Aman Kyoto

The path to Aman Kyoto begins in the trees. Accessed via a woodland approach through cryptomeria and ancient moss gardens in the northern reaches of Kita-ku, the property asserts its logic before the first room is reached: this is not a city hotel that has found a scenic location, but a forest retreat that happens to be within Kyoto's boundaries. The distinction matters. Central Kyoto — with its temple queues, tour buses, and the compression of beauty and tourism — is another world from here, accessible but not present.

Designed by the late Kerry Hill Architects and completed in 2019, Aman Kyoto's architecture responds to its landscape with a precision that the surroundings reward. Low-rise timber and stone buildings follow the natural topography; the palette of materials — weathered wood, local stone, shoji light — reads as emerging from the forest floor rather than placed upon it. The Aman Spa and its treatment rooms occupy spaces that feel continuous with the surrounding nature, where the boundary between interior and exterior blurs with the seasons.

Dining draws on the Kyoto culinary tradition — kyo-kaiseki, with its emphasis on seasonal vegetables, tofu preparations, and the understated elegance that has defined the imperial capital's cooking for centuries. The restaurant and garden spaces shift character through the year: plum blossom in February, new growth in spring, deep summer green, the copper and crimson of Kyoto's celebrated autumn, and finally the stillness of winter, when the northern hills carry a quality of quiet unavailable anywhere south of the city.

For travelers who have visited Kyoto before and found themselves wanting something unreachable in the standard itinerary — a stay that prioritizes being in the city's landscape over collecting its sites — Aman Kyoto offers a resolution. The temples and gardens of northern Kyoto remain accessible; the Aman's own grounds and forest paths provide a complete experience in themselves.