The Screen

In a hotel as small as Kyoto’s The Screen, what matters most is the attention to detail. It’s not simply the fact that it’s a hybrid style, somewhere between a traditional ryokan and a modern design boutique — though of course that certainly helps. In the end what makes it special is the sheer variety and richness of the experience; with thirteen rooms by thirteen different designers, it’s meant to provide a subtly different experience to each guest.

The common thread is the keen design eye (or, rather, twenty-six of them) throughout. While some rooms are more classic than others, with tatami floors and shoji screens, they’re all effortlessly stylish and at the same time quite undeniably Japanese. Designers in Kyoto have a lot of history to deal with, whether that means embracing it or reacting against it — at the Screen they manage to do both at once.

A hotel of this size thrives on intimacy, which is certainly the case at the restaurant’s weekly “candle night,” where lights are extinguished in the name of saving energy. Facilities, then, are suitably micro-sized, from the open-air “sky lounge” to the Adonis spa and the private lounge (which doubles as a wedding chapel).