Review: The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto | Prince of Travel

Japan’s cultural capital, Kyoto, is a popular destination for domestic and international tourists alike.

The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto, has long been exalted as one of the best properties in Japan, and even in the entire chain. I was very eager to experience it for myself during a Summer 2019 visit to Asia, as it had been at the top of my must-stay list for quite some time.

Amy also visited this property with her family on a Spring Break 2023 trip to Japan, and we’ve updated this review to reflect her experience.

The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto – Booking

At the time, I had the opportunity to take advantage of a sweet spot of redeeming 60,000 Bonvoy points per night for top-tier hotels (which lasted until March 2019). I knew this would be the golden opportunity to slot in a three-night stay at The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto and kick off our summer trip to Asia in style.

Since I was making bookings at these high-end Bonvoy hotels rather speculatively back in early 2019, I had actually booked two separate reservations at the Ritz-Carlton for two nights and one night, respectively, but I had no problem getting them combined into a three-night stay for 180,000 Bonvoy points in total. 

Nowadays, Marriott Bonvoy uses a dynamic pricing model, and you can expect to pay 88,000–126,000 points per night. It goes to show how much has shifted with the program in the past four years.

That’s certainly a lot of points to spend, but could still prove worthwhile compared to the cash rates, which usually hover around ¥120,000–175,000 ($1,200–1,750 CAD) per night, but can shoot up to ¥250,000 ($2,500 CAD) or more during popular seasons.

Amy

I actually booked two rooms for my stay. The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto, and many hotels in Japan for that matter, have a maximum occupancy of four guests per room. As we were travelling as a family of five, we had to book two rooms here, but we decided to go for the splurge to see what the hype was all about.

Each room cost 92,000 points, which was at least towards the lower end of the dynamic pricing. We booked one using points, and the other using a Free Night Award worth 85,000 points from our Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card, topped up with 7,000 points.

If booking the property isn’t possible using points, be sure to get in touch with us for quote. The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto participates…