Blackstone bought a Kyoto hotel from Goldman Sachs as a rapid tourism rebound in Japan boosts hospitality deals in the island nation.
The 158-room Moxy Kyoto Nijo, a brand of Marriott International, was acquired in an ¥8 billion ($54 million) deal that closed last week, according to people familiar with the matter. The hotel, located near Kyoto’s historic Nijo Castle, opened in July 2021.
A Blackstone spokesperson confirmed the transaction took place, but declined to comment on other details. A representative for Goldman Sachs declined to comment.
Japanese hotels have been among the most popular real estate investments in the Asia-Pacific region this year. Investors are betting that tourism will continue to recover as the yen weakens, and are attracted by the ability of hotel operators to change room rates in an inflationary environment.
As of August, foreign investors had spent $2 billion on hotel deals in Japan in 2023, more than any other sector in Asian commercial property and surpassing 2022’s annual investment figure, according to MSCI Real Assets.
Blackstone’s head of Japan real estate said earlier this year that hotels were at the “top of the list” for acquisition priorities considering the business potential around the tourism boom. The world’s largest alternative-asset manager has acquired at least 12 hotels for its Japan portfolio in the past two years.
The number of foreign visitors to Japan in October surpassed levels seen in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic. Their spending from July through September also beat 2019 figures, with lodging accounting for the largest portion.