Hotel in Okinawa to Become a Ritz-Carlton

Ritz-Carlton and Kanehide, a prominent conglomerate in Okinawa, Japan, have signed an agreement for the development of The Ritz-Carlton, Okinawa.

The resort hotel will offer 97 guest rooms with views over a golf course down to the East China Sea, the Motobu Peninsula and beyond to Ie Island.

The Ritz-Carlton, Okinawa will be situated within the premises of the Kise Country Club and surrounded on three sides by its 18-hole Championship course overlooking the ocean. The Kise Country Club is bordered by undeveloped wooded land adding to the beautiful setting and location of the resort.

The hotel will replace the existing Kise Bettei Hotel & Spa after an extensive renovation of more than 1 billion yen. The existing property will close in August of this year and re-open as The Ritz-Carlton, Okinawa in April 2012.

The newly renovated hotel will feature three destination dining outlets, as well as a lounge and bar, an ESPA spa and full leisure facilities including a pool and gym.

This is the first conversion project for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company in Japan. The new look interiors will be created by Ilya Corporation.

Herve Humler, president and COO of The Ritz-Carlton, said: “We are delighted to be signing not just our first resort in Japan, but also the first internally-branded luxury hotel in Okinawa. This hotel will be the perfect opportunity to showcase a different side of The Ritz-Carlton brand to our loyal Japanese and international guests in the country who will be more familiar with our leading city centre hotels in Tokyo and Osaka. We have great partners in Kanehide and we are happy to be working with them to develop what will be a truly stunning resort hotel here in Okinawa.”

Okinawa is the most popular tropical resort in Japan with more than 5.7 million visitors to the region last year.

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