This spring I wrote about an exciting new addition to Hilton’s luxury hotel portfolio. It’s nice to see that this hotel has now officially opened, on schedule for once (which is rare for new hotel openings).
In this post:
Hilton’s Roku Kyoto now open
Roku Kyoto is the first Hilton LXR Hotels & Resorts properties in Asia, and Hilton’s first property in Kyoto. The hotel is located in the foothills of the Takagamine Sanzan in norther Kyoto. This property is located in the 28.6 acre Shozan Resort Kyoto, which is a luxury enclave home to a variety of gardens and tea houses.
Roku Kyoto features 114 guest rooms, along with all the amenities you’d expect, from restaurants, to a spa, fitness center, and natural hot springs. The hotel’s signature restaurant is TENJIN, which is a French restaurant.
Below are some pictures of the property to give you a sense of what to expect (previously we only had renderings, so it’s always nice to see “real” pictures).
Below is a video of the new property.
For context, this is Hilton’s ninth LXR property, and complements the following:
- Crockfords (Las Vegas, United States)
- Habtoor Palace (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
- Hotel 1000 (Seattle, United States)
- Mango House (Mahe, Seychelles)
- Oceana (Santa Monica, United States)
- Susona (Bodrum, Turkey)
- The Biltmore, Mayfair (London, United Kingdom)
- Zemi Beach House (Anguilla)
Redeeming Hilton Honors points at Roku Kyoto
Roku Kyoto has opened as of mid-September 2021. Paid rates at this hotel are steep as you’d expect. Base rooms seem to start at anywhere from $800-1,200 per night, depending on the season. If you do book a paid rate here, I’d recommend doing so through Hilton Impresario, so you can receive additional perks.
Best of all, you can redeem points here, at the rate of 95,000 Hilton Honors points per night. This is an exceptional use of points, especially if you’re going in peak season.
Hilton Honors elite members get a fifth night free on award redemptions, meaning that you could pay 76,000 points per night for a standard room over five nights.
Why luxury Hilton additions excite me
I’m always thrilled to see Hilton add more luxury properties, especially independent ones like this. Historically one of Hilton Honors’ biggest challenges has been that its luxury footprint was limited, though this is an area in which the program has been improving greatly.
There are so many great implications for this with Hilton Honors:
- Hilton Honors members can earn and redeem points for stays here, and also redeem free night certificates
- Hilton Honors Gold and Diamond members can take advantage of elite benefits, ranging from room upgrades, to free breakfast; status is easy to earn with Hilton credit cards
- I love Hilton Honors because of how easy it is to earn top tier status with the Hilton Aspire Card
In other words, I appreciate the valuable status that can be earned without actually being “loyal,” especially when I can use those benefits at luxury properties.
Hilton’s luxury footprint continues to grow, including properties like the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos, the Waldorf Astoria Maldives, the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach, Zemi Beach House, Oceana Santa Monica, Mango House Seychelles, the Conrad Abu Dhabi, and more.
Kyoto is an amazing hotel market
Kyoto is an incredible hotel market, and the number of luxury hotel options keeps growing. When you combine Japanese hospitality with luxury brands, it’s a recipe for great hospitality.
Even though there are already a lot of amazing luxury properties in Kyoto, I’m particularly excited about this one. Realistically, the two best points hotels in Kyoto are the Ritz-Carlton and Park Hyatt:
- The Ritz-Carlton is extremely well regarded, but keep in mind that elite perks for Marriott Bonvoy Platinum members and above can be limited at the Ritz-Carlton brand
- The Park Hyatt Kyoto is excellent as well, but obviously not everyone is a Hyatt loyalist, and award space can be tough to come by
So it’s awesome to see a Hilton Honors luxury property open in Kyoto.
Bottom line
Roku Kyoto is now open, and is Hilton’s first LXR property in Asia, and Hilton’s first property of any brand in Kyoto. Competition in the Kyoto hotel market is fierce, and it’s always hard to know how good a hotel belonging to an independent brand will be. Hopefully we get some firsthand reports of the qualify of this property soon.
At a minimum this hotel is worth being aware of, and it could be a great option for anyone looking to earn and redeem points when in Kyoto.
Anyone considering a stay at Roku Kyoto once Japan reopens?
I just finished my stay at the Roku and it was nothing short of phenomenal. After 4 months traveling and some amazing luxury hotels including the park Hyatt Buenos Aires, Siem reap, Bangkok and Tokyo, the Roku beat them all with their amazing service and exceptionally beautiful property. The Consierge went out of his way to connect us with a local experienced and restaurants and they upgraded us to a room with a private onsen....
I just finished my stay at the Roku and it was nothing short of phenomenal. After 4 months traveling and some amazing luxury hotels including the park Hyatt Buenos Aires, Siem reap, Bangkok and Tokyo, the Roku beat them all with their amazing service and exceptionally beautiful property. The Consierge went out of his way to connect us with a local experienced and restaurants and they upgraded us to a room with a private onsen. I couldn’t suggest the Roku with any more excitement for others to check out.
Do LXR properties trigger the Hilton resort credit on the Aspire card?
