Suiran Kyoto: incredible luxury boutique Western/ryokan hybrid with amazing service

**************Moderator's note:  I have edited out a number of photos in this review (while still trying to keep its gist) because the large number is causing the thread to take a long, long time to load.   RichardInSF, moderator, luxury hotels**************************************

For this Japan trip to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary, we tried to maxmize enjoyment of my SPG Platinum Ambassador elite status while it lasted. With the coming merger of the Marriott-Starwood loyalty programs expected in late 2018 or 2019, I didn't know if Ambassador status and benefits would continue. (As of April 18, the new Marriott loyalty program was announced and will continue to offer Ambassador service.) 

We stayed 3 nights at the Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho (Luxury Collection), 5 nights at the Suiran Kyoto (Luxury Collection), 2 nights at the Ritz Carlton Kyoto, and 3 nights at the St Regis Osaka. I used a total of 120K points for our 5 nights at the Suiran Kyoto property--with the standard award 5th night free. 

I contacted my Ambassador about 9 months in advance about upgrade possibilities using points, knowing there are only 4 suites among the 39 total rooms. All 4 of the suites were unavailable. The hotel then cromplimentarily upgraded me to its one Shiro-Sumire Premier Room, the best king bed room besides the 4 suites. I was very impressed and grateful.

In February, I noticed online that some of the suites were available. After contacting my Ambassador about a cash or points upgrade, the hotel offered an upgrade to their Presidential Suite for an additional $400 per night. Knowing the suite regularly costs over $3,000 per night, I accepted.

The Suiran is a spectacularly beautiful and authenic boutique hotel offering a hybrid experience between a Western luxury hotel and a traditional Japanese ryokan. With only 39 total rooms, the property truly is a gem in the Starwood/Marriott Luxury Collection. Suiran used to be an Imperial Villa; most recently, it was the home of Mr. Kawasaki, the famed motorcyle manufacturer. 

I expected Suian's Arashiyama location on the outskirts of Kyoto, a good 30 minutes drive friom the more eastern historical center of town (near the Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons hotels), to be a bit annoying but manageable.

I couldn't have been more wrong. We absolutely loved the Arashiyama location--and missed it the moment we moved for our next 2 nights at the more urban Ritz-Carlton Kyoto. 

Suiran is located right on the Hozu river.

The first building you see is Cafe Hassui, right on the river. This space is for casual dining, local confections, and tea/coffee service in the afternoon. We had coffee outside in the nearby garden one afternoon.

Looking up from the entry area across from Cafe Hussui, you can actually see on the 3rd floor the front of our Presidential Suite:

Wall decoration hides the bathroom hallway:

There was another door not shown, behind which was a conference/meeting space.

The Kyo-Suiran restaurant:

Garden view from restaurant:

There also is a private tatami dining room at Kyo-Suiran. That's where we had breakfast most mornings. This was ryokan style with high grade tatami mats, therefore requiring no shoes:

The view onto the garden was gorgeous again:

The hotel exterior at night:

The hotel's two onsen are similarly beautiful.

Raku onsen:

An onsen:

There is no other formal "traditional" spa--just the two onsen pictured above. Exactly like you'd find at a true Japanese ryokan.

The whole hotel oozes serenity and calm--Zen, anyone? We loved it. It felt as Japanese and authentic as many of the temple, shrines, and gardens we visited while in Kyoto. In the end, it was the only hotel at which we stayed that felt authentically Japanese in any real way. Yet it has all the modern bells and whistles that we crave. 

We arrived by Shinkansen Nozomi and were supposed to have a private taxi/car waiting for us at Kyoto Station--but we couldn't find it. We called Suiran to try and locate the car and driver, who apparently were there. In a need to hastily get to the hotel to meet our friends for dinner, though, we just decided to take a regular taxi. The hotel paid the taxi fare on our arrival--as transfer from the rail station is included in your room rate. Very smooth, considering!

Check in was done in our suite--very easy and simple, and it saved us a lot of time. We had just gotten washed up and ready when they brought our friends up to our suite.

The suite had been preset to 18 C. I was in heaven. My husband, not so much.

Because we arrived and almost immediately met our friends, we barely had time to get to know the suite until the next day.

But we did find waiting in our suite the nice welcome gift from the hotel and my Ambassador for our wedding anniversary. 

We really loved our Presidential Suite.

