_kurt

In that case I would agree it’s a translation issue. In American English, “there is no plan to resume services until the end of March.” implies that services will resume at the end of March. If the actual situation is “the pool is temporarily closed until March 31st, at which time it will permanently close” there would be clearer ways of stating that.

hailstorm

It's not a translation issue. The English and Japanese are the same, and are extremely clear. I think people are just taking things out of order and adding meaning that doesn't exist.

Let me re-arrange the messages and add some context:

1. The Hyatt Regency Tokyo hotel pool (and fitness center; still no word on when that will reopen) has been closed indefinitely since mid-June. This is curious timing, because it was a time when COVID cases were at a decline, and most other hotels in the area were resuming services like pool access. So I don't know this for a fact, but I think that the indefinite closing of the pool was primarily for cost-cutting purposes, e.g., they've let go the staff that maintain the pool facilities.

2. It was announced that a series of establishments, currently in various states of operation, would close permanently from April 1st, the pool being among them. This is unambiguous: the pool will be permanently closed as of April 1st, 2021.

3. The clarifying comment about the pool was in conjunction with #1; the pool is already indefinitely closed. This clarifying comment was put there to say that there no plans to reopen the pool before the permanent closure of the pool takes place.

As mentioned earlier, April 1st is the day when the new business year begins in Japan. The following is just conjecture on my part, but I'm guessing that there are ordinances and approvals that must take place with the city on a yearly basis in order to offer pool facilities at a hotel. If that were the case, then the Hyatt Regency Tokyo can operate a pool up until March 31st, but they choose not to. But from April 1st, because they will not be getting these approvals, they will not have the certification to continue running a pool any longer, so it will be permanently closed.

That may or may not be the actual reason, but it illustrates what the hotel is saying: the hotel is currently temporarily closed, but there are no plans to reopen the pool before it permanently closes. Two different reasons, but the same end result: the pool is closed, and will never reopen.

Pickles

The Japanese is pretty clear: ハイアット リージェンシー 東京の下記レストラン、ショップ、プールは、2021年3月31日をもってクローズいたします。長年にわた り、皆様にご愛顧いただきましたこと、心から感謝申しあげます。 The 長年にわたり... gives it away as something definite and final. As for the pool, the Japanese says: プールは現在休業中であり、3月末まで再開の予定はありません: "Pool is currently on work hiatus, and there are no plans to reopen between now and the end of March. It's that implied "between now" in the Japanese that makes the English not "extremely clear." If it were "extremely clear" we wouldn't be having this discussion.

But whatever. I always thought the pool at the HR was too small to do any real swimming, so I won't miss it. Now, the pool at the GH, the PH, and even the Andaz, that I would be upset about...

Daftryan

Correct. I am a fluent Japanese speaker/reader/writer and my wife is Japanese. All the restaurants and the pool are closing permanently and the language is abundantly clear. Nothing lost in translation and the flowery language around "We appreciate your support over all the years" is VERY common (if not required from a cultural standpoint) when businesses permanently close.

hailstorm

Here is the English:

How is it not extremely clear that the Pool, and everything else listed, are closing permanently after March 31st? The (*3) comment is a further clarification, not something that overrides the original declaration.

OsakaWino

hailstorm is absolutely correct that both the English and Japanese clearly, inarguably say that the pool, etc., will close permanently. I can't understand how anyone understanding English cannot understand "closed permanently". The Japanese is a bit trickier for someone not fluent in Japanese. Google translation does not get it right. The Japanese does not use any word actually corresponding to "permanently", and although some might think the word "close" in Japanese is always the same as "close" in English, the correct translation of the Japanese is "will cease operation as of March 31". I would not give a perfect score for translating that as "closed permanently", but it is inarguably essentially the same result.

AlwaysAisle

Just as everybody else has posted, all media postings in Japan I have seen regarding Hyatt Regency Tokyo clearly indicates permanent closure of six restaurants/shops and permanent closure of pool facility. Starting this April Hyatt Regency Tokyo will have Caffe located on the lobby level will open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Caffe will open continuously form opening for breakfast till closing after dinner. Other will be Chinese restaurant Jade Garden and a bar Eau de Vie. It is sad to see this much of transition for people know what Hyatt Regency Tokyo used to be.

This hotel opened as Hotel Century Hyatt in 1980 as a first Hyatt hotels in Japan. I think Hyatt Regency Tokyo was considered as a flagship hotel in Japan for Hyatt for a while. However, opening of Park Hyatt Tokyo in 1994 and featured in 2003 Bill Murry's movie Lost in Translation, then opening of Grand Hyatt Tokyo at Roppongi in 2003. Now Hyatt has Andza with the Tokyo Station Hotel and Hotel Gajoen Tokyo joined Hyatt group, Hyatt Regency Tokyo is not a flagship property in Japan for Hyatt anymore. These days out of all Hyatt group hotels in Tokyo, it is not unusual that Hyatt Regency Tokyo has lowest room rate. I am sure COVID-19 had a lot to do with closure of restaurants at Hyatt Regency Tokyo, but also possible that position of Hyatt Regency Tokyo among other Hyatt group hotels in Tokyo is not what it used to be.

