Did RC ever announce that this hotel just moved up from tier 4 to tier 5? On the website (as of today) it is still listed as tier 4 property, but when I tried to redeem my 2 free nights over the phone, they informed me that it just moved to tier 5 a few days ago.

Yes.

It went from a tier 4 to tier 5 on March 25. See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...y-changes.html thread from February for more details.

Spent five days at this property recently. It was my first stay at a Ritz so I don't necessarily know how to calibrate my expectations except against my experiences at a couple of JW Marriotts in China and a few Conrads in Asia and Europe.

Overall, it is a beautiful property and the architecture and design do an excellent job of capturing the nature of Zen temples in Kyoto. The amenities within the room were very nice. I teased my wife that I was piloting a Starship both in the toilet and at the bedside with the number of electronic buttons and controls. The bath/shower area was quite large and similar to other premium hotels we've visited in Asia.

As a MR platinum, we received the room type we booked and had a view of the graveyard. The rest of the room was not large in size and the lack of an upgrade was disappointing. We did receive a small fruit plate a zen box of tasty chocolates, so it wasn't a total loss but I don't know if they do that for all of the guests or that was related to being Plat.

Didn't eat in any of the on-site restaurants as it was too pricey for my budget. Staff was friendly and very helpful in recommending nearby restaurants and locating a coin laundry.

Would love some advice. We are staying at the RC Kyoto for two nights and then fly out of NRT at 11:30AM on the day of check-out. It's our first time to Japan. What's the most painless way to get from the RC Kyoto to NRT for an 11:30AM flight from NRT?

Peach and Jetstar both have flights from KIX (7:30AMish departure) that get into NRT at 9AMish. ANA and JAL have 8AMish flights from ITM that get into NRT at 9:15AMish. All four options seem reasonable.

Is KIX or ITM more accessible from the RC Kyoto? What's the best way to plan my route (preference is to save money -- i.e. get up early and take a train, not hire a car).

Advice number 1: Stay at Narita or the RC Tokyo on the day before departure.

If you really want to try to execute your bold plan:
- Go to ITM by train. You will have to depart from Kyoto station around 6:00 and change trains twice in order to catch e.g. an NH flight around 7:50.
- Go by Shinkansen to Tokyo. First Shinkansen departs around 6:10 from Kyoto station. After changing trains once or twice you might succeed arriving in NRT around 9:30.

I am sure the concierge at the RC can give you more details. Please let us know if it worked out.

Stayed at RC Kyoto (a wonderful experience) in October and used MK Co. Ltd. Skygate Shuttle for transport to ITM (closer than KIX). You can book online at http://www.mktaxi-japan.com/kyotoshuttle. Our fare was ¥2400 per person then, but it has since increased to ¥2900 p/p. The shuttle picked us up at the RC about two hours ( 4 AM) before our desired arrival time (6 AM) at ITM. We flew JL 3002 which left ITM at 8:00 AM and arrived NRT at 9:20 AM, very smooth process at NRT to transfer to our 11:10 AM JL flight to ORD. The shuttle books up, so better to reserve sooner rather than later. Be sure to reserve shuttle under the same name that you are registered at the hotel. The shuttle calls the hotel day before pickup to confirm that you are a guest and to confirm the pickup time. I reserved shuttle under my name, but we were registered at the RC under my wife's name on an award stay. I got an email from Skygate Shuttle saying the hotel had not confirmed me as a guest. Email and call from hotel to Skygate Shuttle resolved this issue, but a problem easily avoided. We had a through ticket from ITM to ORD on JL, so a missed connection at NRT would not have been a catastrophe; however, flying ITM to NRT on a separate ticket could be a problem if you miss the NRT connection. Others on this board would be more familiar with rules regarding rebooking after a missed connection in this situation. Feel free to PM me with questions regarding shuttle.

I took the MK shuttle about 4 years ago in Kyoto and unlike DCAGUY's experience, I hated every minute of it. The van sat 7 or 8 of us plus everyone's large carryon in the passenger area. It was a long 2 hour road trip to KIX.

I take the train from KIX to Kyoto station and cab it to RC Kyoto now instead.

Our experience was awful also. Rude foreign national living in Japan who thought the whole van was his space. The guy was a you know what and keeps me from ever using the MK service unless necessary. And the Hotel is wonderful!

I am looking to redeem some Marriott points in early April and it says "Unfortunately, no points redemption rooms are available for the dates you selected." Are there black outs like this or can this be fixed via a phone call?

Award rooms probably booked due to cherry blossom season

morkovka, I had this issue searching for a room mid-October. I was able to secure a room on points by searching daily.

I'm guessing people's plans change as they get closer to the date?

Do Marriott Platinum members get free breakfast at this hotel?

Looks like I answered my own question. Free breakfast as a benefit is excluded at the Ritz :(

Do I get anything being Platinum besides a small chance of an upgrade?

I was planning on booking 5 night stay on points to get the 1 night free.

I've been upgraded at this hotel 3 of 3 stays.

No free breakfast and no club in this hotel. Still, my favorite of all the Japan RCs.

upgrade to river facing rooms?

River, yes, and larger rooms. Second floor river is very nice with outside seating.