XIV Toba

XIV Toba (エクシブ鳥羽, XIV Toba) is a membership-based resort hotel located in Anrakujima-cho, Toba City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by Resorttrust, Inc., a Nagoya-based company, and holds a special place in the group's history as the very first hotel opened under its "XIV" (pronounced "Exiv") brand. The name derives from the Roman numeral XIV, meaning fourteen — a reference to the timeshare model in which fourteen members share ownership of a single room. The complex is composed of three distinct facilities: the Main Building (本館), opened in April 1987; the Annex (アネックス), opened in April 1991; and the Bettei (別邸), opened in March 2016. The Main Building and Annex are Western-style resort hotels, while the Bettei is the first full-scale Japanese-style (washitsu) property in the XIV brand. The Annex, at 60 meters tall, is the tallest building in Toba City and one of the largest in terms of room count. Like other XIV-brand hotels, XIV Toba operates on a timeshare system in which fourteen members share one room, with each owner entitled to 26 days of occupancy per year. This figure was chosen to match the average 30-day annual stay of Japanese villa owners. Owners who do not use their allotted days can deposit them into a "Space Bank" to exchange for other owners' days or for usage rights at other mutually available facilities. While this model was common in the West, Resorttrust was a pioneer in Japan. The brand adapted the Western model — where 52 people typically share a room for one week each — to Japanese vacation habits, which favor two-night/three-day or three-night/four-day stays rather than full weeks. The Main Building, designed by Yasui Architects & Engineers and built by a joint venture of Obayashi and Shimizu, features a facade inspired by two sailing ships, with upper floors narrowing progressively. It contains 214 guest rooms and includes the French restaurant "Lapérouse" and the coffee shop "Old Days." The Annex, also designed by Yasui Architects & Engineers and built by Obayashi, has 200 rooms across 17 above-ground floors and one basement level. It introduced 50 general (non-membership) rooms — a first for the XIV brand — allowing owners' family and friends to stay. Its facilities include the Japanese restaurant "Kaiko" with an in-house fish tank, the lounge and Western restaurant "Aragosta," a pool bar, the main bar "Étude," a convention hall seating 250, and a Japanese-style banquet hall for 100. A 50-meter pool suitable for scuba diving is among the shared leisure facilities. The Bettei, the 24th XIV-brand property, was designed around the concept of "garden and house as one" (庭屋一如), with a central Japanese garden surrounded by tiled-roof lodging wings. It has 121 rooms across four above-ground and two basement levels, and includes the restaurant "Kareki" (華暦), which features a floating pavilion modeled after the "Kasatei" tea house designed by Sen no Rikyū at Kōdai-ji in Kyoto. The hot spring bath "Tenkai no Yu" and the outdoor thermal spa "Spa & Esthé Thermaison" use natural hot spring water. Shared facilities across the complex include a lawn garden, walking paths, six all-weather tennis courts, an indoor pool, and an athletic gym. A hot spring facility and chapel were completed in June 1999. The property is also used as a wedding venue, particularly popular among Mie Prefecture residents. XIV Toba is located about 10 minutes by car from Toba Station on the JR Sangū Line, Kintetsu Toba Line, and Shima Line, near the entrance to the Pearl Road. A bus stop, "XIV Toba-mae," is located near the facility entrance.

