Hotel Matsui is in the middle of Japan’s prettiest, best-preserved city, Kyoto. This old capital of Japan is full of glorious centuries-old wooden minimalist Buddhist temples and palaces, with a line of hundreds of Bodhisattvas, and assassin- and thief-deterring nightingale floor, which emits a sound like the bird’s song when being stepped on. Best of all, many of these sights are surrounded by pine trees which often mingle with mist, making for an utterly romantic scene. The main streets Shinkyogoku and Kawaramachi are nearby.