Capella Hotels and Resorts has launched its first hotel in Japan, Capella Kyoto, in the city’s historic Miyagawa-cho kagai (geisha district) with an onsen spa rooted in national traditions.

The design of the 89-key hotel is by Kengo Kuma and Associates and Singapore-based Brewin Design Office. The aesthetic reinterprets the city’s traditional machiya townhouse. 

The hotel is one section of a three-part development alongside the Kaburenjo Theatre and a new community centre. The theatre is the training ground for Kyoto’s geiko and maiko, known as geishas. Capella guests will have access to performances at the newly restored theatre.

Some rooms have views of the Kaburenjo Theatre, others can see the 800-year-old Zen Kenninji temple and the Capella Suite offers the full Higashiyama skyline. Six of the hotel’s rooms are onsen suites, with private hot spring baths.

Auriga Spa

The Auriga Spa at Capella Kyoto features three private onsen rooms with traditional ofuro soaking bath tubs, wet and dry saunas, four non-onsen treatment rooms and a fitness centre. 

The spa is inspired by lunar cycles and holistic rituals.

For treatments, the spa has partnered with Japanese beauty company Shiseido’s premium skincare brand The Ginza. Despite the brand being established in skincare since 2002, this is the first time it has developed spa rituals.

Blanco added: “Every experience at Capella Kyoto begins with respect for the culture of this place and the layers of time that shape it. We are pleased to welcome The Ginza as a partner that resonates with our ethos. Where The Ginza’s philosophy of essential beauty intersects with Kyoto’s spirituality, we believe we can offer a form of wellness that can only be experienced here. We are confident that this special spa treatment will make time spent in Kyoto deeper and more memorable.”

The Ginza Spa Retreat will provide guests with customisable holistic treatments using the brand’s formulas, which are infused with extracts from the linden flower. The flower blooms for only three days each year and has adapted to life in harsh environments around the world, which the brand sees as a symbol of strength and resilience.

The treatments will use techniques such as hot-stone massage to ground the body and quiet the mind.

The Ginza Spa Retreat Zen Ritual, which lasts 120 minutes and has a price tag of JPY 60,000 (US$400, €368, £314), starts with the vibrations of tuning forks and the use of the brand’s oil serums for both the face and body. It focuses on the back, legs and soles of the feet.

Other massages are available, using Capella Kyoto’s signature oil, including lunar-inspired rituals that feature copper gua sha tools and chakra balancing alignment.

Private onsen experiences for one or two people start at JPY 21,000 (US$140, €129, £110).

Other facilities

Capella Kyoto has three dining venues, including a collaboration with SingleThread – the Three-Michelin-starred restaurant based in Sonoma, California. Designed in the style of an ochaya (traditional tea house), the food will celebrate the seasonal acrigulture of Kyoto’s Kansai region and California’s Dry Creek Valley. There is also a French brasserie and a late-night Japanese restaurant.

The hotel group’s Capella Curates programme will enable guests to visit a 150-year-old sandal-fabrication atelier, with the chance to commission a pair made in the traditional style. Workshops will also be on offer, such as those in kintsugi – the Japanese art of repairing something by making it more beautiful than before – led by an urushi lacquerware master.