May 30, 2019, 9:14 am
Last edit by: bhrubin
Expert Review (posted to Luxury Forum) from May 2018:
https://www.flyertalk.com/hotel-revi...-recovery-2624
https://www.flyertalk.com/hotel-revi...-recovery-2624
Ritz Carlton Kyoto, Japan [Master Thread]
Nov 28, 2017, 5:08 am
#107
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: London, UK
Programs: Ronin - churn and burn
Posts: 701
Well, just arrived back from Kyoto and I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised by my experience at the RC!
The service throughout was exceptional.
Every single staff member greeted us and bowed whenever they saw us, we were also approached and asked about our plans and given suggestions on multiple occasions.
Upon check-in we were given a pack of our itinerary, detailing all of our restaurant reservations, including maps and relevant details on whether credit cards were accepted etc.
As I took pictures of the giant bonsai tree near the entrance of the hotel, we were approached and offered a private complimentary tour of the extensive art collection housed within the hotel, which was extremely informative and well worth making time for.
The room hardware exceeded expectations and the traditional tea set, Christofle silverware, sabonya facial soap and linen yukatas all added an extra touch of luxury. The room cleaning was also utterly meticulous in detail.
We ordered Pierre Herme croissants as a small breakfast each day and this was set out on beautiful tableware with water a variety of preserves and complimentary energiser shots. This was very reasonably priced at around 1000JPY each day. Again, the staff delivering this room service breakfast were engaging, professional, helpful and spoke English to a very high standard.
We were offered a dinner at the hotel by Mark the GM, as a result of the issues that we had with the concierge prior to our stay. We opted to try the Michelin Starred Mizuki Tempura. We were very well taken care of and offered champagne, a variety of sakes and an excellent tempura set in addition to a plate of nigiri which was sent over by the chef at the sushi restaurant.
The decor, service and quality of food were all phenomenal. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a meal here even for those staying elsewhere in Kyoto.
Overall, this has to be my top city hotel stay ever. A stay by which all others in future will be judged. Far better than the Park Hyatt Tokyo, which I think often suffers from staff that display a lack of confidence when communicating in English as well as a less than ideal location and ageing hardware.
The service throughout was exceptional.
Every single staff member greeted us and bowed whenever they saw us, we were also approached and asked about our plans and given suggestions on multiple occasions.
Upon check-in we were given a pack of our itinerary, detailing all of our restaurant reservations, including maps and relevant details on whether credit cards were accepted etc.
As I took pictures of the giant bonsai tree near the entrance of the hotel, we were approached and offered a private complimentary tour of the extensive art collection housed within the hotel, which was extremely informative and well worth making time for.
The room hardware exceeded expectations and the traditional tea set, Christofle silverware, sabonya facial soap and linen yukatas all added an extra touch of luxury. The room cleaning was also utterly meticulous in detail.
We ordered Pierre Herme croissants as a small breakfast each day and this was set out on beautiful tableware with water a variety of preserves and complimentary energiser shots. This was very reasonably priced at around 1000JPY each day. Again, the staff delivering this room service breakfast were engaging, professional, helpful and spoke English to a very high standard.
We were offered a dinner at the hotel by Mark the GM, as a result of the issues that we had with the concierge prior to our stay. We opted to try the Michelin Starred Mizuki Tempura. We were very well taken care of and offered champagne, a variety of sakes and an excellent tempura set in addition to a plate of nigiri which was sent over by the chef at the sushi restaurant.
The decor, service and quality of food were all phenomenal. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a meal here even for those staying elsewhere in Kyoto.
Overall, this has to be my top city hotel stay ever. A stay by which all others in future will be judged. Far better than the Park Hyatt Tokyo, which I think often suffers from staff that display a lack of confidence when communicating in English as well as a less than ideal location and ageing hardware.
Dec 8, 2017, 12:55 pm
#108
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
It’s worth mention that I emailed the Ritz Carlton Kyoto Concierge 5 days ago with some restaurant reservation requests for our 2 night stay (May 2018). Nothing. I’ve re-sent the email to both Guest Services and Concierge now.
