Left to right: Mr. Toshio Hara, Director and President, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art; Mr. Takeshi Hamano, Chief of Shinagawa Ward; Ms. Miwako Date, President, Mori Trust Hotels & Resorts; Mr. Simon Cooper, president and managing director Marriott International Asia and Mr. Kenji Fukunaga, General Manager, Tokyo Marriott Hotel. — Photo by Marriott International
Source: Marriott

Marriott International announces the opening of the Tokyo Marriott Hotel on a hilltop address known locally as Gotenyama. This represents the global hospitality company's 12th hotel in Japan, and the third under its flagship Marriott Hotels brand, which comprises 500 properties in nearly 60 countries. Just minutes from the capital's bullet- train serviced Shinagawa Station, the 249-room hotel enables direct easy access to the Tokaido bullet train as well as Haneda Airport and the Yamanote Line circling central Tokyo.

With the opening of Tokyo Marriott Hotel, Marriott International is poised to meet the

growing demand for quality hospitality experiences in the country ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics - as well as UNESCO's imminent announcement, expected early this month, recognising Japanese cuisine as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Tokyo Marriott Hotel offers superb access to the two main zones where the majority of

the Olympic competition venues will be located, and two of its three restaurants specialise in traditional Japanese cuisine. A rebranding of the former Gotenyama Garden Hotel Laforet Tokyo, the extensively refurbished and renovated property is operated by Mori Trust Hotels & Resorts, which entered into a management agreement with Marriott International in February of this year.

Commenting at the opening ceremony, Miwako Date, president of Mori Trust Hotels &

Resorts, said: "Tokyo Marriott Hotel is the fourth internationally branded hotel our group has launched in the past eight years. It is our pleasure to be partnering with Marriott Hotels, the flagship brand of Marriott International. We are especially pleased that our alliance has enabled us to maintain our program of special club privileges for our established corporate customers.

"Both former and new guests alike will find much to discover about Gotenyama, which

has a long and illustrious past as a center of tea culture and other aesthetic pursuits. We look forward to blending the unique traditional elements of this setting with the many exciting innovations Marriott is bringing to the guest experience. There is no doubt in my mind that Tokyo Marriott Hotel will be a destination loved by domestic and international guests alike."

Simon Cooper, Marriott International's president and managing director Asia,

commented: "I am delighted to be here today at the official opening of this magnificent hotel. Marriott International's business model for growth around the world is to work with local partners and real estate developers who have the local expertise, knowledge and skills, and who know their markets inside out.

"We also look for people who share our own values and culture, and in Mori Trust we

have found an excellent partner to work with here in Tokyo. We are delighted to be working with Mori Trust and to have the Marriott Hotels brand associated with this stunning hotel."

Tokyo Marriott Hotel shares its hilltop location with Gotenyama Garden, a 6,800-square-

meter oasis of green and the former site of the residential villa of Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604–1651). Steeped in history, and yet less than 20 minutes from the luxury shops of Ginza and the nightlife of Roppongi, its location offers both first-time and repeat visitors plenty to explore.

Marriott Hotels has been 're-imagining' the guest experience, transforming lobbies and

public spaces by designing them for a new generation of business travellers who blend work and play, demand style and substance and desire high-tech and high-touch. Marriott is introducing new concepts designed for the way younger travellers work today.

Those traveling for business or leisure or both will find fluid, tech-enabled meeting

spaces, intuitively designed guest rooms, dynamic dining and drinking venues, and the polished service for which Marriott is known throughout the world. With a garden tea house designed by architect Arata Isozaki and two chapels (one slated for completion in February 2014) on site, this urban oasis also offers attractive celebratory opportunities for prospective brides and grooms.

About Marriott Hotels

With 500 hotels and resorts in nearly 60

countries around the world, Marriott Hotels is evolving travel through every aspect of the guest's stay, enabling the next generation to Travel Brilliantly. Boldly transforming itself for mobile and global travelers who blend work and play, Marriott leads the industry with innovations, including the Greatroom, Future of Meetings and Mobile Guest Services that elevates style & design and technology. All Marriott hotels participate in the award winning Marriott Rewards frequent travel program that allows members to earn hotel points or airline miles for every dollar spent during each stay. For more information, visit www.MarriottHotels.com.

About Marriott International

Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and encompasses a portfolio of more than 8,100 properties under 30 leading brands spanning 139 countries and territories. Marriott operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts all around the world. The company offers Marriott Bonvoy®, its highly awarded travel program. For more information, please visit our website, and for the latest company news, visit Marriott News Center. In addition, connect with us on Facebook and @MarriottIntl on Twitter and Instagram.