The board of the NCCJ was invited to a tour in the new Ritz Carlton Tokyo, to be opened at the end of March. Ricco de Blank the General Manager took us to the 45th floor to show us the impressive lobby, 8 meter high ceilings and designed in a style that can be best classified as modern art deco. Rest assured to bring your visitors here to enjoy the impressive skyline of Tokyo or to take them to one of the restaurants located on the same floor. A large Japanese restaurant with different corners of food and a 200 years old tea house taken from the country side and re-built into the hotel as one of the more special rooms in this already special restaurant. Also the New York style restaurant for non-Asian food is even without experiencing the food wortwhile a visit: Again gorgeous views over Tokyo and a styleful ambiance. For those that are in for spending real money we advise you to become member of the Spa club which is only open for members and hotel guests. A subscription fee of only JPY 7M and an annual fee of JPY 500,000 will get you through the door as you will be charged separately for the treatments. If you are in doubt we advise you to take a look at the Jacuzzi with a 180 degrees view over Tokyo. For those who really like challenging credit card limits we recommend you the 300 sqm Ritz Carlton suite on the 53rd floor that is all yours for one night for only USD 20.000 but excluding breakfast. You are now getting the message: The Ritz Carlton is all about high end luxury with an incredible eye for detail. Ricco explains that they have people working to line up all the half a million screws that are visible in the hotel rooms to make it look even more perfect. Or it is maybe the two pieces of art worth USD 4M that hang in the main lobby to give this extra sense of being in a really special place. It is interesting to know that the future guests of the hotel are expected mainly to be Japanese that do like to experience the Ritz Carlton way of living.

Ricco de Blank is Dutch and is the General Manager if the Ritz Carlton. Ricco is not new to Japan as he was running the Ritz Carlton in Osaka before accepting his new assignment of building and launching the Ritz Carlton in Tokyo. The hotel is situated on the former Defense Agency site near Roppongi Hills. The hotel will feature 248 rooms, several bars and restaurants a Spa and health center, a large ballroom and additional functional rooms to accommodate for private dinners, business meetings etc. For more information please visit: http://www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/tokyo/

On February 7, NCCJ members enjoyed hearing Ricco deBlank, General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo, speak at a joint luncheon with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. The audience learned a few of the secrets behind Ritz-Carlton’s success at providing luxury and fine service. And it was a NCCJ member, Attila von Hanko, who won a free night at the Ritz for the best question asked following the presentation!