An exterior view through the ferns to Ritz Carlton Kyoto.

A weekly series featuring luxury hotel expert Mary Gostelow’s hotel pick of the week. 

The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto, is currently the only top luxury hotel in central Kyoto, Japan and is therefore a magnet for international tourists coming to visit this city of endless temples. You know you are in a city of history (it was capital of Japan until the Imperial Court moved to Tokyo in 1869. And they say, here, that the Emperor is merely there on a business trip and he will come back). The Mayor of Kyoto, Daisaku Kadokawa, is very hot on tourists and encourages local women to wear kimonos. Instead of the usual gaggle of teenage girls in blue jeans, here the trend is kimono, obi and split-toed tabi socks.

Look out from the hotel.

Looking through the abstract lobby to afternoon tea.

The hotel, which opened early 2014, is deliberately set low on the banks of the Kamogawa River. The five floors look out to the distant Mount Nyakuoji. There are 134 rooms, and prime are the top floor river-facing suites with private gardens, but I also like corner suite 328. Peter Remedios’ interiors are soft pine and grey. His design for public rooms seems like a Rubik’s Cube of floor levels and sharp angles. Every now and again, you experience a burst of light, say through to afternoon tea. Keep an eye out for the spotlit Pierre Hermé boutique, with vibrantly colored macaroon racks, empty by evening. There are Pierre Hermé goodies at the outstanding buffet breakfast too. And mind the hue of your breakfast eggs- Hotel GM Yuji Tanaka says the hens’ diet has 33 ingredients including red capsicum and saffron.

Mary meets local Kyoto beauties.

Read more on Ritz-Carlton Kyoto on Mary’s site and be sure to check out last week’s Hotel of the Week: InterContinental Osaka.