A Japanese hotel operator known for its high-end hot spring resorts is betting that the traditional concept could work in the US
Hoshino Resorts, a 107-year-old company famous for its luxury shelters in beautiful Japanese places, aims to open its first location in the continental United States in the next three to five years, said CEO Yoshiharu Hoshino , whose family founded the business. The company has been closely exploring locations and holding discussions with real estate developers and investors, he said. In his opinion, an ideal place could be Saratoga Springs, a three-hour drive from New York City and Boston.
Yoshiharu Hoshino
Source: Hoshino Resorts
To build a new facility with a partner, Hoshino would look for a location in the U.S. with that potential. However, the culture of visiting hot springs for relaxation and restoration treatments already exists in the US. many of the most sought after places are still wild, with no tourist infrastructure around. Hoshino designs and operates spas, which are usually owned by developers and real estate investors.
“My personal goal is to bring traditional Japanese spas to North America,” Hoshino, the fourth generation of his family who runs the company, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “There are so many hot springs in the US”
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A new location in the United States would attract Americans who want to experience part of Japan’s culture, but who may or may not travel internationally. The company, which owns a property in Hawaii, plans to resume searching for a suitable site once the Covid-19 boundary is lowered, Hoshino said.
Hoshino Resorts operates several hotel brands for a range of budgets, but is best known for its high-end resorts in Hoshinoya.
Although the coronavirus has fundamentally changed travel, there are still opportunities, according to Hoshino. Back in Japan, the company will take care to develop hotels in urban areas due to the oversupply resulting from a recent tourist boom, which will leave many operators in these places under financial pressure.
Hotel Hoshinoya Tokyo, clockwise from the top left, entrance, reception, hallway to the dining room and outdoor thermal water bath.
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota / Bloomberg
Hoshino Resorts opened its first location in Karuizawa, a mountain tourist town and a popular getaway for Tokyoites, in 1914. When Hoshino became the head of the company in 1991, he began taking over resorts. spas and turn them into luxury Japanese-style stays that is now known as Hoshinoya. Many were originally developed during the time of Japan’s real estate bubble in prime locations, but the economic recovery and influx of tourists before the pandemic made them viable again for a resort operator like Hoshino.
Its extensive properties take advantage of concepts highly valued in Japan, such as natural landscaping environments and locally sourced cuisine. Rooms at the resorts are minimalist and often have a confluence of Japanese elements, such as tatami straw floors and sliding shoji doors and essentials.
The company was profitable in 2020, driven by a domestic travel subsidy program and the demand from Japanese holidaymakers who would normally have gone abroad, Hoshino said. Japan has had fewer cases of coronavirus than most other rich countries and the government has not imposed strict restrictions on movement, unlike many other places.
Hoshino said he only expects hotels in the Tokyo area to be affected by the decision to ban foreign spectators at the Summer Olympics and that travel and business to Hoshino Resorts should return to pre-covid levels by 2023 .
The company operates 43 properties in Japan and three abroad: in Hawaii, Taiwan and Bali. This year it will open its first location in China, in Zhejiang Province, south of Shanghai.
“We’ve been working for over 107 years and now it’s time to think about the next 100 years of thermal hotel hotel development around the world,” Hoshino said. “I want to lay those foundations while I’m the head of this company.”