May I get the hotel reservation email to book a room in the future?I would love to stay in your hotel if I get a chance.
Heading there for 3 nights in April for Spring Break Japan!!! Really looking forward to experiencing this hotel. Will be staying here after 1 night at the Park Hyatt Tokyo then Following the stay at LxR will be 3 nights Conrad Tokyo.
Awesome news. Apparently Zedd will enjoy this, and nobody else.
To travel to a place like Kyoto and stay in a chain hotel is a travesty.
Why then bother earning hotel chain loyalty points?
(Hint: some could not even afford to 'travel to a place like Kyoto', otherwise).
"Roku Kyoto is the first Hilton LXR Hotels & Resorts properties in Asia"... so Dubai and Bodrum are not located in Asia?
This is tremendous news! Kyoto is simply an amazing place. How Amazing? During WWII the Allied Air Forces were under strict order not to drop bombs on Kyoto and Nara, twin cities that, together, have such a high concentration of ancient temples and shrines that they are one UNESCO's top World Cultural Heritage sites in Japan. Legend has it that because of these sites, Kyoto & Nara were stricken off the list of cities that...
This is tremendous news! Kyoto is simply an amazing place. How Amazing? During WWII the Allied Air Forces were under strict order not to drop bombs on Kyoto and Nara, twin cities that, together, have such a high concentration of ancient temples and shrines that they are one UNESCO's top World Cultural Heritage sites in Japan. Legend has it that because of these sites, Kyoto & Nara were stricken off the list of cities that had been considered for dropping the first A-bomb on.
The first time I went to Kyoto, which also included an excursion to most of Nara's World Heritage sites was in 2004. E.g., the Todai-ji Temple in Nara is one of the world's largest all-wood temples with one of the world's largest Buddhas.
Since 2004, I've gone back to Kyoto again (2010) and again (2016) and again (2017). The lack of Hilton hotels in Kyoto was always a disappointment. The first time (2004), I stayed at The Prince Kyoto Takaragaike hotel, Autograph Collection, near the Kyoto Convention Center. In 2010, I stayed at the iconic Kyoto Tower Hotel just across the street from Kyoto (JR) Train Station. The last two times I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo. Needless to say, I am very excited that Hilton has opened this super-luxury hotel in one of my very favorite destinations in the world. My next Year-end Asian Escapade(tm), whenever that becomes possible again, will absolutely include a trip to Kyoto during which I will redeem HH points to stay at this new Hilton LXR hotel!
Hyatt Regency Kyoto!
why tf are they putting a french restaurant-IN JAPAN?
aiaiai
Have you been to Japan? If it's Western/Central European, it's also a Japanese luxury.
Tenjin is a French restaurant!!!! A new naming trend, or fusion gone too far?
Can't wait for Le Bernardin to serve Peking Duck and Sushi Jiro to serve Fish and Chips.
Americans (Hilton) have once again butchered food like they did with Mexican or Chinese.
Fortune cookies, General Tso, Crab Rangoon, Taco Bell, Chimichanga, Cinco de Mayo, Chicken Tikka Masala (that's the Brits)
Ritz Carlton Kyoto is the only Ritz Carlton I know of that offers free breakfast in the RC chain, so it's actually an exceptional property for elites staying on points.
As for Roku Kyoto, lots of Japanese posting videos of their stay on youtube already. Seems like a nice property to spend points on, but with cash I'd rather stay at the Aman close by or pick something more central, like the RC.
When are you going to review Mango House?! Not any blog reviews out there yet, only see some on TA. Would be nice to get your perspective.
Very nice looking hotel. Not sure when my family and I can go back but this hotel will be on our list of places to stay.
Booked for next March. Hopefully Japan is open by then!
Paid rates at this hotel are sleep as you’d expect
?sleep?
Guess you are dealing with some jet lag now.
Any opinions on the two Luxury Collection properties that are in Kyoto? Thinking of staying at the Suiran one for a day when I make it back there to explore the nearby area.
Was quite disappointed when I went to Kyoto and saw that the closest Hilton properties were in Osaka. Would stay here if I were looking to explore this area (very northern Kyoto) more. Also have heard rumblings there may also be a...
Any opinions on the two Luxury Collection properties that are in Kyoto? Thinking of staying at the Suiran one for a day when I make it back there to explore the nearby area.
Was quite disappointed when I went to Kyoto and saw that the closest Hilton properties were in Osaka. Would stay here if I were looking to explore this area (very northern Kyoto) more. Also have heard rumblings there may also be a Hilton Garden Inn coming in a few years closer to the city center.
The nearest bus stop is almost a mile away by foot. For convenience with the same degree of luxury and perks the Park Hyatt would be preferable for a globalist.
Umm no? From Kita Konohatacho bus stop it's just 500m (~0.3miles)
Looks like a very nice property, definitely want to try it out. Already had to cancel my planned trip to Japan twice in less than a year. When can all of these pandemic stuff be over???
@HC +1 I cancelled my Japan trip in 2020 and rebooked for November 2021 at the beginning of this year thinking the pandemic will certainly be over by then.
Welp, not looking good for November 2021. I'm going to give it another month before canceling again.