New Otani

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New Otani Co., Ltd. (株式会社ニューオータニ Kabushiki-gaisha Nyū Ōtani) is a chain of hotels headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.[1]

The New Otani operates 17 hotels in Japan and 2 hotels outside of Japan.[1] It also operated the Los Angeles New Otani until 2007, when the hotel changed management and became the Kyoto Grand Hotel & Gardens.

Group hotels

Hotel New Otani, Tokyo

New Otani Tokyo
The New Otani Tokyo at nighttime
New Otani Tokyo Japanese Garden

The flagship Hotel New Otani opened in Tokyo on September 1, 1964 to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics of that year. Its construction was requested by the Japanese government in order to fill a perceived shortage of hotel space for foreign visitors to the Olympics. Yonetaro Otani, a former sumo wrestler who founded and ran a small steel company, agreed to build the hotel on the site of what had formerly been the site of the Fushimi-no-miya family residence in the Kioicho district of Tokyo (and before that, the residence of samurai lord Katō Kiyomasa).[2] The 1,085-room hotel was built in eighteen months using a number of techniques that were revolutionary in Japan at the time, such as curtain walls and prefabricated unit bathrooms.

The Hotel New Otani was the tallest building in Tokyo from 1964 until 1968, when the Kasumigaseki Building was completed. It took on an iconic status during this period, particularly for its unique revolving restaurant on the highest floor. During this time, the building was a filming location for the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice, where it appeared as the headquarters of Osato Chemicals, the Japanese front for Ernst Stavro Blofeld's SPECTRE organization.

The hotel currently has 1,479 rooms and 39 restaurants. It was greatly expanded in 1971 when the 40-story Garden Tower opened. A third building, the 30-story Garden Court office tower, opened in 1991. The original building was extensively renovated in 2007 and is now referred to as "The Main."

Along with the Imperial Hotel and Hotel Okura, it is often referred to as one of the three great hotels (御三家 gosanke) of Tokyo.

Group hotels in Japan

A Wedding at the New Otani Makuhari, Chiba
Hotel New Otani Osaka, Osaka Prefecture

Overseas group hotels

Associate hotels

[2]

Associate hotels in Japan

Overseas associate hotels

The Kyoto Grand Hotel & Garden, formerly the New Otani, in the Little Tokyo district of Downtown Los Angeles.

Former properties

  • Kyoto Grand Hotel & Gardens (Los Angeles, California, United States)
  • Vitosha New Otani (Sofia, Bulgaria) (1979-1997)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Hotel Overview." New Otani. Retrieved on April 3, 2009.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Home page (English). New Otani. Retrieved on April 3, 2009.

External links

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