Noku Kyoto

When some hotels profess minimalism, you get the impression that they’re striving for an aloof, inhuman emptiness rather than simplicity, clarity and thoughtfulness. Not so with Noku, a medium-sized number at the southwest corner of Kyoto’s imperial palace complex. Simplicity rules the day here — as it should, to distance the neighborhood from the city’s hectic retail sectors — but it’s a warm, breathing simplicity built on acknowledging and fulfilling travelers’ needs.

That’s good service in a nutshell, and it’s evident the minute you walk into the petite lobby. Staff don’t wait to be asked for help here — they rush out to lend you an umbrella, or finagle reservations at the last minute, or deliver on any number of similarly considerate gestures. Upstairs, 81 rooms embrace contemporary design with a subdued, clean-lined approach in eggshell and blonde wood, understandably taking a back seat to the views of the imperial gardens. Besides a 40-inch flatscreen, Shiseido bath products, and some truly excellent coffee and tea fixings, each room comes with an individually procured art piece, often a mixed-media wonder in its own box