Tokyo launch unites Hyatt’s boutique-style brand with world-renowned
Japanese hospitality
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 2012--
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) and Mori Building Co., Ltd. announced
today that their affiliates have signed an agreement to launch Andaz
Tokyo, the first Andaz hotel in Japan. When it opens in the summer of
2014, Andaz Tokyo will join the brand’s growing portfolio of
boutique-style hotels in gateway cities and resort destinations around
the globe. Strengthening the Andaz presence in Asia, the new hotel will
unite the brand’s creative community focus and refined yet casual
atmosphere with the seamless and personalized service for which Japan is
known.
Andaz Tokyo will be the fourth Hyatt-branded hotel to open in Tokyo and
the ninth to be established in Japan. Hyatt and Mori Building affiliates
have collaborated on two other five-star properties in Asia:
Park Hyatt
Shanghai, which opened in September 2008, and Grand Hyatt Tokyo, which
will mark its tenth anniversary in April 2013. With the Japanese launch
of the Andaz brand in Toranomon, the birthplace of Mori Building, the
two companies affirm their shared commitment to bringing gracious,
unscripted service to an urban revitalization project that is focused on
providing inventive programs and venues for inspired interactions
between residents and visitors alike.
“Currently, nine Andaz hotels are in operation in four countries, with
others continually being added to our development pipeline,” said
Larry
Tchou
, executive vice president, group president – Asia Pacific, Hyatt
Hotels Corporation. “True to its destination, Andaz Tokyo will convey
the well-tailored, refined sensibility of Japan, as well as the vibrant,
internationally eclectic spirit of its capital city.”
“With its central location between the high-rise district of Shiodome
and the Akasaka and Roppongi areas where many multinational corporations
are located, Toranomon is a vital hub for Tokyo’s further development as
a global business center,” said
Kazuhiko Yamamoto
, vice president of
urban development for Mori Building. “Andaz Tokyo will both heighten
Toranomon’s appeal and serve the needs of international firms here,
promising the area’s fast growth as a gateway destination.”
A New, Pedestrian-Friendly Commercial District
Andaz Tokyo will occupy eight floors, including the top six, of a
52-story tower in a multi-use complex now under construction in
Toranomon, a business and embassy district located in the capital’s
prestigious Minato Ward and one of several areas in the city now
designated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as a Special Zone for
Asian Headquarters. At a height more than 2,600 square feet, the
wing-shaped high-rise, designed by Nihon Sekkei, Inc. and constructed by
Mori Building, will be the second tallest in the city, housing offices,
residences, shops, and conference venues, in addition to Andaz Tokyo
with its spa, dynamic restaurant facilities, and 164 guestrooms and
suites. The core landmark of a major urban development plan spearheaded
by the metropolitan government and stretching between Shinbashi and
Toranomon, the tower will boast as its crowning feature Andaz Tokyo’s
open-air bar and dynamic event space with outdoor seating on the
penthouse level, literally bringing alfresco dining and entertainment to
new heights in the city.
A tree-lined boulevard, on the scale of Omotesando’s promenade, will run
along the tower’s east-west axis. The building is equidistant to two of
the city’s major parks: Hibiya Koen and
Shiba Koen
, which are both just
eight minutes on foot to the north and south respectively. The gardens
of Hamarikyu-teien to the east and the Imperial Palace to the north are
each a 20-minute walk. For its commercial tenants, the tower’s strategic
location in Minato Ward, with easy access to embassies, seaports, and
Haneda Airport, is expected to draw the regional headquarters of
multinationals and research organizations across a wide number of
industries, including the medical, chemical, electronics, precision
instruments, finance, securities, and IT fields.
Vibrant Venues
At its pinnacle on the 52nd floor, Andaz Tokyo will feature two
facilities that will introduce rooftop flair to the city’s dining scene:
an open-air bar and the Andaz Studio, a flexible event and meeting space
with terrace seating. Also a first for a high-rise Tokyo hotel, there
will be a 65 square foot indoor infinity pool. Located on the building’s
37th floor, the infinity pool, spa, and fitness center will be
accessible by tower residents, as well as overnight guests of the hotel.
Andaz Tokyo’s 164 guestrooms, which will include 16 suites, will be
situated on the 47th through 50th floors, affording views of the Tokyo
skyline in all directions. Standard rooms will average 167 square feet,
among the most spacious in Tokyo. The largest suite will be 721 square
feet in size.
Check-in will be conducted seamlessly upon arrival via handheld tablet
devices carried by welcoming hosts. Those guests who prefer a leisurely
check-in will be ushered to the Andaz Lounge, a convivial space located
on the 51st floor, for complimentary coffee or a glass of wine. An
all-day dining restaurant, also located on this floor, will offer fresh,
seasonal, and organic fare reflecting the brand’s market-to-table
philosophy. The 52nd floor will house a chapel in addition to the
open-air bar and Andaz Studio, where a show kitchen will offer
made-to-order menus for weddings and special gatherings of all kinds. A
pastry shop and café will be situated at street level.
