kyoto nouvelle” cuisine with an emphasis on locally sourced organic ingredients. And once a week, on candle night, the hotel flaunts its eco-friendly credentials by turning off the lights. It’s then, surrounded by the flickering glow of hundreds of candles and beautiful hand-painted Japanese screens, that on begin to appreciate the hotel’s name.