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Hotel Review: Hotel Anteroom Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

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Hotel Anteroom Kyoto
Kyoto, Japan

By Graeme Green
9/10

Two spacemen perch above the doorway, each wearing a yellow suit and glass helmet. They’re identical, both with rosy cheeks, bald heads and thick black moustaches. It’s not the usual sight that greets you at a hotel.

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Even before I’m through the doors of Hotel Anteroom Kyoto, I can tell I’m going to like this place a lot. There are other signs, alongside the spacemen, including a collection of bikes visible in the porch, which I assume are for rent, perfect for exploring Kyoto (it turns out, even better, they’re free for guests to borrow). And then there’s the presence of the word ‘Ultra’ in bright blue lights beneath the hotel’s name, as if Hotel Anteroom Kyoto wasn’t enough and this is the ‘ultra’ or ‘supreme’ version of the hotel.

There are more of the spacemen dolls, 60-70 of them, inside a windowed garden next to the lobby, which is filled with intriguing art pieces. Chairs are decorated with sheep and goat horns. Cuddly toys of lizards, frogs and fish hang from the ceiling. On the walls are nightmarish photographs from Japanese artist Miwa Yanagi, including a Japanese boy cuddling the bloody, dismembered corpse of a mannequin. It’s all far from the usual tedious first few minutes at a hotel.

Most of the works in this space, Gallery 9.5, are part of temporary exhibitions put together and changed regularly through the year by gallery curator Masako Ueda, who clearly likes a good mix, from the serious and disturbing to the playful and surreal. A picture frame has red and white pills rolling around inside, like crawling bugs. The ‘spacemen’ everywhere are, in fact, dolls of ‘Atom Boy’, a comment from artist Kenji Yanobe against nuclear power, inspired by a visit to Chernobyl. Alongside the temporary exhibits, there are permanent sculptures, including a polyurethane tiger and a deer by artist Kohei Nawa that look like they’re made from a creamy moussy desert.

That’s all before check in. At the front desk, the staff, several of whom speak perfect English, are friendly and helpful. I make my way to the room. The lobby and corridors are white, verging on the clinical, somewhere between a hospital or an industrial building, but somehow the effect isn’t cold but relaxing and welcoming. Even without the art works, you’d have to say the place has more of a feel of an art gallery than a hotel. I like it. I like the little bear/gremlin sitting watch by the lift too.

Hotel Anteroom isn’t in the most obviously great location in the city. If you’re in Kyoto to temple hop and sightsee and you want to fall out straight out of your hotel into the thick of the action, there are better places. But that turns out to be a benefit, too. The hotel’s on the south side of the main station, in the residential area of Minamiku, away from the crowds. It’s a taste of normal Kyoto life. It’s quiet too. Being away from the major sights probably explains why the prices are quite affordable. Stick this cool arty boutiquey hotel in the centre of London, New York or downtown Tokyo and you could probably double or triple what they charge for a room. But, really, it’s just a short walk and a quick ride on the Metro from Kyoto Station and the city centre.

Rooms in this converted student accommodation block are white and clean, functional, but with a clear sense of design. Apart from a pair of odd little paintings on my walls, the look is simple and uncluttered, with a little working table (for visiting artists, perhaps), a desk and a comfy bench to work at in front of the 37 inch TV. Opening my window, I can see the silhouette of the mountains that frame Kyoto, as well as the five storey tower of Toji temple complex. The bed’s comfy and the bathroom’s surprisingly roomy. Downstairs, there’s a lively bar, filled with an arty crowd in the evening.

In the morning, breakfast is a mix of Western and Japanese food, including a not very inviting soy porridge soup, yoghurt, a bright green shot of veg and fruit juice, and a wrap with egg and veggies. It’s not as satisfying as the rest of hotel but it sets me on my day.

As I reluctantly leave, I pass the horned chairs, hanging fish and Atom Boys on the way out. There are around 11 or 12 exhibitions here per year, so by the time you read this, many of the artworks I saw will have gone. In their place will be the work of other Japanese artists, no doubt full of humour and memorable ideas, enough to make me want to visit again just to hang out in the lobby. It’s not often I stay at a place where I can say that.

The post Hotel Review: Hotel Anteroom Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan appeared first on Curious Animal Magazine.


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