This is in stark contrast to when I emailed the Suiran Concierge a few weeks ago on a Friday and had a response first thing Monday morning. I haven’t waited longer than a day or so for any response since, either.
This is in stark contrast to when I emailed the Suiran Concierge a few weeks ago on a Friday and had a response first thing Monday morning. I haven’t waited longer than a day or so for any response since, either.
Today I followed up again and copied the GM. The automated response I received from the supposed assistant assistant head concierge makes it obvious that this person is not a member of the concierge team at all! The response today indicated she/he was an Executive Assistant.
It seems the original apology was never sent by the concierge team but by a secretary. Not surprisingly, no one ever followed up from the concierge team about any of my original queries and requests. Unreal.
I now have contacted the GM to complain about this shoddy service and communication. The lack of original follow through is piss poor. The continued lack of follow through is unacceptable. The fact that someone misrepresented themselves as part of the concierge team to assuage my concerns is absolutely unacceptable and unbelievable to me.
Thus far, I’m not at all impressed or even remotely satisfied with this supposed luxury hotel. This will count as the worst pre-stay experience I’ve had with any hotel in years.
I await word from the GM. In the meantime, we now are exploring whether we should stay elsewhere. The RC Kyoto is not living up to any luxury standard. Absolutely shameful.
Dec 9, 2017, 3:24 pm
#109
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
On Nov. 5 I finally sent an email complaining about the lack of response from the RC Kyoto Concierge team. I received a response that day with an apology from a supposed assistant head concierge. Then I heard nothing further to my original reservation requests.
Today I followed up again and copied the GM. The automated response I received from the supposed assistant assistant head concierge makes it obvious that this person is not a member of the concierge team at all! The response today indicated she/he was an Executive Assistant.
It seems the original apology was never sent by the concierge team but by a secretary. Not surprisingly, no one ever followed up from the concierge team about any of my original queries and requests. Unreal.
I now have contacted the GM to complain about this shoddy service and communication. The lack of original follow through is piss poor. The continued lack of follow through is unacceptable. The fact that someone misrepresented themselves as part of the concierge team to assuage my concerns is absolutely unacceptable and unbelievable to me.
Thus far, I’m not at all impressed or even remotely satisfied with this supposed luxury hotel. This will count as the worst pre-stay experience I’ve had with any hotel in years.
I await word from the GM. In the meantime, we now are exploring whether we should stay elsewhere. The RC Kyoto is not living up to any luxury standard. Absolutely shameful.
Today I followed up again and copied the GM. The automated response I received from the supposed assistant assistant head concierge makes it obvious that this person is not a member of the concierge team at all! The response today indicated she/he was an Executive Assistant.
It seems the original apology was never sent by the concierge team but by a secretary. Not surprisingly, no one ever followed up from the concierge team about any of my original queries and requests. Unreal.
I now have contacted the GM to complain about this shoddy service and communication. The lack of original follow through is piss poor. The continued lack of follow through is unacceptable. The fact that someone misrepresented themselves as part of the concierge team to assuage my concerns is absolutely unacceptable and unbelievable to me.
Thus far, I’m not at all impressed or even remotely satisfied with this supposed luxury hotel. This will count as the worst pre-stay experience I’ve had with any hotel in years.
I await word from the GM. In the meantime, we now are exploring whether we should stay elsewhere. The RC Kyoto is not living up to any luxury standard. Absolutely shameful.
(Still makes you wonder about the concierge team’s attention to detail when the concierge first responds with petulance, then responds with an apology, then doesn’t follow-up at all for a month, confirms the wrong date, and then can’t correct her own title in email auto-response functions after getting promoted over 5 months ago.)
This latest follow-up also basically handled one of our original reservation requests for a 3* restaurant—despite the booking window not opening yet. And promised to work on our other reservation request for a 2* Restaurant when that booking window opens. This was the level of service I was expecting from a RC. (This also is the level of service I already had been receiving from the SPG Luxury Collection Suiran Kyoto property at which we will be staying for 5 nights prior to our stay here at the RC Kyoto. I’d say the Suiran is winning the perception of luxury contest hands-down.)
