November 2026
Ritz-Carlton Kyoto vs Hotel The Mitsui: Which Property Is Better?
Hotel The Mitsui is the better hotel, comfortably…rooms that actually feel like Kyoto, a real hot spring under the garden, the kindest staff in the city and a far better breakfast. The Ritz-Carlton wins on the river and for families, and it's usually slightly cheaper. Here's how they stack up, category by category.
Better overall hotel: Hotel The Mitsui
You walk into Hotel The Mitsui through a wooden gate built in 1703, and the street just disappears. Inside there's a courtyard garden with a big weeping cherry in the middle, and under it all a hot spring pumped up from a kilometre down. The staff (many of them in kimono) knew our names and our plans by day two. The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto has a lovely spot on the river, but once you're inside it could be a good hotel in any Japanese city. I've stayed at both, and I'd book the Mitsui every time.
The caveat… with kids, book the Ritz. It has a proper pool, kids' robes waiting in the room and a Ritz Kids evening so you can have dinner on your own, while at the Mitsui extra beds and children's breakfasts are all charged. And if you want to walk to dinner along the river every night, the Ritz is the one.
Better rooms: The Mitsui
André Fu designed the Mitsui's rooms, and they're warm and calm…walnut, tatami, kimono fabrics and soft lamps that look made for the room, with a huge wooden tea table that doubles as a desk. From our castle-view room the big wooden gate of Nijo Castle was right there across the road, close enough to feel you could touch the roof tiles. The Ritz's rooms are bigger (about 50 square metres for an entry room against the Mitsui's 43), and our river-view king had a wonderful window onto the Kamogawa. But the wood panels and low lamps around that window could be in any good Japanese hotel, and it's the Mitsui's room I still picture.
At the Mitsui, book a Nijo Castle view room or a Garden Room over the courtyard, and skip the city-view Deluxe. At the Ritz, only the Grand Deluxe Kamogawa on the third floor or higher is worth it.
Better bathroom: The Mitsui
The Mitsui's bathroom is bright, with light pouring onto a huge soaking tub, and the bath products, made by a Japanese perfumer, made the whole room smell like a forest. I took a bath every night, even after the hot spring. The Ritz's is very good too (a deep tub, Diptyque's fig and a shower with REAL pressure), but it's the darker, more ordinary room.
Better service: The Mitsui
We arrived at the Mitsui on a hot afternoon to cold towels, iced tea and a little sweet, and someone knelt beside our sofa to check us in. They closed the lobby curtains when the sun was in my eyes before I'd even noticed, the concierge got us into restaurants we couldn't book ourselves, and a manager came out to see us off. The Ritz's team are lovely too (someone always walked us wherever we asked the way), but the Mitsui's felt like they were reading our minds. Only breakfast there was a little stiff.
Better bar: The Ritz-Carlton
The Bar has leather armchairs, a wall of sake and a jazz trio on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, and its roasted green tea martini is a lovely way to end a day of temples. At the Mitsui my favourite hour was earlier…afternoon tea in the lobby looking onto the garden, with seasonal sweets (the chestnut ones in autumn are wonderful).
Better food: The Mitsui, except the tempura counter
Breakfast is the difference. The Mitsui's Japanese set of grilled fish, tamagoyaki and okayu is beautiful, and the eggs Benedict were some of the best I've had anywhere. The Ritz's breakfast is patchy, with a small buffet and hot dishes that can turn up lukewarm. For dinner, though, the eight-seat tempura counter at the Ritz's Mizuki was the best meal of that stay (book ahead, and note it's closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays). At the Mitsui, save one big night for Toki's French-Japanese tasting menu.
Better pool and spa: The Mitsui
The hot spring is THE reason to book the Mitsui. It's all dark stone, rock pillars and a mirrored ceiling that makes the water glow, and the TV in your room shows how busy it is, so we went every afternoon and usually had it nearly to ourselves. It's mixed, so you wear a swimsuit, and you may be asked to cover tattoos. For actual swimming the Ritz is better, with a heated 20-metre pool underground and a La Prairie spa beside it.
Better location: The Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz is right on the Kamogawa, and walking 15 minutes downstream along the bank at dusk brings you up into Pontocho just as the lanterns come on. That walk was our favourite part of every day. The Mitsui is across from Nijo Castle in a quieter part of town, which I loved at night, and the little streets around it are full of tiny restaurants. From both, the big temples of Higashiyama mean a taxi.
Better value: The Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz is usually slightly cheaper, and both get very expensive in cherry-blossom season and the November maple weeks. Both are Marriott hotels, so Bonvoy points work at either.
Both are in Marriott STARS, so when you book either one with us you get breakfast for two every day, a hotel credit and a priority upgrade on arrival. And if it's a short first trip as a couple, I'd spend a little more for the Park Hyatt and wake up on the old lanes by the Yasaka Pagoda. All my Kyoto reviews are on my Japan page.