Ace Hotel opened in Kyoto in 2020 in a former telephone exchange building jointly worked on by Kengo Kuma and Commune Design. The structure was kept and reworked: the entrance sequence — projecting timber beams over a covered walkway of polished concrete and old-growth brick — arrives at something that registers as neither restored traditional Kyoto nor generic contemporary hotel but specifically Ace's version of both. The rooms are calm and well-proportioned; the lobby and basement Stumptown bar work as neighbourhood spaces that don't require you to be a guest. A few minutes from Nishiki Market and from the quieter lanes of Nakagyo.
Nakagyo, Kyoto, Japan