Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) has reinforced its presence in Japan by announcing the opening of a new Holiday Inn property in Sapporo, along with the conversion of two ANA hotels based in Kumamoto, and Wakkanai, into ANA Crowne Plaza properties.
First up is the opening of ANA Holiday Inn Sapporo Susukino. As the largest city on the island of Hokkaido, Sapporo is well known for its locally brewed beer and annual snow festival. It is now home to the fourth Holiday Inn hotel in the country.
ANA Holiday Inn Sapporo Susukino
ANA Holiday Inn Sapporo Susukino features 178-rooms, and offers a fitness centre, as well as three different restaurants. The property is located in Susukino, one of the major red-light districts in Japan, alongside Kabukicho in Tokyo, and Nakasu in Fukuoka. However, it is also a popular dining area, with more than 1,000 restaurants in the area alone.
Meanwhile, the two ANA hotels in Kumamoto and Wakkanai have been rebranded as ANA Crowne Plaza Kumamoto New Sky and ANA Crowne Plaza Wakkanai respectively.
ANA Crowne Plaza Kumamoto New Sky
Kumamoto is the capital city of the Kumamoto Prefecture on the Japanese island of Kyushu, and is well known for its cultural venues including the Kumamoto Castle, and the Kumamoto Prefectuctural Museum of Art. In addition, the city offers connectivity via the Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train to other major hub such as Osaka and Kobe in western Japan, as well as Kagoshima, Nagasaki, and Fukuoka.
ANA Crowne Plaza Wakkanai
Wakkanai is a city in Hokkaido, Japan of which IHG also operates two other ANA Crowne Plaza properties, namely Chitose and Kushiro. The Japanese island is one of the most popular travel destinations in the country, and well known for its beauty, gastronomy and an impressive number of diverse activities available year round. These include horseback riding for both experienced and novice riders, biking, tennis, archery, laser shooting and golf, to name a few. For a more detailed look into Hokkaido, please see "Island for all seasons" in the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of Business Traveller Asia-Pacific (see here). To subscribe, see here.
ANA Crowne Plaza Kumamoto New Sky offers 186 guestrooms, while ANA Crowne Plaza Wakkanai has 143. All rooms are equipped with complimentary wifi for all guests, as well as cable television, workstations and coffee makers. Both hotels have a designated executive club level, but do not offer club lounges.
For more information, visit www.ihg.com
Clement Huang
