Global investment firm KKR has completed its acquisition of Japan's Unizo Hotel Company, and will collaborate with Marriott International to convert the 14-hotel portfolio to Four Points Express by Sheraton properties. While the new midscale brand does not promise any meeting space, the hotels are in strategic destinations across 10 cities in Japan, including Hakodate, Morioka, Utsunomiya, Yokohama, Kanazawa, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and Hakata. They will add a total of more than 3,600 rooms when they open during the second half of this year.
Marriott announced the new Four Points Express brand last fall, and the first property opened early this year in Turkey. The acquisition and subsequent conversions in Japan will mark the brand's debut in Asia.
The hotel giant's new brand aims to provide reliability, simplicity and value in destinations that typically draw both business and leisure travelers. Initially launched for the EMEA market, Marriott has not yet publicized plans around a launch in the Americas.
"There's a growing consumer demand for reliable-yet-affordable accommodation in the region," noted Marriott International's Rajeev Menon, president of the Asia Pacific region, excluding China. "Our goal is to be everywhere our guests want us to be, with the right property in the right location, at the right price point. This collaboration with KKR will expand our ability to do exactly that — starting in Japan, with the opportunity to grow our midscale presence in the region."
The model aims to entice hotel owners with an efficient, affordable way to convert and join Marriott's global sales and marketing network.