I’ve now asked this Director of Rooms and the GM to be responsible for all details for our stay from this point forward. I do not have any confidence in the concierge team. At all. As far as I am concerned, the concierge team here is incompetent.
Dec 10, 2017, 9:58 am
#110
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Parts Unknown
Posts: 10,053
I know the hardware is top-notch. Not a single strand is out of place and everything is superb and class.
I'm with bhrubin. While, it's nice to get a very nice dinner from a GM as service pre-recovery or recovery, it'd be better for them to sort out the disruptive or incompetent elements in the concierge staff. The concierge is often a guests first view into your hotel and one that acts stupid isn't presenting a good image as bhrubin clearly illustrated.
I'm with bhrubin. While, it's nice to get a very nice dinner from a GM as service pre-recovery or recovery, it'd be better for them to sort out the disruptive or incompetent elements in the concierge staff. The concierge is often a guests first view into your hotel and one that acts stupid isn't presenting a good image as bhrubin clearly illustrated.
Jan 31, 2018, 10:10 am
#111
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 86
Has anyone managed to secure an upgrade here to a club level room (inc lounge access) using MR points?
I saw some posts suggesting this could be done for 20k points per night at the RC Tokyo, but am wondering if that's specific to that hotel or might apply across the Japanese RC properties.
I saw some posts suggesting this could be done for 20k points per night at the RC Tokyo, but am wondering if that's specific to that hotel or might apply across the Japanese RC properties.
Jan 31, 2018, 10:20 am
#112
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Planet Earth
Programs: IHG Diamond Amb, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy Gold, Hertz PC, AA Plat Pro
Posts: 149
Has anyone managed to secure an upgrade here to a club level room (inc lounge access) using MR points?
I saw some posts suggesting this could be done for 20k points per night at the RC Tokyo, but am wondering if that's specific to that hotel or might apply across the Japanese RC properties.
I saw some posts suggesting this could be done for 20k points per night at the RC Tokyo, but am wondering if that's specific to that hotel or might apply across the Japanese RC properties.
Feb 20, 2018, 9:55 am
#115
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: IAH
Programs: Marriott Plat, Hyatt Globalist, DL Plat, UA Silver
Posts: 4,043
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.
I take the train from KIX to Kyoto station and cab it to RC Kyoto now instead.
Mar 3, 2018, 2:53 am
#116
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Parts Unknown
Posts: 10,053
Probably the fastest Haruka you can grab after clearing baggage and customs. Then, a taxi from Kyoto station.
Mar 10, 2018, 11:20 pm
#117
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: The road less traveled
Programs: UA Gold MM, AA EXP, Delta Platinum, Marriott Titanium, HHonors Diamond, Natl EE, Hertz Platinum
Posts: 5,118
Phenomenal stay -- looking at my point redemption stays across the world, this would rank easily in the top 3 in my book. My only regret was not staying much longer than our two night stint passing through Kyoto. (The review is somewhat overdue as this was a stay in November.)
The hotel seemed quite crowded while we were there, but you wouldn't have known by how we got treated. Whisked to a chair for a very personal check-in experience. When he discovered we were there for a very special, personal occasion, we were placed in a beautiful deluxe room overlooking the river and, magically, given complimentary breakfast for our stay. Although I'm an RC Platinum, this was certainly an unexpected treat!
The room was very comfortable and had one of those special Super King size beds, which itself felt larger than our bedroom in our old flat in London when we were younger. Both mornings, we absolutely loved waking up and sitting at the table overlooking the river while we sipped our Nespresso. Front the comfortable seating areas, to the art in the room (and throughout the hotel), to the beautiful china, to the general sense of peace throughout -- honestly, it felt we were staying in a home, not a hotel.
Service throughout our stay was fantastic, with one relatively minor issue. At breakfast, they came by with champagne one morning to help us celebrate -- completely unexpected and out of the blue. The food quality was top notch. The only slight disappointment was a quick dinner bite after a long day out at the cafe/bistro in the lobby. The portions were small and pricey for what they were, and our server mixed up our drinks order twice (not terribly complex, mind you, since it was a wine right off the short by-the-glass menu) and then after fixing it, still billed us for the wrong drinks in the end. When pointed out, she was very apologetic and fixed it immediately. The concierge was spot on and gave great directions to Arimayahsi for the day, as well as booking us in at a unique tofu restaurant there in town.
