Hotels with a deep sense of local charm「THE TOWER HOTEL NAGOYA」
Chubu Electric Power Company’s MIRAI TOWER (former Nagoya TV Tower) towers over the downtown area of Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture.Nagoya City approached Tatachu Naito, the “father of earthquake-resistant structures,” to design the tower as a symbol of its postwar reconstruction plan.Naito went through a series of trials and errors under strict conditions, such as the future construction of a subway line directly under the tower and the durability of the antennae that concentrated the TV signals.Finally, in 1954, the tower was born, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, as a TV tower that combines function and beauty.In recognition of this achievement, Naito went on to design other famous towers around Japan, including Tokyo Tower and Tsutenkaku Tower in Osaka, earning him the nickname “Doctor of Towers.After the 2011 termination of terrestrial analog TV broadcasting and the end of its role as a radio tower, the tower continued to be a symbol of the city, but it had become a problem due to its aging.
Stimulated by the artistic culture of the Tokai region
The plan to solve this problem was to renovate the tower into a hotel facility with seismic isolation.After various simulations and seismic reinforcement work, “THE TOWER HOTEL NAGOYA” opened in October 2020 on the first to fifth floors of the Nagoya TV Tower.The hotel has also attracted attention for being the first hotel in Aichi Prefecture to be certified as a “SLH” (Small Luxury Hotels of the World) hotel, which only hotels that are recognized as small-scale and world-class luxury hotels can join.The hotel has a total of 15 guest rooms, 13 of which are individually designed and full of character on the 4th floor, and two spacious 80m2 suites on the 5th floor.The spacious terraces of the suites offer a panoramic view of Sakae, Nagoya’s most prestigious downtown area.A banquet hall overlooking Central Park is located on the second floor and can be used for weddings and other events.The observation deck is a salon open only to hotel guests from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. the following day, providing a special space where only guests can enjoy the night view.The theme of the “TV tower where you can stay overnight,” a rarity in the world, is “ART × CRAFT × LOCAL.Artworks created by artists associated with the three Tokai prefectures will be exhibited at the front desk, lobby, guest rooms, and other locations, making the hotel a center of culture and art with the ability to accommodate guests.
The hospitality of a luxury hotel and the feeling of visiting a museum at the same time will pique the curiosity of art lovers.In addition, the space, which makes use of the steel frame of the TV tower and has the atmosphere of a registered tangible cultural property, is filled with arts and crafts unique to this region, including Nagoya yuzen, Arimatsu shibori, and other traditional crafts from the Tokai region centering on Nagoya.
Enjoy the ingredients of the Tokai region
The restaurant on the 4th floor of the tower is “glycine,” a French restaurant in Yagoto, one of the most exclusive residential areas in Nagoya, where reservations are not taken.The restaurant offers dishes beautifully presented on tableware made by local artists and using local ingredients in abundance.Lunch and dinner are open to the public, but breakfast is a Japanese breakfast available only to guests.Of particular note is the “Ryu no Hitomi” brand rice served, which is well known among rice lovers for its large grain size (1.5 times larger than Koshihikari rice) and excellent taste.The food is cooked using a vermiculator and served freshly cooked at mealtime.Each dish is so elaborate that it may seem too luxurious for a breakfast, and the number of dishes is enough to fill one’s heart from morning.The cafe “lily” on the second floor offers a wide variety of dishes, including a variety of freshly cooked dishes,Enjoy dishes made with abundant local ingredients, beautifully presented on tableware made by local artists.
Just as in the past, four stations and five waves of television signals were transmitted from this location, delivering entertainment that brightened people’s daily lives, it is still a place that transmits culture, even though its form has changed.Overlooking the center of Nagoya, this place is sure to be a special place for the seasoned traveler to take a breather while still being able to feel the breath of the city and its history.
