Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto (Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City; General Manager: Tomoaki Yamada), the flagship brand of Banyan Group, one of the world's leading independent hospitality groups, reaches its 2nd anniversary on August 20, 2026.
To mark the occasion, the hotel is relaunching "Stay for Good," a program that Banyan Group runs at properties around the world, tailored to Kyoto's culture and regional character. The relaunch introduces "Purposeful Travel" that lets guests connect with the history, culture, and traditions passed down in Kyoto and carry that value into the future.
"Stay for Good" -- Contributing to a Destination's Future Through Travel
What Banyan Group values is not simply visiting a destination, but travel that lets guests feel a connection to the people, culture, and nature of the places they stay.
Guided by the idea that "We believe in travel with a purpose," Stay for Good is designed to help guests gain a deeper understanding of, and firsthand experience with, each destination's culture, nature, and traditions, while respecting its heritage and local community and helping carry that value forward to the next generation.
For Banyan Group, Stay for Good is not limited to environmental sustainability. Protecting local culture and traditions, nurturing connections with people, and passing on the value unique to each place are also seen as key elements of sustainable travel.
The aim is for guests to come to know a destination, experience its culture, and meet its people -- with that experience itself deepening their understanding of the place and becoming a step toward its future.
A "Stay for Good" Found Only in Kyoto
Kyoto, which has served as the center of Japanese culture for more than a thousand years, is still home to a wealth of culture carefully preserved today, from temples and shrines to tea ceremony, Noh, traditional crafts, and food culture.
At Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto, rather than simply "seeing" this culture, the hotel proposes stays that let guests take part in the story of the place by "learning about it, engaging with it, and experiencing it."
Through this relaunch of Stay for Good, the hotel is rolling out programs that offer encounters with the people carrying Kyoto's history and traditions into the future, along with special cultural experiences not available through ordinary sightseeing, for a deeper understanding of Kyoto.
Symbolizing this effort is "Ninnaji Legacy Experience," an original program jointly planned by Ninna-ji, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto.
Through access to special areas not normally open to visitors and experiences that connect guests with the history and culture passed down at Ninna-ji, the program offers a closer feel for the spirit of Kyoto that has been carried forward for more than a thousand years.
Part of the experience fee from the program also goes toward the repair and preservation of Ninna-ji. The idea behind Stay for Good is that experiencing culture firsthand can itself help protect Kyoto's valuable cultural heritage and carry it into the future.
"Ninnaji Legacy Experience"
Open to guests staying at any of the three hotels Banyan Group operates in Kyoto -- Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto, Garrya Nijo Castle Kyoto, and Dhawa Yura Kyoto -- this special program offers a deeper experience of the history and culture of Ninna-ji, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
1. A special temple experience -- connecting with culture handed down across centuries
A special temple experience that lets guests learn more deeply about the history and culture of Ninna-ji, guided by a monk. Guests visit areas normally closed to the public and view Buddhist statues, wall paintings, and other treasured cultural properties that have been carefully preserved for centuries. It is a special opportunity to feel closer to the spiritual culture Kyoto has nurtured, through the history and stories held within these cultural properties and Buddhist culture.
2. Experiencing Kyoto's traditional culture -- a Buddhist statue painting workshop led by a Buddhist sculptor
A special hands-on activity for learning Kyoto's traditional culture. Guided by a Buddhist sculptor, guests try their hand at painting a Buddhist statue, creating their own piece while connecting with the skill the craftsperson has built over many years and the spiritual culture of Japan embodied in Buddhist statues.
3. A seasonal Kyoto experience -- feeling the four seasons at Ninna-ji
Cherry blossoms, fresh greenery, autumn leaves, snow -- guests can enjoy Ninna-ji's beautiful scenery, which changes expression with each season, as a special experience unique to that time of year. Encountering Kyoto's scenery and culture, which differ by season, offers a new discovery of Kyoto's appeal with every visit.
