Japan's first JW Marriott Hotel to open in Nara
Mori Trust announced that the Marriott International hotel group will open their first JW Marriott luxury branded hotel in Nara City in 2020. The JW Marriott Hotel Nara will be built on vacant land across the street from the Nara City Hall and near the former Heijo Palace - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Mori Trust acquired the 4,000 sqm block from the prefecture and will start construction of the 15,000 sqm (161,400 sq.ft) hotel next year. The 6 ~ 7 storey hotel will have 150 guest rooms, restaurant, bar and pool facilities.Read more
58-storey residential tower and hotel planned for downtown Yokohama
Mitsui Fudosan Residential, Marubeni and Mori Building have announced plans for a 58-storey hotel and condominium for downtown Yokohama. The 199.95m tall tower will contain approximately 1,200 apartments, with a hotel occupying several of the upper floors. Construction is scheduled to start in October 2016, with completion by January 2020. This will be the largest residential project over 100 meters tall in Yokohama since 2000.Read more
Plans for Japan’s largest hotel on island in Okinawa
Hotel and restaurant operator Unimat Precious is planning a 3,400-room resort for Miyako-jima Island in Okinawa. The project will be an extension to the resort they currently operate on Miyako-jima. When complete, it is said that this will become the largest hotel/resort in Japan.
Shigira Resort is currently comprised of four different hotels, villas and condominiums located on a 3.3 million sqm beachfront estate. In addition to the 585 rooms currently under operations, there is also a golf course and hot spring facilities.Read more
Tadao Ando-designed private guesthouse converted into luxe, boutique hotel
A former privately-owned guesthouse designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando has been converted into a luxury, boutique hotel.
The Setouchi Retreat Aonagi opened its doors on December 20, 2015. Described as a ‘small, luxury hotel’, the contemporary concrete and glass building contains just seven guest suites ranging from 100 ~ 150 sqm (1,076 ~ 1,614 sq.ft) in size. The design, which is true to Ando’s style, is bold yet minimal, and makes the most of the views over the Seto Inland Sea.
The 6-storey building was built in 1998 as the Elleair Matsuyama Guesthouse and Museum of Art. The museum was built to display artwork held by the Daio Paper company, including pieces by Marc Chagall and Marie Laurencin. While the museum was previously open to the public, the adjoining guest house was for private guests only.Read more
Mori Trust taking over abandoned resort in Okinawa
Mori Trust has acquired a 335,000 sqm block of beachfront land with a half-finished hotel on Sesoko Island in Okinawa and plans to open an internationally-branded resort by 2020. Sesoko Beach Project, a limited liability company registered in Tokyo, was the seller.
Back in 2005, Toshi Design System, through a special purpose company, started construction on a large-scale luxury resort on the site of a former golf course. The 30 billion Yen hotel was to include 360 rooms each over 100 sqm (1,076 sq.ft) in size, with room rates of around 70,000 Yen per night. It was scheduled to open in 2009.Read more
Yokohama Station to see tallest building in 2021
Plans are firming up for a 180 meter tall high-rise residential tower near Yokohama Station specifically targeting foreign residents. This would be the first project to make use of the national government’s special allowance for residential building volume ratios that are available in Strategic Special Zones.
Draft plans have already received approval from the government and construction is scheduled to start in 2018, with completion in 2021.Read more
$100 million resort for Kobe’s Mount Rokko
Nagoya-based Resorttrust, Inc. announced plans to open a members-only resort hotel in Kobe’s Rokkosan area. “XIV Rokko Sanctuary Villa” will be a 48-room resort with Japanese restaurant, bar, spa, and shops. It is scheduled to open in March 2018.
The resort has been designed by KKS Group, a specialist architectural firm that has designed numerous hotels around the world including several Shangri-La and Hilton Hotels, the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel in Shibuya, and the Capitol Hotel Tokyu in Tokyo. The design of the hotel is said to be the ‘Imperial Modern’ style which can be seen in some of the old and grand estates in Japan from the early 1900s. Frank Lloyd Wright’s former Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, and the former Maeda Residence in Meguro were said to be the inspiration behind the design.Read more