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Hyatt GM: We want to stay
Hyatt Regency Saipan general manager Nick Nishikawa addresses the crowd in last week’s check donation to six groups that are the recipients of proceeds from last month’s 22nd Annual Hyatt Charity Golf Classic at the Giovanni’s Restaurant. (Jon Perez)
Hyatt Regency Saipan’s land lease is more than three years away from expiring but this early general manager Nick Nishikawa has assured it is the company’s intention to stay and continue doing business on Saipan. Hyatt’s lease is set to expire on December 2021.
Nishikawa said Hyatt has been on the island for 37 years, becoming a witness to Saipan’s economic boom and downturn. “We’re one of the businesses that stayed through the good times and the bad.”
“I came here in 2008 and the business back then was bad. We survived and did not fire any staff but continued to hire. We want to be here after the end of December 2021. We want to continue to fly Hyatt’s flag here,” Nishikawa added.
He told Saipan Tribune that they are hoping to get a favorable response and decision from the Department of Public Lands once the process of renewing Hyatt’s lease comes up in three years.
“It is still three years away and we haven’t done anything yet. There is no directive yet from the authorities. We’re just making our appeal and telling the public that we want to stay on,” said Nishikawa.
He added that if their lease is renewed, Hyatt’s parent company—Hyatt Hotels Corp.—could begin plans to renovate and improve the current structure. “The building is getting old. It’s now 37 years old. We need to maintain this building.”
“As one of the international hotel chains, Hyatt is located all over the world. We need to renovate for our guests. We just want to give the guests the real standard Hyatt hotel experience.”
He added that they are looking at an extension of Hyatt’s land lease so they could push forward with their projects of improving their facilities to accommodate the growing number of tourists.