I absolutely loved its unique layout, though my husband was a little less enthused by the central placement of the master bath. To me, it felt like an open plan suite with glass walls when the blinds weren't drawn--so I appreciated its very Japanese Zen sensibility. I was thrilled that I paid for the upgrade and felt it was totally worth every penny!

The long entry hallway had a small powder bath that I almost missed enirely, so well was its doorway integrated into the wall!

These toilets were Toto, but didn't have the motion sensor functions. Sigh. How quickly we'd adapted. Like the Borg. 

The living room was spacious, full of natural light coming from everywhere it seemed:

The hallway into the master bath/bedroom could be closed off with any of two doors, which we did to create the two different temperature zones. 

Behind the door between the living room and bedroom were storage and drawers, as well as the entry into the master bath:

The shower on the left, the toilet on the right:

Outside of the shower was an exterior covered and private deck with our own private onsen, heated from water brought from a loca onsen not 10-15 min away. The wooden slats behind the onsen could slide either way, allowing us to open the space to the master bedroim deck when we used the onsen.

The master bedroom was quite spacious and had lots of natural light and storage:

The air con was working like a charm in the bedroom:

The bedroom had its own deck:

The view from the deck back onto the hotel grounds--that's the restaurant and reception on the left side, and the hotel building on the right and background.

The hotel had also taken the liberty to purchase in advance a set of two portable air conditioning fans, just to be sure I might be comfortable:

Seriously. The last time a hotel did that was Amanwana--after the air con failed. The even labeled it for us so we could use it if necessary!

As with the entire suite, there were automated solar shades and dark/blackout shades (that weren't totally blackout):

The Presidential Suite was anything but cookie-cutter! It was a totally unique and stupendous accommodation in which we were extremely comfortable for 5 nights. We could have stayed longer--and even joked that we should consider canceling the Ritz-Carlton (even knowing we'd been upgraded to a specialty suite there) for our next 2 nights. 

We missed the Presidential Suite and Suiran the moment we left after 5 nights. As much as we loved the Prince Gallery Tokyo's Kioi Suite and the Ritz-Carlton Kyoto's Kamogawa Suite, it is the unique and bautiful Suiran Pressidential Suite that makes us most yearn to return.

Service at Suiran was incredibly good. You expect a 39 room boutique luxury hotel to feel personal, and Suiran delivered!

First, the Suiran concierge team was fabulous. They handled all of my detailed and restaurant requests with aplomb and always made me confident in their ability to get the job done. In stark contrast with my poor initial issues with the Ritz-Carlton, the Suiran team always was extremely responsive, optimistic, and encouraging. For our 5 nights, they secured reservations for 3* Kitcho Arashiyama dinner, 3* Wayamamura lunch in Nara, and 3* Kichisen dinner. They even offered to try and secure our lunch reservation at surprisingly hard-to-get 2* Gion Sasaki for the day we moved from Suiran to the Ritz-Carlton, but I wanted to give the RC team a chance to prove itself (and they did). Their strong recommendation for booking a local dinner at teppanyaki Boruta was pure genius--it remains our best (and cheapest) steak dinner of our entire trip. They also recommended we cancel Kichisen (which we did) due to our having so many high handed dinners already. Their guidance had a lot of confidence, despite being imperfect English in many cases--and that made me very comfortable to rely on their guidance. That's very unusual for me.

The Suiran concierge also picked a tour guide we loved. We had 3 full days with him during our time at Suiran, including a very rainy day at Nara. We loved him so much that we even asked the Ritz-Carlton to switch out their guide for the Suiran guide for our one full day of touring while at the RC. (Credit also to the RC for so easily working to make that switch.) So we ended up with 4 full days with the same guide.

The concierge team also arranged, at my request, for us to get permission for the Moss Temple and took care of us for permission to the Katsura Imperial Villa. 

Even when the concierge arranged a local lunch at Yoshimura Arashiyama for us, we had the best table in the house. It was obvious that the concierge was taking care of us.

Second, the hotel already had earned much gratitude for their surprising complimentary upgrade to the Shirosumire Premier Room so far in advance of our stay. Their gracious offer for a fair upgrade price to the Presidential Suite was also very appreciated. It was definitely worth it, too.

Third, the fact that the hotel arranged to purchase and have two portable air con units--just in case--is incredible. I am VERY sensitive to temperature as most FTers know. I LOVE it COLD. That the hotel went so above and beyond to better assure me my comfort is incredible. Only Amanwana has gone to such lengths as I can recall. That's very good company. Of course, in Amanwana's case, the air con wasn't cutting the mustard; in Suiran's case, I rarely bothered with the portable units because the regular air con worked so well. Suiran deserves massive props for this alone.

