Hotel Marinela
Photo: Nikolai Karaneschev / CC BY 3.0, modified.
Overview
The Japanese Garden at Hotel Marinela Sofia is a large hotel garden created as part of the former Vitosha New Otani hotel complex. The hotel was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa and built between 1974 and 1979. Hotel Marinela’s official material states that its Japanese Garden was created after the model of the 400-year-old Japanese garden at Hotel New Otani in Tokyo.
History
The hotel opened in the late 1970s as Vitosha New Otani, a Japanese-Bulgarian hotel project connected with the New Otani hotel group. The Japanese garden formed one of the hotel’s defining features, alongside Kurokawa’s architecture. Public hotel descriptions continue to present the garden as a unique feature of the property and as a setting for relaxation, dining and events.
Design features
The garden is modelled on the historic garden of Hotel New Otani Tokyo and includes a Japanese-style house / restaurant setting, water, planting and enclosed garden scenery. Current hotel material connects the garden with Sakura Bar & Garden and Japanese tea service, while Umami Restaurant is described as being housed inside an original Japanese Sakura / Sekura house imported directly from Japan.
Garden elements
Bridges
Buildings
Waters and islands
Stones
Other elements
Current status
Extant Japanese garden within Hotel Marinela Sofia. It remains part of the hotel’s hospitality and restaurant setting, visible from Sakura Bar & Garden and associated with the hotel’s Japanese architectural identity.