Relevant Designs
Overseeing the interior design of Andaz Tokyo are
Tony Chi
of the New
York-based Tony Chi & Associates, and
Shinichiro Ogata
, of Simplicity
Co., Ltd. in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward. Chi was born in Taiwan and raised on
Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and he is a graduate of New York’s Fashion
Institute of Technology. He has an impressive portfolio of sophisticated
global hospitality design projects, including Andaz 5th Avenue in New
York and Park Hyatt Shanghai. Ogata, a Nagasaki native, is known for his
elegant architectural, interior, and product designs—such as the
Higashiya and Higashi-yama teahouses and sweet shops in Tokyo and the
‘SSS’ line of upscale furniture and tableware in porcelain, ceramic,
iron, lacquer, pewter, glass, bronze, and wood—all of which celebrate
traditional Japanese industrial arts. Together the two designers will
draw on Japan’s rich body of aesthetic arts to create spaces that, in
keeping with the Andaz mission, stimulate the creative senses of guests
in refreshing ways.
Community Focus
The Andaz Salon brand program is comprised of interactive, on-property,
and virtual events conceived to support and nurture each hotel’s
community of emerging talent. Andaz Tokyo will collaborate with local
artists, musicians, designers, and other cultural influencers to deliver
events and programs on themes unique to its location in central Tokyo.
Andaz Tokyo’s distinctive spaces will be used flexibly to stage creative
Andaz Salon events, from talks to exhibitions to live performances.
These events can also be experienced through the Andaz Salon website at www.andazsalon.com,
where unique content from the brand’s Cultural Insiders is shared.
These creative relationships with Cultural Insiders are intended to
spark new connections, provoke ideas, and empower people to shape their
surroundings. In addition, Andaz Tokyo will join its sister properties
in their support of women in war-torn countries through a collaboration
with Women
for Women International, an organization dedicated to providing
female survivors of war, civil strife, and other conflicts with tools
and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and
self-sufficiency.
Unprecedented Civil Engineering
In an engineering first for the city, an underground tunnel will place a
portion of the Loop Road No. 2 arterial road beneath the more than four
acre Toranomon site, thereby freeing up the tower’s immediate environs
for people-friendly plazas, community pathways, and open vistas. The
Shinbashi-Toranomon section of Loop Road No. 2 is scheduled to open to
traffic in spring 2014; it is slated to connect with the Wangan-sen
Bayshore Route and other traffic networks serving Haneda Airport and the
seaport area in 2017.
Loop Road No. 2 (Kanjo Dainigosen)
While the nearly six mile section of Loop Road No. 2 (Kanjo Dainigosen)
stretching from Shinbashi to Kanda Sakumacho was pegged for development
in 1946, the portion between Shinbashi and Toranomon has until now
remained unrealized. With the implementation of new municipal provisions
in 1989 allowing the construction of highways and buildings within the
same vertical space, plans for the arterial road, its tunnel, and an
above-ground redevelopment project were able to proceed in concert.
Construction work is now progressing, with the new Shinbashi-Toranomon
section of Loop Road No. 2 slated to open in spring 2014.
About Mori Building Co., Ltd.
Since its founding in 1959, Mori Building, Co. Ltd (www.mori.co.jp)
has reshaped the look and feel of major Asian urban centers with the
completion of a number of high-profile mixed-use complexes, among them
Ark Hills and Roppongi Hills in Tokyo in 1986 and 2003 respectively and
the Shanghai World Financial Center in 2008. The firm’s visionary
re-imagining of the “Vertical Garden City” concept for high-density
areas unites work, residential, entertainment, commercial, educational,
and cultural functions in systematic ways, enhancing infrastructure
efficiency and enabling modern cities to meet the urgent challenges of
today.
About Andaz
Global in scale while local in perspective, Hyatt’s Andaz brand delivers
an innovative hospitality experience and attentive, uncomplicated
service designed to accommodate guests’ personal preferences. Hotels in
this collection reflect the unique cultural scene and spirit of the
surrounding neighborhood through their Andaz Salon program and are
dedicated to creating natural and vibrant living spaces where travelers
can indulge in their own personal sense of comfort and style. Nine Andaz
hotels are currently open: Andaz 5th Avenue and Andaz Wall Street in New
York, Andaz San Diego, Andaz West Hollywood, Andaz Napa, and Andaz
Savannah; Andaz Liverpool Street in London; Andaz Amsterdam
Prinsengracht; and Andaz Shanghai. For more information, please visit www.andaz.com.
About Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global
hospitality company with a proud heritage of making guests feel more
than welcome. Thousands of members of the Hyatt family strive to make a
difference in the lives of the guests they encounter every day by
providing authentic hospitality. The Company's subsidiaries manage,
franchise, own and develop hotels and resorts under the Hyatt®, Park
Hyatt®, Andaz®, Grand Hyatt®, Hyatt Regency®, Hyatt Place® and
Hyatt
House
TM brand names and have locations on six
continents. Hyatt Residential Group, Inc., a Hyatt Hotels
Corporation subsidiary, develops, operates, markets or licenses Hyatt
ResidencesTM and Hyatt Residence ClubTM.
As of September 30, 2012, the Company's worldwide portfolio consisted of
496 properties in 45 countries. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not
historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements
include statements about our plans, strategies, occupancy and ADR
trends, market share, the number of properties we expect to open in the
future, our expected adjusted SG&A expense, capital expenditures,
depreciation and amortization expense and interest expense estimates,
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economic recovery following economic downturns; levels of spending in
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in occupancy and average daily rate; limited visibility with respect to
short and medium-term group bookings; the impact of hotel renovations;
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realignment and the costs associated with such organisational
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risks discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which
filings are available from the SEC. We caution you not to place undue
reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made as of the
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Source: Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Yoko Nakamatsu
+81-3-3222-4088
Yoko.nakamatsu@hyatt.com
or
Jamie
Rothfeld
+1 312 780 6070
jamie.rothfeld@hyatt.com