Fourth, the hotel also went above and beyond in offering us at no charge the use of their private dining room (usually around $350 if I recall correctly) on our first night's dinner with our visiting friends. They did that so they could keep it cold and make sure I was comfortable; in fact, I was so comnfortable that my husband and friends were too cold, so we had to ask them to raise the temperature some!n They then set aside the private dining room for our use every morning for breakfast--again, just to be sure that I was cold enough. I loved it. My husband had to makde sure to bring a sweater to breakfast every morning!

Fifth, every member of the hotel team was outstanding. When we got back from a morning hike and wanted to try out Cafe Hassui around 10:30-11:00 am, we discovered it didn't normally open until noon. No problem, the staff member told me...and they opened up Cafe Hassui just for us. It was like we were at Aman Kyoto.

The only things that really went wrong during our stay were (1) the air con mysteriously shutting off in the middle of our second night, (2) the internet becoming very slow every evening, and (3) our taxi driver took us to the wrong temple for our special Moss Temple visit (but we made it anyway, thankfully). The first was aided by the portable unit and the regular room unit kicking back on, and the second we chalked up to small hotel issues--though we still would encourage the hotel to investigate better internet service. The last wasn't the hotel's fault, and we know they took the taxi company to task!

Suiran has an incredibly dedicated team. They work hard to make sure that you really are happy. It shows.

Dining at Suiran was very good.

The biggest weakness almost certainly is the limited breakfast menu. While the breakfast menu is limited, the food is very good.

They bring this enormous food tray and ask you to choose whatever you want--and as many as you like.

They all were delicious!

Almost every day, we had either egg white omelettes or fried eggs. The only hiccup is that the chef sometimes overcooks over easy!

While I didn't get photos, the juices and fruit are spectacular--so fresh, so perfectly ripe. We couldn't get enough.

We also had dinner on our first and last nights at Kyo Suiran, first in the private dining room with our friends and last in the main dining room to try that out. (They were surprised I wanted to try the main dining room!)

Dinner on our first night with our friends from California who happened to overlap with us in Kyoto that one night:

That last course was fish served on iPad screen showing the local bamboo forest--reminiscent of a course served at 3* Quince in San Francisco!

Dinner on our last night, just the two of us:

Basically, we had three 3* meals and 2 1* meals while in Kyoto. Kyo Suiran was delicious and in good company (and also expensive!). 

Food and beverage is great at Suiran. The only weakness again is the limited breakfast menu.

Because Arashiyama is considered suburban Kyoto, and because it closes down earlier than the more urban and historic eastern/center, many have the misperception that there are no great dining options. We found several which were incredibly good...and discovered that one on the eastern side wasn't so good. We also had an amazing lunch in Nara.

KITCHO ARASHIYAMA (kaiseki)

The first is 3* Kitcho Arashiyama--considered by many to be the best kaiseki restaurant in all of Japan. It's also known as one of the most expensive restaurants in the world--and it is. Our dinner cost almost $1700.

It literally is but a few minutes walk from Suiran. 

You have your own private dining room--tatami style, without shoes, of course--and garden. It's truly spectacular.

The food and service were impeccably good.

Dinner was incredibly delicious and among the most beautifully presented of any we'd enjoyed anywhere in the world. Add to that the authentic snd private Japanese tatami dinnig room and garden, the kimono-clad servers, the private table-side preparations for us, and the fact that I enjoyed asparagus and uni, two dishes I normally despise, and I'll say that Kitcho was my favorite meal in all of Japan. It was as much a meal as theater, and it was for me the most authentic Japanese dining experience of them all. I loved every second and would do it again in a second.

BORUTA (teppanyaki)

The Suiran concierge recommended Boruta to us rather than us adding yet another kaiseki 3* meal to our roster. It closes at 8 pm, but the hotel got us a 7:30 pm reservation. We took at taxi 5-10 min to the restaurant, but it was an easy 15-20 min walk back to the hotel.

Suffice to say that we loved Boruta. This was among the best steaks we've ever had...and for a mere $150 for the two of us. We would have eaten here again on our last night at Suiran except that it wasn't open!

Our chef and his wife spokle little English, but we managed just find. They were very friendly and nice. We had a lovely salad and some really tasy vegetables before the steaks but forgot to take photos. We were a little too focused on the beef!

They were so good, we begged our chef's indulgence and asked for a second steak for each of us.

