This week’s project highlight brings us to the highlands of Hakone, where Hyatt is bringing its Alila brand to Japan for the first time. Alila Sengokuhara Hakone, a 60-room retreat scheduled to open in 2028, marks a small but deliberate entry into a market that has plenty of luxury onsen hotels.

A Small Hotel With Big Key Players

Sixty rooms is a modest number for a project carrying this much design weight. Kengo Kuma & Associates is handling architecture, with SIMPLICITY on interiors—both names known for buildings that draw attention well beyond the hospitality industry. Kuma’s work is typically defined by restraint, with structures that follow a site’s natural contours rather than impose on them. For Sengokuhara, an area known for its grasslands, forested ridges, and views toward Mt. Kintoki, that approach fits the setting rather than competing with it.

Each of the 60 rooms, including 11 suites, will include a private natural hot spring bath. That’s an impressive commitment for a new-build project, since it means designing the entire layout around water access from the start rather than adding it later. It also signals the kind of stay this hotel is built for: private, slow-paced, and centered on the region’s onsen tradition. For hotel suppliers, that kind of room-by-room water infrastructure means tailoring products to a much smaller, more specialized brief than a typical new-build hotel would require.

The Developer Behind the Project

Fujita Corporation is developing the property, and this isn’t the company’s first project with Hyatt. Fujita has previously served as owner of Grand Hyatt Seoul and as contractor on Park Hyatt Niseko HANAZONO. That track record matters, since large-scale luxury projects like this one often depend on a developer and operator who already understand how to work together through long construction timelines.

For Hyatt, the broader context is simple. The company currently operates 22 hotels across 9 brands in Japan and has stated plans to double its portfolio there over the next decade. Adding Alila as a tenth brand is a measured step, but a notable one. It points to demand for smaller, design-led properties alongside Japan’s many larger luxury hotels.

With a 2028 opening, a four-star rating, and two well-regarded design firms involved, Alila Sengokuhara Hakone is a project worth following as it moves through planning and into construction.