4. Carrying Kyoto's culture into the future -- contributing to the preservation of cultural properties
Part of the experience fee from this program goes toward the repair of Ninna-ji's cultural properties and the preservation and continuation of its culture. As guests travel through Kyoto and experience its culture, that experience becomes support for carrying historic cultural properties into the future.
Program Overview
Eligible guests: Guests staying at any of the three Banyan Group hotels in Kyoto (Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto, Garrya Nijo Castle Kyoto, Dhawa Yura Kyoto)
Reservations: Advance request required
*Ninna-ji's events and observances, as well as periods such as Obon and the New Year holidays, may make certain dates unavailable.
Duration: Approximately 4 hours
Price: 2 to 5 guests: ¥125,000 per person (tax included) | 6 to 10 guests: ¥105,000 per person (tax included)
Included in the program:
- Round-trip transfer from the hotel
- A private tour at Ninna-ji, a UNESCO World Heritage site, led by a monk
- Special admission to areas normally closed to the public
- A Buddhist statue painting experience guided by a Buddhist sculptor
- Matcha and Japanese sweets service
*Accommodation costs are not included and will be charged separately.
Details and reservation URL: https://www.banyantree.com/ja/japan/kyoto/experiences/stay-for-good
How to Reserve
Guests can apply through the request form or inquiry form on each hotel's official website. The program operates on an advance-reservation, request basis.
- Ninna-ji's events and observances, as well as periods such as Obon and the New Year holidays, may make certain dates unavailable. Guests are asked to provide several preferred dates, which the hotel will coordinate and confirm.
- The program is available exclusively to guests staying at one of the three hotels: Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto, Garrya Nijo Castle Kyoto, or Dhawa Yura Kyoto.
- Reservation forms should be submitted at least 20 days before the preferred date.
From "Visiting" Kyoto to "Connecting" With It
With its 2nd anniversary as a new milestone, Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto will continue to build on this distinctly Kyoto way of traveling through Stay for Good.
Rather than simply visiting historic places, the program invites guests to learn about the culture kept alive there, meet the people who protect and pass it on, and reflect on the culture's future for themselves.
A visit alone isn't the end.
Learning creates a connection.
Experiencing carries it into the future.
Valuing its connections to Kyoto's culture, traditions, and people, Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto will continue to offer "Purposeful Travel" that contributes to a destination's future through travel.
World Heritage Site: Ninna-ji
Founded in 888, Ninna-ji is one of Kyoto's leading temples, with more than a thousand years of history and a lineage tied to the imperial family. Home to treasured cultural properties, including National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties, it was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 as one of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto." Alongside its beautiful scenery through the four seasons, it carries Japan's long history and culture into the present.
About Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto
A sanctuary set on a hillside in Kyoto's Gion-Higashiyama district.
Located next to Kiyomizu-dera and perched on the Higashiyama hills overlooking the city of Kyoto, this 52-room hotel is a sanctuary embraced by a bamboo grove and rich natural surroundings. With a Noh stage and a natural hot spring on the premises, the hotel is within walking distance of Gion's sightseeing spots while offering a quiet space set apart from the bustle.
Guests can experience the values shared across Banyan Tree resorts: "Sense of Place," reflecting the character of the location; "Locally-Infused," an immersive connection to the place; and "Romance of Travel."
- Address: 7 Seikanji Ryozan-cho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City
- Access: 10 minutes by taxi from Gion-Shijo Station on the Keihan Main Line, or 15 minutes by taxi from JR Kyoto Station
- Rooms: 52 rooms, including 8 with private hot spring baths, across 6 room types -- Serenity, Grand Serenity, Wellbeing Sanctuary, Onsen Retreat, Grand Onsen Retreat, and Banyan Onsen Retreat
- On-site facilities: Kappo restaurant Ryozen, Ryozen Sugi Bettei, BAR RYOZEN, Banyan Tree Spa, a large communal bath, and a gym
- Website: https://banyantreehigashiyamakyoto.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/banyantreehigashiyamakyoto/
