First Andaz Japanese property to open in 2014
Previous Japanese Hyatt and Mori Building affiliates collaborations include the Park Hyatt Shanghai, which opened in September 2008, and the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, which will mark its tenth anniversary in April 2013.
The ever-growing Andaz portfolio currently comprises nine hotels in operation in four countries. “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,” said Larry Tchou, Executive Vice President and Group President for Asia Pacific of Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
The 164-room hotel will occupy eight floors of a 52-story tower currently under construction in Toranomon, a business and embassy district located in the capital’s prestigious Minato Ward. The wing-shaped high rise, designed by Nihon Sekkei and constructed by Mori Building, will be the second tallest in the city at a height of over 2,600 square feet.
An open-air bar, an all-day dining restaurant, a flexible event and meeting space with terrace seating, a 65 square foot indoor infinity pool, spa, and fitness centre will complete the property’s public amenities. Check-in will be conducted via handheld tablet devices carried by welcoming hosts.
The hotel’s interior design will be handled by Tony Chi of the New York-based Tony Chi & Associates, and Shinichiro Ogata, of Simplicity Co., Ltd. in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward. Chi, a graduate of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, has previously worked on Andaz 5th Avenue in New York and the Park Hyatt Shanghai. Ogata, meanwhile, 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 celebrating traditional Japanese industrial arts.
Additionally, and in an engineering first for the city, an underground tunnel will place a portion of the 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.
“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,” said Kazuhiko Yamamoto, Vice President of Urban Development for Mori Building.
