Japanese Hotels Debut Despite Depressed Economic State

Despite ongoing economic doldrums, new hotels continue to debut in Japan, including the Four Seasons Marunouchi, which, when it opens in October, will become Tokyo's smallest luxury property.

Occupying the second through seventh floors of a 37-story office tower adjacent to Tokyo Station, the 57-room Four Seasons should prove to be ideal for travelers coming in to Tokyo via train.

The contemporary center city property will complement the more traditional, spacious and laid-back Four Seasons Chinzan-so, renowned for its setting amid elegant Japanese gardens. The Four Seasons Chinzan-so offers a unique value-add, complimentary car service from the hotel to corporate guests' first morning business appointments.

Four Seasons Marunouchi features flat plasma screen televisions in each room, a boardroom for executive meetings, fitness and spa services, high-speed Internet access, fax/copier/printer units, multiple two-line telephones and a 24-hour, full-service business center.

For the more budget-minded travelers, in February Keio Electric Railways, the parent company of the international tourist-class Shinjuku-based Keio Plaza Hotel, opened the first of its no-frills hotels in Ginza, the Presso-Inn Higashi-Ginza. Its 246 single rooms, including 84 non-smoking rooms, have a rack rate of ¥7,400 (US$57.80), including a complimentary continental breakfast. A 5 percent government tax is not included.

Other scheduled Tokyo debuts include the April launch of the 31-story Executive Tower Building of the Shinagawa Prince Hotel, which features 672 rooms. The tower is in addition to Skingagawa's already-operating 3,008 rooms. Also occupying the new tower will be a 275-seat IMAX theater, wedding chapels, photo studio, 10-screen movie theater, food court and 40-lane bowling alley.

Other recent lodging news includes last year's opening of the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel, occupying 18 floors in a new office tower overlooking the Mark City shopping complex. The property features a fitness club, dental clinic, specialty import store, executive business center, childcare center and its own Noh Theater.

The Akasaka Prince Hotel recently completed major renovations to its lobby elevators and 761 guest rooms, and the Hotel Seiyo Ginza has made available 24-hour personalized butler service for all rooms. Meanwhile, a major renovation to the 456-room Capitol Tokyu—scheduled for completion next month—will enable the property to offer high-speed Internet access and a fitness gym three times the current size.

Next year's hotel highlights should include the spring opening of the 390- room Grand Hyatt Hotel in Roppongi, and the summer openings of the 495-room Royal Park and 277-room Shiba Park hotels, both in Shiodome near Shibashi. Also on the drawing boards are the 495-room, no-frills Villa Fontaine in Shiodome, scheduled to open in 2004, a Mandarin Oriental in Nihombashi and a Peninsula in Hibaya, both planning to open their doors in 2006. These new lodging ventures are expected to significantly increase Tokyo's current complement of guest rooms, which, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's most recent report in March 2000, was pegged at more than 83,500.

Fancy Footwork Required

Business travelers heading for Japan in June should note that finding a room could get very challenging during the World Cup. Japan and Korea are co-hosting the planet's most in-demand sporting event, and rooms should be particularly tight June 1 to 14, when Japan is the site for many opening round soccer matches, and June 21 through 30 for the finals.

The 64 matches will be split evenly between Korea and Japan. Japan's matches will be played in Sapporo, Miyagi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Niigata, Shizuoka, Osaka, Kobe, Oita and Yokohama. Since Yokohama is virtually an extension of Tokyo, securing a hotel room anywhere in the region should be extremely difficult in and around June 30 when Yokohama hosts the final match.

At press time, Japan's Ministry of Transportation, Land and Infrastructure predicted that 443,000 international visitors will come to Japan to see the games.

Delayed Runway Coming

In a move that will help some of those fans more easily arrive and depart, the long-awaited second runway at Narita Airport finally is opening on April 18. Delayed by three decades of local protest and litigation that forced Japan's busiest air facility to rely on a single runway, the new access significantly adds to Narita's flight handling capabilities.

Currently, the airport—a one-hour train ride from Tokyo— can handle 370 daily flights. The new runway will allow it to cope with an additional 176. It will be 7,152 feet long, making it suitable for domestic and regional flights within Asia. The existing Narita runway is approximately 13,000 feet in length.

The day after the new runway opens, American Airlines will begin daily New York JFK-Tokyo service using new Boeing 777 aircraft. The carrier announced it will operate a second nonstop flight on its Dallas/Ft. Worth to Tokyo route three days a week with B777 aircraft, starting June 1. American also serves Tokyo out of Chicago and San Jose, Calif.