Second Indigo Hotel to open in Inuyama in 2021

InterContinental Hotels Group will open their second Indigo Hotel in Japan in 2021. Hotel Indigo Inuyama Urakuen will replace the Meitetsu Inuyama Hotel located just outside of Nagoya City.

The Meitetsu Inuyama Hotel opened in 1965 with 123 rooms. The grounds include a Japanese tea house built for Oda Nagamasu (1548-1622), the younger brother of powerful daimyo Oda Nobunaga. The 400-year old tea house, called ‘Jo-an’, is considered one of the three best tea houses in Japan, and is designated as a National Treasure. It was relocated to the gardens by Meitetsu in 1972.Read more


Shiba Park Hotel to demolish north building

Shiba Park Hotel will be demolishing the main north building. Demolition work is being carried out by Ando Corporation and is expected to be completed by the end of June 2012.

The north building is 8 stories and has a total floorspace of 2891 sqm. The hotel was opened in 1949 and has 391 rooms.

Source: The Kentsu Shimbun, February 20, 2012.


Historic Niigata ryokan declares bankruptcy

The Kihachiya Ryokan in Sado City, Niigata, has entered into bankruptcy proceedings and may be forced to sell their hotel. According to Teikoku Databank, Kihachiya Ryokan has debts of 560 million Yen.Read more


Hotel Suigo in Ibaraki to be demolished due to earthquake damage

The Suigo hotel in Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki, will be demolished after it sustained damage in the March 11 Tohoku earthquake. Suigo is a local government operated hotel which offers low-cost accommodation. These type of lodgings are called "kokumin shukusha".Read more


Niseko Kogen Hotel sold

Niseko Kogen Kanko, a subsidiary of Tokyu Land, announced that they will be selling the Niseko Kogen Hotel to an undisclosed buyer for just over 1 billion Yen. The buyer is said to be a fund based in Asia.

The Niseko Kogen Hotel will remain open until March, 2012, at which time the new buyer will take over the property. The hotel is aging, so it is expected that the new buyer will demolish and rebuild a high class international hotel on the site. The current 59 room, 4-storey hotel was built in 1975, and room rates start from 7,000 Yen/night (90 USD). In recent years, construction of new condominiums in the area have had a negative impact on the hotel's profitability. Read more


Palace Hotel set to reopen in May, 2012

The Palace Hotel reconstruction project is expected to be completed in 2012 with the "Palace Hotel Tokyo" scheduled to start accepting hotel guests from May 17, 2012. The new hotel will be 23 stories and will have 290 hotel rooms. The rooms start from 45 sqm in size (484 sqft), which is much larger than the typical Japanese hotel room.Read more


Kobe Bay Sheraton Hotel Sold

The Kobe Bay Sheraton Hotel and Towers on Rokko Island will be sold to a hotel and ryokan (Japanese-style hotel) operator called Hotel New Awaji. The hotel name will not be changed and will continue to operate as normal.

The Bay Sheraton was opened in June, 1992. Up until 2005 it was owned by a subsidiary of JTB Corporation, however the long-lasting effects of the 1995 Hanshin earthquake and economic recession made the hotel unprofitable and it was sold to the American investment company, Lone Star Group. It is currently being operated by a subsidiary of Lone Star. Hotel New Awaji will also purchase the subsidiary and will continue to operate the hotel without any disruptions.Read more