July 20–On Wednesday, Nagano Prefecture-based Hoshino Resorts Inc. opened Hoshinoya Tokyo in the Otemachi business district, where many companies including financial institutions are headquartered. Many of the hotels in the nearby areas feature a Western ambience, but the new 18-story, 84-guestroom tower was entirely designed as a Japanese-style inn. Guests take off their shoes at the entrance, and walk through a tatami-mat corridor to the check-in counter. There are open-air hot spring baths on an upper floor. Room rates start at 78,000 yen ($73) including tax and service charge.
In Tokyo's Akasaka area, Prince Hotels Inc. will open The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho with 250 guest rooms next Wednesday. The new hotel occupies the top seven floors — 30th to 36th — of a skyscraper located at the former site of the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka. The guest room windows are wide so people staying there can enjoy the scenic views. The highest accommodation fee is 590,000 yen ($5,561) (excluding tax and service charge) for one of the suites.
Other hotels are also to open in Tokyo in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and in response to the increased number of visitors to Japan. In Otemachi, Canada's Four Seasons Hotels Ltd. will open a hotel in spring 2020.
In the Toranomon district, the rebuilding work for Hotel Okura Tokyo is under way, with its opening scheduled for 2019. Mori Building Co. and Mori Trust Co. also plan to open new hotels in the area.
