IHG Hotels & Resorts officially debuts its collection brand in Japan, with the rebrand of RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, the first hotel in Japan to be part of IHG’s Vignette Collection. Building upon its legacy as one of the city’s most well-known and historical hotels, RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, Vignette Collection offers a renewed guest experience for today’s thoughtful venturer, offering one-of-a-kind stays in a destination to remember.
RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, Vignette Collection stands within Nakanoshima, known as “City of Water”, an area described as a microcosm of the 24hr international city of Osaka. Since its inception in 1935, RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka has been dedicated to creating a space that is fitting for international and cultural exchanges with foreign dignitaries, imperial families, and celebrated VIPs amongst the hotel’s guests.
Now, following an extensive renovation project, RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, Vignette Collection unveils over 1,000 newly remodelled rooms, including a stand-out 700m suite, together with 18 unique restaurants and bar, fitness centre and comprehensive event facilities featuring 56 banquet rooms. Globally renowned Japanese fashion designer Junko Koshino has also been appointed to design the new uniforms now worn by hotel colleagues.
RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka recently choreographed its own one-of-a-kind take on the traditional ribbon cutting to mark its grand opening as a Vignette Collection hotel. The ceremony featured an original Japanese tenugui hand towel, dyed using the traditional Osaka “Chusen” technique, which is for colouring fabric by pouring dye on top of the fabric. The tenugui hand towel, inspired by the rivers surrounding Nakanoshima, symbolised the forging of a long-lasting partnership between RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka and IHG Hotels & Resorts as together they embark on a shared journey toward a global future.
Abhijay Sandilya, Managing Director – Japan & Micronesia for IHG Hotels & Resorts, and CEO of IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan, said: “We are thrilled to officially introduce Vignette Collection as our 10th brand in Japan, marking a significant milestone in our rapidly expanding portfolio. RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka perfectly embodies Vignette Collection, a brand that is on track to achieve 100 hotels globally within its first decade. The hotel exemplifies the true spirit of a collection brand— offering its own unique identity while sharing a common vision of providing travellers with an authentic, one-of-a-kind experience, all enhanced by the advantages of IHG One Rewards.”
Just three years after the brand’s introduction to IHG’s leading luxury and lifestyle portfolio, one of the world’s largest, Vignette Collection has surpassed the halfway point in its initial aim to reach 100 open and pipeline hotels in 10 years. Central to Vignette Collection is the balance of individuality and belonging. A family of like-minded hotels, each Vignette Collection property is entirely individual in its identity, yet united by the vision to offer a more authentic way to travel.
Vignette Collection combines each property’s individual identity with the brand’s collective vision to offer a more authentic travel experience. Each property is unique, yet united through key hallmarks ‘Memorable Rituals’ and ‘A Means For Good’.
Memorable Rituals – celebrate each Vignette Collection property’s unique identity, providing purposeful and meaningful travel encounters that connect guests with the hotel’s cultural landscape. RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, Vignette Collection embraces Japanese tea culture, music, and entertainment inviting guests to experience “Furumai-cha”. This traditional tea ritual is accompanied by a majestic rendition of Japanese classical music, performed on a Steinway & Sons SPIRIO piano and is held daily in the hotel’s Main Lounge every afternoon from 3-5pm.
A Means For Good initiatives see each Vignette Collection hotel partner with a chosen non-profit organisation, working in partnership to spearhead positive contribution to the local ecosystem across responsibility, community, and locality. RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, Vignette Collection will support secondary and high school students in need with a programme of educational activities to promote their self-development.
Earlier this year, Vignette Collection announced a global partnership with the World Literacy Foundation, directly supporting the foundation’s mission to eradicate illiteracy by 2040. The global partnership furthers the brand’s philanthropic outlook in complement of each hotel’s individual A Means For Good. Each Vignette Collection property is a unique story to be told but they come together as a library of hotels, united by a collective vision to harness travel’s ability to benefit people and place.
Strategic acquisitions and new brand launches over the past five years have transformed IHG’s presence in Luxury & Lifestyle. The portfolio has expanded from one to six brands, spanning more than 500 properties in over 70 countries, making IHG’s collection one of the largest in the world.
Vignette Collection is IHG’s first collection brand and represents a curation of distinct hotels demonstrating diversity and discovery. It offers a compelling way for owners of one-of-a-kind hotels to benefit from IHG’s powerful enterprise offering and global scale, whilst enabling guests to discover intriguing individual properties that unlock IHG One Rewards best-in-class benefits.
