Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto

Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto opened in 2020 on the former estate of the Mitsui family — one of Japan's most powerful merchant dynasties — adjacent to Nijo Castle. The 161 rooms are designed with a palette of Kyoto craft — Nishijin silk, Kyo-yaki ceramics, and hand-polished stone — with a hot spring spa that uses water from the estate's own well. The hotel's restaurant, Mizuki, serves kaiseki cuisine of extraordinary refinement. The estate's original garden, redesigned by landscape architect Motoo Yoshimura, is the finest private garden in Kyoto.