Top foreign hotel chains have set their sights on Tokyo, betting their respective brands of high-class luxury and innovative services will shake the local hotel market out of its doldrums.
Following the opening last April of the Grand Hyatt Tokyo in Minato Ward, the Ritz-Carlton, Hilton and Hong Kong-affiliated Mandarin Oriental Tokyo are set to debut from 2005 to 2008 in a market already saturated with swanky Japanese hotels.
"What's strange is that there had not been any international top-class hotels in Tokyo. Competition will intensify, but Tokyo's hotel market will become active," said Akira Osada, deputy general manager of Westin Hotel Tokyo, one of the smaller foreign hotels that have been faring well by capitalizing on unique features.