m0mo

Any thoughts on the RC versus the Mitsui for a LTT? Points needed are "relatively" close between the properties. Considering upgrades and breakfast. Thanks!

CPH-Flyer

Probably about same same for the two. RC does give breakfast for Titanium and above, Mitsui has free breakfast as a brand standard.

Msham3

Interesting because everything I've read is free breakfast for Platinum and above as of late 2023. Is this a new change?

CPH-Flyer

Well the brand standard for Ritz Carlton in no free breakfast for status. RC Kyoto does give it, question is exactly when. The joy of unwritten rules... But what I have read, was titanium and above. Though I have never been there as a platinum, so I don't have personal experience

nexusCFX

It was always plat and above. I doubt they've changed it as the whole thing is a non-requisite generosity to begin with.

Can always email [email protected] to confirm. I'm titanium so I won't be doing so

Also, grabbing that from my email, I reflect on how my last communication with them was March 20, 2020, when I hightailed it out of Japan after UA announced "No more international flights", which I interpreted as "Trump admin has told us they're closing the borders". They then backtracked on that while I was enroute back to the USA. If only I had stayed in Japan for the whole 90 day visa...the hotel rates were so low and I could have escaped the initial USA insanity.

I even told them in the email I had rebooked for June. Such foolish optimism in the me of 2020.

r0m8470

Just came out of 3 night exceptional stay. Can confim that breakfast was comped (I am a Platinum). Full review later.

Traveler56789

thanks for the datapoint about breakfast. I look forward to your review. I’ll be there over the summer

Epnawd

Would love to hear the review. I have 5 nights booked as a titanium status.

Is there a lounge on property? how are upgrades? Suite nights possible to use?

Thanks!

SQ88

I had a fantastic 1 night stay last week as Titanium. My SNA very generously cleared into a 126sqm Kamogawa, Executive Suite. However, there is no lounge on the property and this hotel is classified as a resort.


Kamogawa, Executive Suite bedroom

Kamogawa, Executive Suite living room

Kamogawa, Executive Suite bathroom

Kamogawa, Executive Suite view

r0m8470

Here's my review, and the pictures are more collages and scenes outside the hotel and the rooms. I figure hotel's own website does a much better job of describing the rooms.

Context:
We stayed 3 nights to start our late Winter escape to Japan. We arrived in the evening at KIX from YUL (via IST), courtesy of TK's M&S promo (47K per pax in business is not bad IMO) and took the 816PM Haruka to Kyoto station. We took a quick cab ride from Kyoto and promptly checked in. We use 3 Amex certificates, 2 from me (Platinum), and 1 from my wife (Titanium). We booked the base King obviously, but got upgraded to Kamogawa view. We did not press for a Suite upgrade.

Room:
Decent sized. Upon entering, there is a narrow hallway on the left, with the right side being utilized for the commode/toilet, vanity and tub/shower area. The right side of the hallway - backing up to the vanity area is the closet with hangers. Right after is the King bed, and next to the bed, there is a round table with 2 seats by the floor to ceiling windows facing Kamo river. There is a day bed/couch across from the bed. The hotel prepped a small fruit place, a pair of lovely origami cranes and gift (some kind of wagashi/sweets). Sheers and blinds are motorized, and the room has the usual amenities - Nespresso, kettle, plenty of bottled water (we asked prior).

Breakfast:
Comp-ed, we could opt for Japanese tray set or Western set. I picked Japanese tray for day 1, wife had Japanese tray for the whole stay. B-fast for either option came w a buffet of cereals, fruits, and pastries from the in-house Pierre Herme outlet. We had b-fast all 3 days at La Locanda. We came at the end of the low season prior to Hanami, and hotel has somewhat of a low occupancy, even though it still felt pretty busy at b-fast for us. I have strong affinity to French toast so ordered that everytime. The breakfast team lead (more on this later) encouraged us to try different things so we tried different bennys. He also toasted some croissants - from both the buffet oven and the kitchen oven, to see which ones we like better (buffet oven - surprisingly).

Spa:
Wife had 2 hrs appt, and I had a 30 min scalp massage, w/ the same therapist. Both are great. In fact, my wife came back to have another session w our therapist on her own studio at the end of our trip.

Staff:
Most are great - but special shout out to the breakfast crew at Lo Locanda, especially Janie Panglangit (the supervisor), and Hong Yi (an intern) for taking care of us. Janie is really special. He took his time explaining the dishes, and making sure that we're well cared for. He worked with the kitchen in customizing stuff. My wife really loves Japanese pickles and the cod, and on the 2nd day, Janie worked w/ the kitchen to have special portion of cod made for us, and one-off pickle mix for the wife. He also worked w/ the kitchen staff to have the same pickle set from the day before, just 1 set, for that day, to be included on my wife's tray set. Hong Yi also helped us on our last morning's breakfast, shared her experience overall at the hotel, and her aspirations to be a hotel proprietor one day. After breakfast, Janie took us on a mini tour on the original dining hall of the property, pointing out various unique Japanese traditional features of the architecture and provided us with a flyer describing the arts within the hotel.

Overall:
We had some apprehension abt staying at this Ritz Carlton. Prior US Ritz Carlton felt like a resort factory and trying a bit too hard for our taste. But in this RC, everything just got done correctly. For us, the stay felt like how a proper Ritz Carlton stay should be. We missed the in-house origami class. We'd make sure to be back and partake in that on our next stay.



College of inner courtyard and traditional Japanese dining hall

Collage of lobby lounge/library

College of Pierre Herme goodies

Japanese egret resting by the river bank across from our room

Origami, fruit plate and wagashi gifts

View of hotel exterior from the Kamo river stepping stones