Historic Hilltop Hotel to close next year

On October 23, the operator of the historic Hilltop Hotel in Tokyo’s Chiyoda ward announced it will temporarily close from February 2024. The closure is to allow them to consider possible measures to deal wth the building’s age and deterioration.Read more


Hyatt House opening Shibuya property next February

The Hyatt House brand of extended-stay hotels is coming to Tokyo next February with the opening of the Hyatt House Shibuya Tokyo. This is the second Hyatt House in Japan - the first opened in Kanazawa in 2020.Read more


Hotels in high demand as developers see opportunity in rapidly recovering tourist market

Japan's hotel industry is only going to heat up as major domestic developers ramp up their portfolios amidst a rapidly recovering tourist market.Read more


Osaka’s most expensive apartment is going on sale for 2.5 billion Yen

The most expensive apartment in history in the Osaka and Kansai region will go on sale next February. The two-bedroom penthouse will be priced at 2.5 billion Yen (US$16.7 million).Read more


Modernist theatre demolition delayed due to rising construction costs

Rising construction costs might have granted the National Theatre an inadvertent temporary reprieve of demolition. The 57-year old modernist building was scheduled to meet with the wrecking ball sometime after the end of October.Read more


Commercial real estate volume reaches 2.3 trillion in first half of 2023

The total volume of real estate acquisitions made during the first half of 2023 reached 2.3 trillion Yen (approx. US$15.5 billion), according to the Japan Real Estate Institute, up 9.5% from the second half of 2022.Read more


Foreign tourists are back and hotels are seeing record-high revenues

Despite the scorching summer temperatures, foreign tourists returned to Japan in droves in August and hotels are the first to benefit. The Nikkei Shimbun newspaper reported in early September that hotels in central Tokyo are seeing ADRs that are 30% higher than pre-pandemic levels, and the rate of increase has exceeded that of New York. The Palace Hotel Tokyo’s ADR has exceeded 100,000 Yen for the first time. Some city hotels in Osaka have seen their ADR increase by as much as 30% since the beginning of the year and over 100% from early 2022.

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