Lifestyle hotels are gaining traction in Japan, and among the trailblazers is real estate developer Global Agents, which entered the hospitality space in 2005 with its co-living Social Apartment brand, first in Tokyo and then across the country. It has similar designs in the hotel space with six open properties, including its Unwind brand, which first opened in Sapporo in 2017. Another Unwind opened in April in Otaru, one of Hokkaido’s leading tourist destinations.
The company plans to open six more hotels in Japan this year. Its first outside the country, in Taipei, Taiwan, is scheduled to open this summer. In every case, the group says it puts effort into creating and maintaining common spaces that foster community. “There’s even more room to get creative in the common areas of our hotels, which is why we are increasingly investing more energy into the hotel marketplace,” Global Agents CEO Takeshi Tamasaki said.
Some early results are impressive: The Sapporo Unwind achieved its initial five-year projection in only two years.
Global Agents is also developing a new lifestyle brand, The Lively. The first location will opened last month in Fukuoka City’s Hakata District; three more will open this year in premium areas of Osaka, Kawasaki and Tokyo. The Lively offers urban street-art aesthetics and a smart-hotel experience. Music is a big part of the experience, with DJs and a curated soundtrack.
Its first beachside resort hotel in Onjuku City, Chiba, is scheduled to open this fall, and it is developing The Millennials brand, a re-imagining of the capsule hotel concept. Guests will use an integrated smartphone to control functions in the “Smart-Pods.”
Other projects in development focus on the 2020 Olympics, but at the moment the company is not ready to announce deals.
Some Global Agents properties are 100% conceived and developed in-house, while others are JVs where typically the investor owns the building and Global Agents leases the property. So far, the company has invested around US$50 million on ongoing hotel projects.