XIV Toba was born out of a strategic shift at Resorttrust, Inc., a Nagoya-based company that by around 1985 had risen to the top of Japan's membership hotel industry. The company faced two major challenges: first, public distrust of membership-rights businesses following the Toyota Shoji incident made acquiring new customers difficult; second, existing members' demand for stays during New Year and summer holidays overwhelmed reservation capacity, leading to complaints and the departure of skilled sales staff who could no longer handle the pressure. To address these issues, Resorttrust redesigned its system to divide owners' occupancy days into smaller blocks of a few nights, guarantee stays during either New Year, Golden Week, or summer holidays, and allow owners to trade unused days among themselves. This new system was adopted for the XIV brand, and XIV Toba was built as the first hotel to bear the XIV name. On April 27, 1987, Resorttrust opened XIV Toba. According to a Chūnichi Shimbun report just before opening, 1,800 of the 2,900 total membership rights had already been applied for. The total investment was 4.8 billion yen. XIV Toba proved successful, and Resorttrust went on to develop high-end membership resort hotels under the XIV name across resort areas throughout Japan. On April 25, 1991, XIV Toba Annex opened, along with leisure facilities such as tennis courts. The total project cost was 14.6 billion yen. As of April 23, 1991, just before opening, 2,050 of the 2,100 total membership rights were nearly sold out. Owners were primarily from Osaka Prefecture (41%), Aichi Prefecture (17%), and Mie Prefecture (10%), with 60% coming from referrals by existing members. Fifty rooms were designated as general (non-membership) rooms from the start, allowing owners' family and friends to stay. At that time, there were plans to build two additional resort-mansion-style buildings with 400 rooms on adjacent land. While operations appeared smooth, the effects of the bursting of Japan's bubble economy gradually took hold. From July 1997, the hotel began offering lunch service primarily for local residents, a practice also adopted by other hotels in Toba City such as Toba Seaside Hotel and Tarasa Shima. In September 1997, a hot spring was struck on the premises; in 1998 it was officially certified as a therapeutic spring under the Hot Spring Act; and in June 1999, a hot spring facility and chapel were completed northwest of the Main Building at a total investment of 14 million yen. In 2001, at the request of Chairman Yoshirō Itō, actor Tadao Sawamoto — a Mie Prefecture native and longtime acquaintance — was invited to serve as planning producer. On October 23, 2008, the Japan Sporting Goods Cooperative Association National Convention was held at XIV Toba with Mika Hagino and others in attendance. On May 26, 2009, the National Association for the Promotion of Remote Islands held its regular general meeting with about 100 attendees including Akihiko Noro. On November 14, 2011, a ceremony commemorating the 45th anniversary of the sister-city relationship between Toba City and Santa Barbara, USA, was held at XIV Toba with about 90 attendees from Japan and the US, including Toba Mayor Kusuichi Kida and the Mayor of Santa Barbara. The Bettei was designed between May 2012 and September 2013, with construction from December 2013 to January 2016. The development plan was reported by Nikkei in August 2012, describing a Japanese-style hotel targeting middle-aged and older guests, aiming to open in spring 2016. For Resorttrust, the Bettei represented a resumption of hotel development that had been halted after the Lehman Shock. Construction involved approximately 80,000 m² of cut and fill. The contractor noted challenges in securing construction routes and material delivery because the construction road had to be shared with hotel users and the lodging wings had to be built around a central courtyard. Membership sales began on January 20, 2014, and the Bettei opened on March 27, 2016.

• 2016

  XIV Toba Bettei opens on March 27 as the 24th XIV-brand property and the brand's first full-scale Japanese-style facility.

• 2014

  Membership sales for the Bettei begin on January 20.

• 2012

  Nikkei reports Resorttrust's plan to build a Japanese-style hotel targeting middle-aged and older guests, aiming for spring 2016 opening.

• 2011

  Toba–Santa Barbara sister-city 45th anniversary ceremony held on November 14 with about 90 attendees.

• 2009

  National Association for the Promotion of Remote Islands regular general meeting held on May 26 with about 100 attendees.

• 2008

  Japan Sporting Goods Cooperative Association National Convention held at XIV Toba on October 23.

• 2001

  Actor Tadao Sawamoto invited as planning producer at the request of Chairman Yoshirō Itō.

• 1999

  Hot spring facility and chapel completed northwest of the Main Building; total investment 14 million yen.

• 1998

  Hot spring officially certified as a therapeutic spring under the Hot Spring Act.

• 1997

  Lunch service begins primarily for local residents amid the bursting of the bubble economy.

• 1997

  Hot spring struck on the premises.

• 1991

  XIV Toba Annex opens on April 25; total project cost 14.6 billion yen; 2,050 of 2,100 membership rights nearly sold out.

• 1987

  XIV Toba Main Building opens on April 27 as the first XIV-brand hotel; total investment 4.8 billion yen.

High-end membership-based resort hotel; pioneer of the timeshare model in Japan; first property of the XIV brand.

• XIV Toba Main Building

  Opened April 1987. 214 rooms. Designed by Yasui Architects & Engineers; built by Obayashi-Shimizu JV. Facade inspired by two sailing ships. Includes French restaurant Lapérouse and coffee shop Old Days.

• XIV Toba Annex

  Opened April 1991. 200 rooms across 17 floors above ground and 1 basement; 60 m tall, tallest in Toba City. Designed by Yasui Architects & Engineers; built by Obayashi. Spanish Colonial style. Includes Japanese restaurant Kaiko, Western restaurant Aragosta, main bar Étude, convention hall (250 seats), Japanese banquet hall (100 seats), and a 50 m scuba-diving pool.

• XIV Toba Bettei

  Opened March 2016. 121 rooms (S type 30, SE type 32, CB type 59) across 4 floors above ground and 2 basement. Designed by Yasui Architects & Engineers; built by Ando Hazama. First full-scale Japanese-style facility in the XIV brand. Features central Japanese garden designed by Hiroaki Amazaki, restaurant Kareki with floating pavilion modeled after Kasatei tea house, and natural hot spring baths Tenkai no Yu and Spa & Esthé Thermaison.

1. 1XIV Toba - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2エクシブ鳥羽 - Wikipedia (Japanese)ja.wikipedia.org
3. 3XIV Toba official sitert-clubnet.jp