Accor has partially lost two of its MGallery hotels in Japan, both in Kyoto, as they are being reflagged under Banyan Tree brands.
Banyan Tree is affiliated with Accor, and the latter owns 5% of the company, and most of the hotels participate in the Accor Live Limitless (ALL) guest loyalty program.
You can access Accor here and Banyan Tree here.
READ MORE: Accor ALL Bonus Points And Rate Offers
Two Hotels Reflagged:
- Kyoto Yura Hotel – MGallery becomes Hotel Dhawa Yura Kyoto (Banyan Tree’s brand)
- Kyoto Yura Hotel Nijo jo Bettei – MGallery becomes Garrya Nijo Caste Kyoto Banyan Tree
The Kyoro Yura should reopen as Dhawa next month. However, when the second one reopens under the Banyan Tree brand is unclear. Moreover, it currently doesn’t appear to accept reservations.
Conclusion
This is an exciting brand swap, as the owner/management company previously had hotels only with Accor and Marriott.
I have walked past the Kyoto Yura Hotel a few times when I spent extensive time in Kyoto back in 2020, and it looks rather unremarkable outside. Also, I am not familiar with this Banyan Tree Dhawa brand that it apparently uses hotels that quite didn’t meet its namesake’s requirements.
Let’s hope that Japan soon reopens for tourists so that we can return to Kyoto and other Japanese cities soon.