Our Stay at The Marufukuro Hotel
A Nintendo paradise in Kyoto, Japan.
Gen x Taste is a lifestyle blog and newsletter for those who still don’t know what they want to be when they grow up (even if they’re over the age of 40).
I’m still editing the second vlog of our Japan trip (here’s the first), but wanted to do a post specifically about the hotel we stayed at in Kyoto. Many people recommended a traditional ryoken, but Abe and I knew, with our dietary restrictions, that would be challenging. Plus, I just had LASIK done, so spas/hot springs were not allowed.
So I did a little more research and stumbled upon the dream: The Marufukuro Hotel, an all-inclusive luxury boutique hotel — housed in the original Nintendo factory. I reached out to see if they’d collaborate on a media stay and they agreed!1
Abe and I are huge Nintendo fans so we were majorly geeking out. Upon checking in, we were even more impressed by how beautiful the interior design was.
They were so hospitable with the drinks and snacks too!
I’ll get more to the food in a second… as I mentioned in the short video above and over at The Yellow Pages, the original Nintendo factory manufactured traditional Japanese playing cards called hanafuda. Part of the hotel is the original old building from 1889, and the other is a newly designed annex by Tadao Ando.
On the second floor of the front building is a beautiful self-serve bar…
… and a stunning library, filled with Nintendo history in the form of games and books.
We stayed on the third floor of the old building, which has been impressively restored. Don’t let the word “old” scare you — we had all the modern comforts — including a ginormous comfy bed, pajamas and robes, luxurious skincare and toiletries, plus the strongest bath/shower Abe and I have ever experienced.
Okay back to the food! When you stay under their all-inclusive package, breakfast/lunch/dinner are taken care of. I was nervous about translating our gluten-free and vegetarian needs, but the hotel staff communicated well with the chefs at their restaurant carta, who were so knowledgeable. All our meals were delicious, served in multiple courses.
There will be more of the food/stay in the vlog and a future post about gluten-free food in Japan.
If you don’t opt to have your meals prepared, there are still lots of free edibles/drinks! In addition to the self-serve bar, they have an entire lounge area stocked with grapes/chocolates/prosciutto/cheese/miso butter cake — and your mini-bar is included with the regular hotel price, as well.
We felt so incredibly lucky to stay here. As Nintendo fans, obvi, but even if we weren’t — the details and the experience were incredible. Thank you to The Marufukuro Hotel staff for making our stay so special.
We were hosted one night’s stay which included all meals, and offered a reduced media rate for this post. All opinions are my own. Please note: I do use affiliate links and may earn a commission when you purchase something. Thanks for supporting me and the blog!
That's awesome. Thanks for sharing how your stay went! The Marufukuro Hotel looks cozy but still has a cool modern aesthetic to it. I think any hypothetical trip I take to Japan within the next few years will start with a detour to Kyoto to spend a night or two at The Marufukuro Hotel before returning to Tokyo to explore the latter.
I wanna hear about the veggie options too!