Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo, Japan

In February 2006, construction began on the Marunouchi Trust Tower Main Building, the second building in the Marunouchi Trust Tower project under development on a site adjacent to Tokyo Station. The skyscraper complex will include offices, a new five-star luxury hotel, and commercial facilities. It is planned to serve as a suitable face for the capital city of Tokyo, to support international business and sightseeing.

Construction began in February 2006 and is planned for completion in November 2008. Marunouchi Trust Tower Main Building will be located on a 12,026.77m² site at Maranouchi, Chiyoda-ku in Tokyo. The total floor area for the new main building, which will be used for offices, the new hotel, a tourist information centre and also a retail complex, is 116,000m².

There will be 37 floors above ground and four below ground in the new building, which is being developed by Mori Trust Co Ltd. The complex of buildings, including the new hotel, is reported to be worth US$3.5bn (in excess of ¥21bn), in an area of Tokyo where real estate has one of the highest values anywhere in the world at US$200,000 per m².

HOTEL

Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd signed a lease agreement with Mori Trust Co Ltd in September 2006 to fit out and manage the Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo. This will be the group's first Japanese hotel and is scheduled to open by the beginning of March 2009. The Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo, will be located in the Marunouchi district, adjacent to Tokyo Station. The Imperial Palace and the Nihonbashi area are a 10 minute walk away, making the site convenient for tourists.

The Shangri-La Hotel will occupy the top 11 floors of the 37 storey Marunouchi Trust Tower's main building, while the lower floors will house offices and retail shops. The hotel's 204 guest rooms will average 50m² in size and there will be 24 suites – 20 junior suites, three executive suites and one presidential suite on the top floor. Meeting and banquet space will include 400m² of grand ballroom and function areas as well as a chapel for weddings, vow renewals and blessing ceremonies.

Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo will provide an array of dining experiences, including a glass ceiling all-day restaurant on the 28th floor and a speciality restaurant on the 29th floor. Guests will arrive from the ground floor in dedicated hotel elevators and will be greeted at the 28th floor lobby by dramatic views over the whole of the Marunouchi area, as well as Tokyo Bay to the East, through a backdrop of 26ft high, floor-to-ceiling windows. Similar cityscapes will be enjoyed by those relaxing with refreshments in the lobby lounge.

Giovanni Angelini, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, said: "The Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo plays a key role in our group's international expansion. Shangri-La properties have long been favourites of many Japanese business and leisure travellers. We are grateful that, with the support of Mori Trust, we are able to introduce our Shangri-La style of hospitality to Japan and provide a new, exciting luxury hotel experience for our loyal guests, wherever they are."

SHANGRI-LA SPA

Shangri-La's own spa brand – CHI, The Spa at Shangri-La – will make its Japanese debut at Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo. Designed to create a sanctuary of tranquillity inspired by the legend of 'Shangri-La', CHI will introduce the concept of treatments based on ancient Chinese and Himalayan healing therapies. Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts have developed CHI as a spa that pursues the virtues of Chinese philosophy that governs the universal life force of energy within each individual, that for everything negative there is a positive balance whose energy is known as 'chi'.

The free flow of 'chi' within the body is essential to the maintenance of good health. The treatment suites of CHI spas offer a 'spa within a spa' concept, providing each guest with their own changing, shower and toilet areas, in addition to heat treatment, bathing and relaxation spaces. Developed by a team of experts, CHI's signature therapies are based on the Five Elements Theory, in which metal, water, wood, fire and earth are in balance to harmonise with the positive yang and negative yin energy within the body.

CONSTRUCTION

The building is being constructed by TODA Construction of Japan, who is the main construction contractor. Kajima Corporation is also involved in the construction of the new building with KPMG Japan performing a project management role in the complex. The architects are Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd, Hopkins Architects Ltd and Yasui Architects & Engineers, Inc. Other companies involved in the construction include Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd and Takenaka Corporation Tokyo.