As we packed up to take the train to Tokyo after two days we couldn't help but already be looking forward to returning!
Ritz Carlton Kyoto on the banks of the river
Ritz Carlton Kyoto exterior
Ritz Carlton Kyoto interior
Ritz Carlton Kyoto room detail
Ritz Carlton Kyoto bathroom detail
Ritz Carlton Kyoto bonsai and room view
Ritz Carlton Kyoto keycards
Ritz Carlton Kyoto in-room china set
Ritz Carlton Kyoto morning Nespresso
Ritz Carlton Kyoto breakfast detail
Roof detail of a building in Arimayashi forest
Stunning Arimayashi bamboo forest
More photos here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskMbUs6j
The hotel seemed quite crowded while we were there, but you wouldn't have known by how we got treated. Whisked to a chair for a very personal check-in experience. When he discovered we were there for a very special, personal occasion, we were placed in a beautiful deluxe room overlooking the river and, magically, given complimentary breakfast for our stay. Although I'm an RC Platinum, this was certainly an unexpected treat!
The room was very comfortable and had one of those special Super King size beds, which itself felt larger than our bedroom in our old flat in London when we were younger. Both mornings, we absolutely loved waking up and sitting at the table overlooking the river while we sipped our Nespresso. Front the comfortable seating areas, to the art in the room (and throughout the hotel), to the beautiful china, to the general sense of peace throughout -- honestly, it felt we were staying in a home, not a hotel.
Service throughout our stay was fantastic, with one relatively minor issue. At breakfast, they came by with champagne one morning to help us celebrate -- completely unexpected and out of the blue. The food quality was top notch. The only slight disappointment was a quick dinner bite after a long day out at the cafe/bistro in the lobby. The portions were small and pricey for what they were, and our server mixed up our drinks order twice (not terribly complex, mind you, since it was a wine right off the short by-the-glass menu) and then after fixing it, still billed us for the wrong drinks in the end. When pointed out, she was very apologetic and fixed it immediately. The concierge was spot on and gave great directions to Arimayahsi for the day, as well as booking us in at a unique tofu restaurant there in town.
As we packed up to take the train to Tokyo after two days we couldn't help but already be looking forward to returning!
Ritz Carlton Kyoto on the banks of the river
Ritz Carlton Kyoto exterior
Ritz Carlton Kyoto interior
Ritz Carlton Kyoto room detail
Ritz Carlton Kyoto bathroom detail
Ritz Carlton Kyoto bonsai and room view
Ritz Carlton Kyoto keycards
Ritz Carlton Kyoto in-room china set
Ritz Carlton Kyoto morning Nespresso
Ritz Carlton Kyoto breakfast detail
Roof detail of a building in Arimayashi forest
Stunning Arimayashi bamboo forest
More photos here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskMbUs6j
Mar 15, 2018, 11:31 am
#119
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Washington DC
Programs: Delta DM CO PE OZ GE AMTRAK
Posts: 524
Does anyone know if this property will have any issues with accommodating 2 kids (age 1 and 4) and 2 adults in the standard room? It is technically outside the maximum occupancy level indicated for the room which is 3. thanks.
Mar 15, 2018, 8:25 pm
#120
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
Much better concierge responsiveness
Ever since I contacted the GM about my serious concerns about the lack of responsiveness by the concierge team, things have vastly improved. Not only did the team confirm a res at 3* Nakamura before the res window even opened, but they also confirmed 2* Gion Sasaki for us as soon as that window opened. They’ve also arranged private tours in Kyoto and to Himeji Castle for us.
At this point, very pleased. Finally the same level of service and responsiveness as I’d been enjoying from the very impressive Suiran Luxury Collection concierge team.
At this point, very pleased. Finally the same level of service and responsiveness as I’d been enjoying from the very impressive Suiran Luxury Collection concierge team.