Hotel Okura Co. said Friday it plans to start rebuilding the main building of its flagship hotel, Hotel Okura Tokyo, next year to upgrade its facilities and services so it can attract more foreign guests in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The hotel chain operator said the main building in Minato Ward will reopen in spring 2019.
The main building opened in 1962, two years before Tokyo hosted its first Olympics. The 2020 games will be the second Olympics hosted by Tokyo.
Hotel Okura said the building will be closed by the end of August 2015 and that construction of a 195-meter-high hotel-office complex will begin the following month at a total cost of more than ¥100 billion.
It said construction of the complex, comprising two buildings, is expected to be finished by the end of February 2019. The South Wing of the hotel will continue to operate because some of the facilities from the main building will be relocated to the annex.
Under the plan, Hotel Okura will increase the number of guest rooms to about 550 from 408, and the offices are expected to occupy the fourth to 21st floors.
