JAL Hotels, operator of the Nikko Hotels International group of
luxury international hotels, continues to expand in the booming
Chinese market with the addition of Dalian and Tianjin hotels.
Currently operated as the Hilton Dalian, the Dalian property was
re-opened by Nikko Hotels as Hotel Oriental Palace Dalian last
month. Construction on the Tianjin property, Hotel Nikko Tianjin,
is expected to be complete by April 2007, with an opening scheduled
in July of that year.
“China is one of the most important markets for our group,” said
Shosuke Machida, president of JAL Hotels. “Our first priorities as
target locations for growth in China are the 13 cities where Japan
Airlines, our parent company, has air routes, including both Dalian
and Tianjin.”
Located at the center of Dalian, Hotel Oriental Palace Dalian
was built in 2000 and is in a city landmark complex that includes
residential towers as well as a shopping mall. The five-star hotel
has 372 guest rooms, multiple banquet and dining rooms, a business
center and a health club.
Hotel Nikko Tianjin will be a five-star hotel with 373
guestrooms and luxury facilities such as restaurants, a bar, a
banquet hall, meeting rooms, an indoor pool, a spa and fitness room
and a business center. The hotel will be built as part of a
commercial complex, “The Exchange,” on Tianjin’s main boulevard,
Nanjing Avenue. Tianjin has been rapidly growing and is the biggest
port city and most important trade center in northern China. The
city will be the soccer venue for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The addition of these two properties makes a total of five
hotels in China for Nikko Hotels International after Jinglun Hotel
and Hotel Nikko New Century Beijing in Beijing; and Hotel Nikko
Hong Kong in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, the company also is expanding in Japan with the
announcement that it will open Hotel Nikko Nara in historic Nara
City on July 1. Currently operated as Mitsui Garden Hotel Nara, the
330-room hotel will undergo gradual renovations without closing.
The hotel includes three dining facilities, seven banquet
facilities and a Japanese-style communal bath. Hotel Nikko Nara
will be JAL Hotels’ sixth hotel in Kansai area.
