INFINISIS Naha Shurijo by Hewitt Resort to Rebrand in Okinawa: An All-Weather City Resort on the Hills of Shuri

A stay in Naha does not have to begin at the beach. It can begin on a hill: with stone paths, red-tile roofs, the memory of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the lights of the city below and the sea beyond. On July 31, 2026, the hotel now known as Novotel Okinawa Naha is scheduled to reopen under a new identity: INFINISIS Naha Shurijo by Hewitt Resort.

The news is a rebrand. The bigger story is choosing to stay near Shuri.

Core Global Management announced that it will begin operating a hotel in Naha’s Matsukawa district as INFINISIS Naha Shurijo by Hewitt Resort on July 31, 2026. The property is the current Novotel Okinawa Naha. The new brand name, INFINISIS, is a coined word combining “INFINITY” and “OASIS.” The company says the hotel will move toward an all-weather city-resort concept with an indoor water park that can be enjoyed year-round, with renovations continuing toward a fuller renewal in 2027.

The interesting part is not just a change of signage. It is the way Naha’s hotel market is widening. Okinawa hospitality has long been organized around beach resorts, airport convenience and the lively axis of Kokusai-dori. This property points to another possibility: a city resort that uses Shuri’s history, hilltop views, family-friendly indoor leisure and weatherproof travel as its identity.

The property in numbers

NBI Holdings identifies the rebranded property as INFINISIS Naha Shurijo by Hewitt Resort, located at Matsukawa 40 in Naha, Okinawa. The company lists access as about 15 minutes by car from Naha Airport, about eight minutes by car from Naha I.C., and about 15 minutes on foot to Shuri Castle. The site area is 10,961.94 square meters; the reinforced-concrete building has 16 stories above ground and one basement level; total floor area is 21,928.18 square meters; and the hotel has 328 rooms.

Traicy reports that Novotel Okinawa Naha traces its roots to Okinawa Miyako Hotel, which opened in 1974. After a full renovation, it reopened as Novotel Okinawa Naha in September 2018. It has restaurants, bars, a terrace, outdoor pool, fitness facilities, banquet halls and lounges. In other words, this is not a small boutique conversion. It is a major Naha hospitality asset being repositioned for the next stage of Okinawa travel.

From Okinawa Miyako Hotel to Novotel, and now INFINISIS

The property’s timeline mirrors Okinawa’s postwar tourism history. In 1974, Okinawa had been returned to Japan only two years earlier. The 1975 Okinawa Ocean Expo was approaching, and the islands were entering a new era of national attention, tourism investment and infrastructure development. Okinawa Miyako Hotel belonged to that moment: a large hotel on a hill, serving a Naha that was becoming a gateway to modern Okinawa travel.

Its 2018 rebirth as Novotel Okinawa Naha reflected a different era, one shaped by inbound tourism, low-cost carriers, cruise travel, family trips and short stays from elsewhere in Asia. Naha was no longer only an arrival point. It had become a city where visitors stayed, ate, walked and returned. The 2026 rebrand marks another turn. This time, the keywords are “all-weather,” “city resort,” and “Shuri Castle.”

Why Shuri matters

Shuri is one of Naha’s most meaningful districts. Shuri Castle was the political and cultural center of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Nearby are Tamaudun, the royal mausoleum, and the stone-paved lanes of Kinjocho. In Shuri, Okinawa appears not as a beach poster but as a kingdom, a court culture, a layered island civilization. Red tile, stone walls, awamori, lacquerware, performing arts and sacred sites all belong to this landscape.

The 2019 fire at Shuri Castle was a deep wound for Okinawa. Reconstruction has since made the site a focus of renewed attention. Staying nearby gives travelers time: a quieter morning walk, a return visit in late afternoon, a night view from the hill. A hotel near Shuri does not merely offer access to a tourist spot. It gives visitors a different rhythm for understanding Okinawa.

All-weather hospitality is a very Okinawan idea

Okinawa is paradise on a sunny day. But Okinawa travel also has to live with rain, tropical showers, fierce sun, typhoons, heat and the realities of family travel. The more beautiful the water, the more weather can shape the day. That is why an indoor water-park concept is more than a play feature. It is a practical answer to the uncertainty of Okinawa travel.

