Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto

The room's ambiance far exceeded the somewhat cold, minimalist style depicted in the photos. In reality, it exuded a sense of understated luxury and sophisticated elegance. Being on a high floor, the view from the window was absolutely stunning, offering a panoramic vista of the entire Kyoto city – even better and more expansive than the Park Hyatt, and with greater privacy to boot. The hotel service was exceptional; they even helped deliver my camera outside the hotel and handled all sorts of issues with remarkable efficiency.

The accommodation environment is truly beautiful. We booked two double rooms, and the hotel assigned us rooms 301 and 302, which was quite special as they shared a private hallway with an additional door.

The Banyan Tree Kyoto Higashiyama has rooms with hot springs, which is very convenient.

Overall, my stay was great. The bed in the room was absolutely massive, and I loved being able to use the hot spring on the first floor every night. The hotel only has one restaurant for both breakfast and dinner, so the food options were a bit limited and repetitive.

We stayed here for a family trip over Children's Day in May. Banyan Tree is such a renowned brand even in Korea, so I had high expectations when I booked our stay. However, we were hoping for a mountain view, but instead, we got a cemetery view – and on a dark, rainy night, it was quite enough to give us nightmares. If you're looking for a relaxing experience, like soaking in a Japanese cypress (hinoki) bathtub, you'll be satisfied, but I have to say the view was extremely disappointing. On the positive side, the Japanese tatami room vibe was very pleasing, and the aroma oil program at the spa was really interesting.

Not bad, not bad, not bad.