Book and Bed — Kyoto, Japan
It may not have room service or Egyptian cotton bed sheets, but one thing Kyoto’s newest design hotel does have, are books.
Following the success of its Tokyo outpost which opened in 2015, this is the second Book and Bed hotel for real estate company R-Store, who chose the central Gion district for its Kyoto location. Dressed by Makoto Tanijiri of Suppose Design Office, on the surface, the hotel has the appearance of a bookshop, with floor-to-ceiling shelves that are packed with over 3,500 tomes curated by local bookstore Keibunsha Ichijoji. However on closer inspection, 20 blue curtains can be pulled aside, to reveal integrated capsule-like rooms, each with their own mattresses, clothes hanger and power socket.
The perfect hideaway for the solo traveller, bookworms can spend the day visiting the city’s sites, before retiring with a novel and a beer from the small neon-lit bar. And for locals who don’t need a bed for the night, the rooms can be rented hourly during the day, for that quick solitary reading fix.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
9F Kamogawa Building
200 Nakanocho-Nishiiru
Higashiyama-ku
Kyoto
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Danielle Demetriou is a British writer and editor who moved from London to Japan in 2007. She writes about design, architecture and culture (for newspapers, magazines and books) and lives in an old machiya townhouse in Kyoto.
Instagram - @danielleinjapan
-
‘Just beneath the surface there’s another world’: How David Lynch used hair and make-up to create his singular universe
From Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive to Twin Peaks, David Lynch used hair and make-up in his films as a narrative device, writes Laura Havlin
By Laura Havlin Published
-
Burns Night 2025: where to celebrate in London
It is time to raise a wee dram to Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns on Burns Night (25 January). Here is our pick of places to enjoy an evening of generous speechmaking, toasting, and drinking around London
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Tag Heuer unveils sporty new collections at LVMH Watch Week 2025
Tag Heuer has announced a series of new watches at LVMH Watch Week, including Formula 1 and Carrera editions
By Chris Hall Published
-
The new hotels you’ll want to stay at in 2025
Where to stay in 2025? Let six of the most-read-about hotel openings of the past 12 months inspire your escape – from a tiny Tokyo bolthole to a Tanzanian safari retreat
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
2025 getaways: where Wallpaper* editors will be travelling to this year
From the Japanese art islands of Naoshima and Teshima to the Malaysian tropical paradise of Langkawi, here’s where Wallpaper* editors plan to travel to in 2025
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
The most whimsical hotel Christmas trees around the world
We round up the best hotel Christmas tree collaborations of the year, from an abstract take in Madrid to a heritage-rooted installation in Amsterdam
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Six brilliant bars for your 2025 celebrations, hot off the Wallpaper* travel desk
Wallpaper’s most-read bar reviews of the year can't be wrong: here’s inspiration for your festive and new year plans, from a swanky Las Vegas lounge to a minimalist London drinking den
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Yoruya, a Japanese inn where less is always more
Yoruya, which transforms a 110-year-old former kimono merchant shopfront and residence in Kurashiki, is an exercise in graceful restraint and craft
By Joanna Kawecki Published
-
First look: Noma Kyoto returns and aims to ‘double-wow’ diners
Noma Kyoto opens on 8 October for a ten-week pop-up inside Ace Kyoto. Thomas Lykke, co-founder of OEO Studio, tells us of the interiors’ autumn-forest inspiration
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
Kengo Kuma’s new Kyoto hotel is ‘a sanctuary of ethereal beauty’
A former ryokan inn, Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto offers onsen rooms equipped with natural hot spring water, and a contemporary take on a Noh theatre
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
‘Días’ by Spanish photographer Pia Riverola captures a world of many wonders
Pia Riverola presents her new book ‘Días’, a tonal collage of days spent travelling
By Sofia de la Cruz Published