Shangri-La Group announced a new joint venture with Samty Co., Ltd (Samty Group) to develop a luxury hotel in Kyoto, Japan. The location of the proposed hotel is just north of the Nijo Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Kyoto. It is situated just two-and-a-half miles north of Kyoto Station, one of the main gateways into the city. The hotel is slated to open in 2024, according to Shangri-La Group CEO Lim Beng Chee.
The land on which the hotel will be built was acquired by Shangri-La Group in September 2019. On April 1, 2021, Shangri-La Group and Samty Group entered into a sale and purchase agreement pursuant to which Samty Group acquired an indirect 80 percent interest in the property. The remaining 20 percent interest in the property will continue to be held by Shangri-La Group. The completion of the a sale and purchase agreement is conditional upon the fulfilment of certain conditions precedent and is expected to take place in two tranches by the end of 2021.
About the area: Dating back to 1603, Nijo Castle was the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1867). In 1867, Nijo Castle was used as an imperial palace before being donated to the city and opened to the public as a historic site. In 1994, the historic building was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is described as one of the best surviving examples of castle palace architecture from Japan’s feudal era.
The hotel will be Shangri-La Group’s second hotel in Japan, after Shangri-La Tokyo, which opened 10 years ago.
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