Indoor facilities strengthen family travel. Children can play after check-in. Plans do not collapse when rain arrives. Guests can still enjoy water even when the sea is not the best choice. For families with small children, older travelers or multi-generation groups, a hotel that gives the day a fallback plan has real value. Mature resort markets are built not only on postcard weather but on what happens when the postcard day does not arrive.

The Hewitt Resort context

Hewitt Resort Naha is already known as an urban resort close to Kokusai-dori and the Yui Rail’s Asato Station. Core Global Management has experience operating in central Naha. Extending that experience toward a large Shuri-side property connects two faces of the city: the lively central district and the quieter historic hill.

The phrase “by Hewitt Resort” matters. It allows INFINISIS to stand as a new brand while also borrowing familiarity from an existing operator. In Okinawa, that balance is valuable. Travelers want discovery, but they also want reassurance. A hotel can be new and still feel operationally grounded.

NBI Holdings and the value-up hotel model

NBI Holdings announced the planned acquisition date as July 31, 2026, and said the operator would change to Core Global Management, with the hotel rebranded on the same date. The company’s release also frames the deal within real-estate investment, financial services and regional revitalization.

Across Japan, hotel growth is not only about new construction. It is also about buying, renovating and rebranding existing large properties. In places like Okinawa, where tourism demand is strong but land, labor and construction costs are constraints, value-up investment in existing hotels can be one of the most realistic ways to add new travel capacity and new experiences.

Naha is still the heart of Okinawa travel

When people imagine Okinawa, they often picture Onna, Nago, Yomitan, Miyako or Ishigaki. But Naha remains the islands’ travel heart: airport, port, monorail, Kokusai-dori, Shuri Castle, museums, dining and ferry links to outer islands. To stay in Naha is to keep multiple Okinawa trips open at once.

Within Naha, the Shuri area offers breathing room. It is close to the city but lifted away from its noise. Guests can look down over the city lights, walk hills in the morning and still reach the airport, expressway, shopping and dining with relative ease. This middle position—between urban hotel and resort hotel—is exactly where the rebranded property may find its value.

The 2027 renewal is the real test

The announced schedule has two phases: a July 31, 2026 brand change and operational start, followed by renovation in 2027 and a fuller all-weather city-resort renewal. The hotel is expected to continue operating during renovation. Guests may therefore encounter a property in transition, with the identity changing before every element of the physical experience is complete.

That can be a strength if handled well. The best rebrands do not erase old hotels overnight. They inherit location, views, memory and scale, then add a new operating idea. For this property, the test will be whether INFINISIS can feel like more than a name: whether it can turn the Shuri hillside, indoor leisure, family utility and Okinawan atmosphere into a coherent stay.

Who should consider it?

INFINISIS Naha Shurijo by Hewitt Resort will not be for travelers who want an isolated beach resort and nothing else. It is better suited to travelers who want to walk Shuri Castle, use Naha as a base, keep a weatherproof family plan, connect the city with the rest of the main island, and enjoy Okinawa’s history as well as its sea.

Hotel choice in Okinawa is not only about distance to the beach. It is about airport access, what to do on a rainy day, meals, family logistics, history, views and the rhythm of a trip. This rebrand adds another option to that map: a large city resort on the Shuri side of Naha, pointed toward the next chapter of Okinawa hospitality.

A new form of Okinawa city resort

Okinawa tourism is moving from pure volume toward the quality of stays. Where do visitors sleep? What do they eat? What happens when it rains? How do they meet history? Can children enjoy the day? Does tourism overburden local communities? Hotels that can answer those questions will matter.

INFINISIS Naha Shurijo by Hewitt Resort is not yet a finished story. The July 2026 rebrand is the first step; the 2027 renovation will be the real proof. But the direction is clear: a Naha city resort close to Shuri’s history, designed to be useful in any weather, friendly to families and capable of showing travelers an Okinawa that is not only blue sea.

A good hotel can expand a destination’s image. Okinawa has the sea, yes. But it also has hills, castle walls, rain, night views, family travel, city streets and memory. On the Shuri side of Naha, that wider Okinawa is the story this rebrand is trying to tell.