The Holiday and Travel Magazine: The Noku Kyoto Hotel Japan

Sunday, 1 May 2016

The Noku Kyoto Hotel Japan

Noku Kyoto Hotel

On a recent visit to Japan, my daughter and I had the pleasure of being guests at the Noku Kyoto Hotel for one night. If you want to discover the local area’s traditional craft galleries, heritage confectionaries, machiya houses and hidden restaurants, the Noku Kyoto is the place to stay. It is located adjacent to the Kyoto Imperial Palace, right in the heart of 1,000 years of Japanese history.

I was immediately impressed with the hotel’s Japanese style, with touches of local culture throughout the décor, beginning in the lobby, with its low traditional seating & rice-paper doors. There are other features including bamboo cupboard doors, beautiful ceramics in display cabinets, pottery, lights in the shape of lanterns & unique art works on the walls. Each room has been furnished with specially selected art pieces that reflect Kyoto’s cultural history. Our room had 2 beautiful ceramic pieces in its glass display cabinet.

We were greeted by friendly & helpful members of the concierge team, who welcomed us & carried our bags up to our room. They made sure we understood how everything worked in our room, & offered to assist us at any time.

Our Luxury Room

The Noku Kyoto is a newly refurbished boutique hotel which opened in November 2015. It has 81 luxurious well-appointed guest rooms, with a choice of House, Deluxe, Luxury, Premium Luxury rooms and the Noku Suite available. We stayed in a Luxury Room. The exclusive upper floor rooms enjoy views of Kyoto Imperial Palace Gardens.

Our room was very comfortable with many facilities. The room had a 40-inch TV, work desk, room safe, complimentary Wifi, complimentary locally-sourced coffee and tea, and complimentary mini-bar refreshments. There was also a small round table & chair, & some slippers in the room.

Our Room

The bathroom was well-stocked with toiletries & had a bathtub & shower. One feature I hadn’t seen before was that the mirror had a warm square on it that stayed clear when the rest of the mirror fogged up with condensation!

The Luxury Room, Premium Luxury Room and Noku Suite are furnished with Airweave mattresses for extra comfort, and gave us a very relaxing night’s sleep. The Luxury Room also has a day bed, which my daughter slept very well in.

The Bathroom

We enjoyed using the wireless internet in our guest room to plan our next day’s activities in Kyoto. There was a choice of using a traditional Japanese tea set, or western tea cups and saucers, when we used the tea and coffee making facilities & the chilled milk from the mini-bar. The Noku Suite comes with a custom pantry.

The hotel also offers 24 hour secured parking, a 24-hour concierge service, & laundry and dry cleaning services. As part of the Noku’s personalised services, hotel guests can access an e-concierge system via a mobile application for greater convenience and useful travel tips and recommendations.

Location

The Noku Kyoto is easily accessible by road and rail from Kansai International Airport. The options are –

A 75-minute train ride on the HARUKA Airport Limited Express connects Kansai Airport to Kyoto Station. From Kyoto Station, a 10 to 15-minute taxi ride brings you right up to Noku.
Or start with a 90-minute commute from Kansai Airport to Kyoto Station on board the Airport Limousine Bus, followed by a 10 to 15-minute taxi ride from Kyoto Station to Noku.
Or from Kyoto Station, enter Kyoto Subway, take the Karasuma Line and alight four stops away at Marutamachi station.

We came by the wonderful Shinkansen from Tokyo, changed to the local train line exiting at Marutamachi subway station, & discovered we were one minute’s walk away!

As well as being adjacent to the Imperial Palace, it is also nearby key tourist hotspots including the Shimogamo Shrine, Kyoto Botanical Garden, Nishijin Textile District, and Teramachi Street.

Dining

Noku Café

The Noku Café, by Maeda Coffee, is open next to the lobby from 6.30 am to 11.00 pm. Founded by Takahiro Maeda, the 52-seat Maeda Café was first established in 1971 in Kyoto.

Using carefully selected coffee beans from Brazil, Colombia and Guatemala, artfully roasted in-store, Maeda Coffee delivers the finest blends. I don’t drink coffee, so I didn’t try it, but I’m sure it’s delicious to coffee lovers. They also serve a wide variety of drinks and handmade pastries.

You can start the day with a selection from the KYOU Karamasu breakfast menu, which features traditional local Kyoto home cooking. For lunch & dinner, KYOU Karasuma specialises in Kyoto specialty beef, prepared in the styles of sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, steaks and roast to the individual’s liking. It’s delicious! The restaurant offers authentic Japanese dining in traditional tatami rooms, with over 60 seats in its main dining hall. The opening hours are: Breakfast: 07.00 – 10.00, Lunch: 11.30 – 14.30, Dinner: 17.00-22.00.

Then in the evening, try Kyoto sake and wine at Kyou Bar Lounge. Bar hours: 16.00 – 24.00.