The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto

The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto opened in February 2014 on the west bank of the Kamo River at Nijo Ohashi, in central Kyoto, within reach of Gion and Kawaramachi. It has 134 rooms, every one of them facing the river and the Higashiyama hills, and it holds one Michelin Key.

It was built to stay low.

A hotel that keeps its head down

The building has four floors above ground and three below, so that much of the hotel sits under the riverside rather than above it; the Michelin inspectors describe it as keeping a low profile that leaves the view of the mountains and the city to do the work. Its plan recalls a house of the Meiji period arranged around a courtyard, and at its centre a waterfall falls four storeys. The interiors are by Peter Remedios with Spin Studio, with patterns by local artisans, rock gardens and water. The rooms start at 50 square metres, and some suites have a moon-viewing deck over the river.

Mizuki and a listed house

Mizuki, the Japanese restaurant, is laid out around a stone garden and the waterfall, and is divided into counters for kaiseki, sushi, tempura and teppanyaki; the hotel presents it as Michelin-starred. La Locanda is the Italian restaurant, and its private dining room is Ebisugawa-tei, an older, historically listed building kept within the hotel. There is a bar, a lobby lounge for afternoon tea, a chef's table and a Pierre Hermé Paris boutique.

The spa sits at the foot of the waterfall, with seven treatment rooms and rituals drawn from Japan, among them one built on green tea. Kyoto's newer hotels each read the city differently, as OKYTO's guide to Kyoto architecture through its hotels sets out; upstream, in the gorge of Arashiyama, Hoshinoya Kyoto is reached by boat.

Sources: Hotels; Business Traveller; The Japan Times; Michelin Guide; The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto.