Mandarin Oriental to manage new Hotel in Tokyo

 The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group is to manage its first property in Japan, the Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo, located in the historic Nihonbashi district of Tokyo.

The deluxe 179-room hotel is under construction in the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower, owned by Mitsui Fudosan, and has a direct bridge link to the stately Mitsui Honkan landmark, a Registered Important Cultural Property that was erected in 1929.

Designed by Cesar Pelli, the main tower will open in July with the hotel’s grand opening following at the end of 2005. The tallest building in the Tokyo Station vicinity, its upper stories are of soaring and futuristic glass while its lower floors maintain continuity and a sense of unity with the older building. The redevelopment scheme, which makes use of a legal provision granting developers an increased building-to-lot ratio in exchange for preserving portions of famous works of architecture, is one of the first in Japan to achieve compatibility of preservation and development in this way.

While the hotel occupies twelve floors, including the top nine of the tower, its business centre and most banquet and conference facilities reside within the older building, giving new life to this historic landmark.

Christian A. Hassing, the hotel’s general manager, said, “It is a unique situation to have Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo’s contemporary architecture, complete with cutting-edge telecommunications and security systems, linked to one of Tokyo’s historical landmarks. This affords us ample opportunities to delight our guests, including offering guests the exclusive privilege of utilising the elegant rooms within the celebrated Mitsui Honkan building for special occasions.”

In a city that seems to be continuously expanding through land reclamation, excavation and redevelopment, the concept of “destination” is being reinvented in Nihonbashi, where both private and government sectors are engaged in a unique revitalization project that is bringing new vigor to an already prestigious neighborhood.

Recent development projects in the immediate area include, Coredo Nihonbashi, which offers five floors of retail shops and restaurants in the 20-storey Nihonbashi 1-Chome Building. Nearby, the venerable Mitsukoshi and Takashimaya department stores have both undergone improvements in the past year to upgrade their already upscale offerings and facilities. With these moves, the area is acquiring overall a distinctive atmosphere of international cosmopolitanism punctuated visually, with cultural references to its historic past.

Six of the hotel’s eight planned food and beverage outlets will offer excellent views from the tower’s top two floors.

The hotel’s state-of-the-art spa facilities and services will also boost the area’s new appeal to a wider market. “The group has become adept at launching successful spas around the world, and The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo will be an oasis of calm,” said Ingo Schweder, Mandarin Oriental’s Group Director of Spa.

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