Wow. Just wow. Some of the best beef we've ever enjoyed--and for a reasonable price, all things considered.  We recommend Boruta without reservation. Just go.

YOSHIMURA ARASHIYAMA

Yoshimura has a location in central Kyoto as well as Arashiyama. Our concierge booked us at their suggestion for lunch here on one of the days when we were hanging out on our own. It was a wonderful lunch!

Yoshimura is just a little further from Suiran than Kitcho--so about a 3 minute walk.

It's tatami style, so you must take off your shoes.

We were led upstairs to what is obviously the best seats in the house in the corner--with quite a view. Other customers were looking at us enviously. Thanks to the Suiran concierge, who obviously got us the best seats.

They're known for soba noodles, so we went soba!

It was so good! Highly recommended. 

GELATO!

Just down the street from Suiran at the corner where the bridge crosses the river is a gelateria--which our tour guide told us was considered by many to have the best gelato in Japan.

So we had to try it! But I can't remember the place's name.

Suffice to say that the banana chocolate chip gelato is among the best gelato I've tried. I also tried to black sesame to get a more local flavor, and it was delicious, too. My husband loved the cherry blossom flavor.  Highly recommended!

MISHIMA-TEI (sukiyaki)

The hotel concierge also recommended Misima-tei since we wanted to try sukiyaki. Suffice to say that this was the most underwhelming dinner of our entire time in Japan. We don't recommend it. The fact that it was a 30 min drive to bring us very close to our next hotel, the Ritz-Carlton, didn't help. 

A private room and table side service weren't so impressive or attentive here, in our opinon.

We ate our meat in the traditional sukiyaki raw egg mix.

The vegetables weren't very good. The steak was good.

Dessert was disappointing, too.

We were very glad to leave--literally after about 1 hr! We most certainly felt like we got ripped off. Dinner was almost $400. We don't recommend Mishima-tei. At all.

WAYAMAMURA NARA (kaiseki)

The last is our lunch at 3* Wayamamura in Nara--easily the cheapest 3* Michelin meal we've ever enjoyed at a mere $56 per person! It was kaiseki counter dining, though there were 2 other private rooms in the small restaurant. The fact that we were having the cheapest 3* kaiseki lunch the day after we'd enjoyed the most amazing but most expensive 3* kaiseki dinner at Kitcho was rather stunning--but we loved them both. 

That's Mr. Yamamura at the end of the counter. 

When departing, Mr. Yamamura still walked us out and wished us well with a bow.

What a lunch. So beautiful and tasty. What a deal it was, too. If you get to Nara, and you should, we highly recommend it!

The concierge team arranged a number of excursions with our tour guide. I assisted with a list of temples, shrines, and gardens sent in advance as a template--but we ended up trusting our guide as he (and we) changed course several times based on what we learned we liked and didn't like.

Arashiyama is about a 30 min drive or 20 min train ride from the eastern historic district of Kyoto--where most of the major hotels are located, includeing the Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons, both of which we also visited (and even stayed 2 nights at the RC). We expected to find the drives too onerous--but it turns out that we weren't giving proper due to the various temples, shrines, and gardens in proximity to Arashiyama!

Much to our surprise, we absolutely fell in love with and preferred Arashiyama. We loved the beautiful, more pastoral scenery at every turn. We loved the nearby temples, shrines, and gardens, most of which are much less touristed but easily as beautiful (if not more beautiful) than the "more famous" temples and shrines on everyone's must see list on the eastern side. We loved driving into the nearby mountains for vistas at less popular but spectacular sites. We enjoyed the more relaxed area in its entirety. 

I suppose we love Arashiyama more for the same reasons that we love Newport Beach more than Los Angeles. There's more to do in LA, there are more and better restaurants, more to see and more places to be seen. But we still prefer Newport. 

Arashiyama restaurants tend to close by 8 pm. There are no bars or clubs. It's a sleepy village feel. We walked back from our dinner at Boruta--about 20 min--and saw maybe 5 people on the streets. We loved every second.

Suiran turned out to be our favorite and most memorable stay in all of Japan. Actually, it isn't even close. We rarely stay anywhere for 5 nights, and yet 5 nights came and went so fast for us at Suiran that we could have stayed even longer. 

While the Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons Kyoto are beautiful luxury hotels, we found we prefer and will miss the unique ambience and character offered at Suiran. We loved it. We loved the Arashiyama location. 

We definitely will return to Suiran in future years to enjoy the height of the autumn colors and the bloom of spring Sakura. We can't recommend it enough!