Pickles

Indeed. When I first visited (but did not stay) at the Century Hyatt in the early 1980s, the whole area was the Shiodome/Marunouchi/Roppongi Hills/<insert your preferred major RE development> of its era. Part of the homeless-infested park was turned into the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, leaving the homeless to hang out in a far smaller area. But before that, the Keio, the Hilton, and the Century Hyatt (together with new buildings like the Sumitomo or the NS) were the places to visit. It was a confluence of building technology and increased risk taking (helped by the hard rock soil in Shinjuku) that led to the creation of the first skyscraper district in Tokyo. Outside of some outliers (like Tokyo Tower or the Ikebukuro Sunshine 60) there were very few tall buildings in Tokyo, much less clustered ones.

And back to the translation issue, I find the Japanese pretty clear (if you speak Japanese and can understand the context under which the world "closed" is used), but the English did take me a few tries to parse. It does lead me to conclude, after much back and forth, that the pool is permanently closed, but it isn't obvious to me on a first read, as it is in the Japanese version. But what do I know, English is not my first language (neither is Japanese, for that matter).

hotelfanatic

Here is the full text below. 3* contradicts the main paragraph.
What they should have published is get rid of the last part of the sentence.
(*3) Pool is currently closed and there is no plan to resume services until the end of March. Period!
Notice the year was left off. I guess this is the back door for not committing to a date. Again nothing is permanent.

Effective 31 March 2021, following outlets and facility will be closed permanently. Please accept our sincere gratitude for your support and respectfully solicit your continued patronage at Hyatt Regency Tokyo.

General Manager

□Japanese Restaurant Kakou

□Teppanyaki Grill

□Sushi Miyako

□Brasserie Vicky's (*1)

□Lounge

□Pastry Shop (*2)

□Pool (*3)

(*1) Afternoon Tea currently offered at Brasserie Vicky's will be offered at Caffè from 1 April 2021.

(*2) Some of the cakes, pastries and breads currently offered at Pastry Shop will be available at Caffè from 1 April 2021.

(*3) Pool is currently closed and there is no plan to resume services until the end of March.

hailstorm

There is no contradiction. The main text addresses the situation from March 31st onwards. The parenthetical text addresses the situation up to March 31st. They don't overlap. The "confusion" comes from a false assumption, reading in a subtext that doesn't exist.

Back to the hotel situation itself, I lay all of the problems squarely on the feet of the general manager (who is apparently too ashamed to even give out his name in these announcements, unlike the Hyatt Regency Osaka). From the day he arrived, Mr. Takasawa has been focused solely on cost-cutting. Stopping room renewals, ending the wildly popular Regency Club offerings, and just overall refusing to invest in the future of the hotel. Now we have to watch this once venerable properly slow act out its death spiral.

I will try to be there when they auction off their chandeliers. I'll be interested to see what sort of price they will fetch.

Not sure it's right to say that about hotels that are only associated with Hyatt via SLH, as benefits do not apply to them.

Also, I question whether Tokyo Station Hotel and Hotel Gajoen remain with SLH, as I see no availability with them via SLH/Hyatt. ((Edit: they still remain; I just needed to look for reservations far into the future)) I think the same thing happened with ABBA Resort Izu; they did not renew their contract with SLH, so they remain on only as "zombie properties" that you can no longer book.

MSPeconomist

I wonder what the GM plans to do with all that empty F&B space.

hailstorm

I assume nothing, like the 6th floor lounge that remains fallow to this day (remember when all guests got free morning coffee there?). When they announced the closure of Ombarato and Michel Troisgros, they also announced in advance what those places would be transitioning to. Now there's nothing. I see no plan besides cutting costs as much as possible as soon as possible.

OsakaWino

I'm a bit surprised at the timing of the closings. As hailstorm said, the fiscal year for the Japanese government and the majority of companies starts April 1, but I would have thought they might wait until there is some more clarity re the Olympics. Even if general foreign visitors are barred from entry, if they allow in the various reps from all the sports federations, I would think there will still be high hotel demand. It seems that HR Tokyo has concluded that the only inbound will be athletes staying at the Village and VIPs using only the upscale hotels. I must admit that is maybe the most likely scenario, but they could have waited until it is actually decided, which is probably by mid March.

MSPeconomist

My impression is that F&B outlets in major Tokyo hotels normally do a lot of business from people not staying at the hotel. [This includes nice bars, tea time, buffets, etc. as well as major restaurants, and even includes a fair number of breakfast patrons who are not hotel guests.] It's almost hard to see how the HR can survive in the intermediate run if most of their F&B options are closed. Also, no pool and few F&B choices would seem to be an argument to downgrade the hotel's category, which then becomes self fulfilling. I don't understand this hotel's long run business strategy. In the extreme, do they want to reposition themselves as a fancy business hotel with somewhat larger rooms?

hailstorm

Coming 2022: APA Tocho Mae!