Westin Miyako Kyoto (And Kyoto Highlights)
While the Tokyo Hilton is a bustling business hotel, the Westin Miyako Kyoto is a peaceful oasis in an ancient city.
The hotel's location backs right up to the famous (and scenic) Philosopher's Path, and a shuttle takes you on a 20-minute ride to Kyoto Station, or a 10-minute ride to Gion, the area where most tourists gather. In fact, the walk to Gion is a very pleasant and easy one (only 25 minutes), and we made it several times in the evening, but the daytime heat made the shuttle a far more attractive option.
I had read some reviews that the hotel was split into renovated rooms and older, unrenovated ones, and guest's experiences seem to depend a lot on which room they got. As I haven't had the same success with upgrades as an SPG Gold as with HHonors, I secured our upgrade in advance with SPG points. I was more than happy to pay 2,500 points per night, especially as I got a great deal on this hotel via a BRG.
The Heavenly King bed was a pleasure to sleep in:
And our view of the Philosopher's Path was just awesome to wake up to:
The lounge didn't have nearly the same food selection as the Tokyo Hilton, and a plate of hors d'oeuvres was served to each guest as they arrived.
However, he view of all of Kyoto made up for the lack of options:
Once again, we took breakfast in the restaurant, as the options for hot items were far greater.
Kyoto is a beathtaking city, with more shrines and temples than one could see in a lifetime. I was worried I would get shrine fatigue, as I definitely tire quickly of touring churches and cathedrals in Europe.
We did a shorter (3-hour) bike tour here, and although the Tokyo tour was a blast, Kyoto is definitely more suited to biking.
We had some great, unforgettable meals here.
Ten Ichi, another of
mkjr's recommendations, is a tempura restaurant in the Isetan department store in Kyoto station that changed everything I knew about tempura. While I've known it to be heavy, greasy stuff that differs from traditional American deep fried food only in name and batter, Ten Ichi's tasting menu proved that when done right, it's surprisingly light and flavorful. I didn't take photos here, but trust me, it's worth the trip.
Another must-try is Guilo Guilo, a kaiseki restaurant that's more on the trendy side, but very creative with their preperations. There's no menu to order from, it's a set tasting menu each night, and you need reservations (ask your concierge). Read the
TripAdvisor reviews for more info. It's among the more memorable meals I've had, and at 4,000 Yen per person (about $40), it's a mindblowingly great value. I've paid double, triple and quadruple for meals that weren't as interesting or good.
Finally, don't miss Ajun in Arashiyama. The $30/person fixed price lunch included a small hunk of wagyu beef, which I expected to be the star of this meal. And while it was very tender and flavorful, what really shined were the accompanying dishes: tofu as I've never had it before. Not the bland blocks you find in most US establishments, but fresh, creamy tofu in a flavorful dashi broth, along with Yuba (tofu skin), savory mochi, pickles and more.
On that note, definitely take the time to visit Arashiyama. Wander around, get lost, see the monkeys. It was our favorite part of the Kyoto trip.
Bamboo groves everywhere:
Feeding monkeys:
A baby monkey:
We also headed to Nara, where Nara deer roam free. You can buy some rice crackers, and they'll converge on you in packs, politely bowing in hopes that you'll feed them.
I love this photo, the deer looks like it's cracking the widest smile:
These deer were calm and noble-looking, not like the oversized rat-pest-bumper-destroyers we have in MD/PA/NJ.
After four great nights, it was time to head back to Tokyo to begin our journey home. We hopped on the Shinkansen, and when we got to Tokyo station 2 1/2 hours later, we left our bags with the baggage holding service (only 500 yen per bag) and wandered Tokyo a bit more before heading to Narita.
I was hoping to try
Sarashina Horii, a 200-year old soba restaurant that I saw on No Reservations, and while I was excited to be able to find it, I found it to be under construction. So we wandered another block or two toward Roppongi and found a small udon shop, where had another great lunch. Either we've been incredibly lucky, or it's really, really easy to stumble into some great restaurants in this city.
After a while, we headed back to the station and boarded the Narita Express. 45-odd minutes later, we were at Narita station, and went off to find the Hilton shuttle…