Privacy Policy
How we collect, use, and protect the information you share with HOTELA Cities KK when you visit our sites, request information, or become an owner.
This Privacy Policy is issued by HOTELA Cities KK ("HOTELA," "we," "us," or "our"), a Japanese corporation and the data controller responsible for the personal information described here. Our head office is located at Hamamatsucho Dia Building 2F, 2-2-15 Hamamatsuchō, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. This policy applies to the HOTELA websites (including hotelaniseko.com and hotela.co.jp), our mobile applications, and related services (collectively, the "Services").
This policy governs the personal information of website visitors, prospective buyers, residence owners, guests of owners, and other individuals who interact with us. A separate Candidate Privacy Notice covers job applicants.
We collect information in three ways: information you give us directly, information collected automatically when you use the Services, and information we receive from trusted third parties.
Information you give us includes registration details (name, email address, phone number, country); purchase and ownership information required to verify your identity and complete a transaction (legal name, date of birth, residential address, copy of a government-issued ID such as a passport, national ID card, or driver's license); financial information (bank account details, credit information, and, where you consent, information used to conduct a credit check or assess eligibility for financing); booking details and preferences; any content you choose to post or upload, such as photos, videos, or messages; and communications you send to us.
Information collected automatically includes IP address, browser type, language preference, operating system, referring site, device identifiers, crash data, pages viewed, and the date and time of each request. We use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to collect this information. See "Cookies and analytics" below.
Information from third parties may include identity verification results, credit checks (with your consent), marketing analytics, and data from payment processors or financing partners.
We use your personal information to provide and improve the Services; to administer your account and verify your identity; to process purchases, bookings, and financing; to respond to your questions and requests; to send service announcements, administrative messages, and — where you have opted in — marketing communications; to personalize your experience; to research, analyze, and forecast trends; to detect and prevent fraud, abuse, spam, and security incidents; to resolve disputes and enforce our agreements; and to comply with our legal obligations.
Some administrative and transactional messages are an essential part of the Services and cannot be opted out of while your account remains active.
We process personal information under Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI) and, where applicable to visitors located in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR.
Our legal bases include: (a) performance of a contract with you, such as processing a purchase, financing application, or booking; (b) compliance with legal obligations, including anti-money-laundering, tax, and real estate regulations; (c) legitimate interests in operating, securing, and improving our Services and understanding our users, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights; and (d) your consent, where required — for example, for marketing communications, certain cookies, or credit checks. You may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before withdrawal.
We use cookies and similar technologies to operate the Services, remember your preferences, measure how pages are used, and deliver relevant communications. Cookies fall into the following categories: necessary cookies required for the site to function and for security; preference cookies that remember your language and choices; statistics cookies that help us understand aggregate usage; and marketing cookies that help us measure and tailor communications.
We use third-party analytics providers, which may include Google Analytics and similar tools, to measure traffic and performance. We also use the Meta (Facebook and Instagram) Pixel to measure the performance of our advertising and to show relevant ads to people who have visited our site (retargeting). These providers process information under their own privacy policies.
You can manage or decline cookies through your browser settings or the cookie preferences available on our site. Disabling some cookies may limit functionality. We do not currently respond to "Do Not Track" browser signals, as no consistent industry standard exists.
We do not sell or rent your personal information. We share information only where necessary to operate the Services, comply with law, or protect our rights:
Service providers and processors who act on our behalf under written confidentiality and data-protection obligations. These include our database provider (Supabase), our email delivery provider (Resend), payment processors, identity-verification providers, hosting and infrastructure providers, and analytics providers.
Financing and real estate partners, including our subsidiaries and affiliated entities that provide mortgage or financing services, where you request such services.
Authorities, regulators, courts, or other parties where disclosure is required by law, regulation, legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of HOTELA, our users, or others.
Successors in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, subject to equivalent privacy protections.
We may also share aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you.
HOTELA is headquartered in Japan, and your personal information may be processed in Japan and in other countries where our service providers operate, including the United States and the European Union. Data-protection laws in these countries may differ from those in your country of residence.
Where required by law, we implement appropriate safeguards for cross-border transfers, such as standard contractual clauses, adequacy decisions, or equivalent measures. By using the Services, you acknowledge that your personal information may be transferred to and processed in Japan and other jurisdictions as described here.
We keep personal information only for as long as needed for the purpose it was collected, or as required by law. In practice:
Account and ownership records are kept for the duration of your relationship with HOTELA and for a reasonable period afterward to meet legal, tax, accounting, and audit obligations.
Transaction records, including purchase, booking, and payment records, are kept for the periods required under Japanese commercial and tax law (typically up to ten years).
Marketing contacts are kept until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent, and for a short retention window thereafter to honor your opt-out.
Website analytics are retained in identifiable form for a limited period, after which they are aggregated or deleted.
When personal information is no longer needed, we delete, anonymize, or securely destroy it.
We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and loss. These measures include encryption in transit (TLS), encryption at rest for sensitive fields, role-based access controls, audit logging, regular security reviews, and staff confidentiality obligations.
No system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential. If you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately.
Subject to applicable law, you have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you, to correct inaccurate information, to request deletion, to object to or restrict certain processing, to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, to receive your information in a portable format, and to opt out of direct marketing.
Japan (APPI). Residents of Japan may request disclosure, correction, addition, deletion, cessation of use, or cessation of provision to third parties of their retained personal information. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may file a complaint with the Personal Information Protection Commission (PPC) at www.ppc.go.jp.
European Economic Area / United Kingdom (GDPR / UK GDPR). You may lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority in addition to the rights listed above.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@hotelajapan.com. We will verify your identity before responding and will respond within the timeframes required by applicable law.
Our Services are directed to adults and are not intended for children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under the age of 18. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will promptly delete it.
Our Services may contain links to third-party websites, applications, or services that we do not operate or control. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party site you visit before providing your information.
For any question, request, or concern about this Privacy Policy or our handling of your personal information, please contact us:
HOTELA Cities KK
Attn: Privacy Office
Hamamatsucho Dia Building 2F, 2-2-15 Hamamatsuchō
Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Email: info@hotelajapan.com
Inquiries regarding personal information are handled by HOTELA Cities KK. Please contact info@hotelajapan.com.
This Privacy Policy is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Japan, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.
The Tokyo District Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction of the first instance over any dispute arising out of or in connection with this Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy is published in Japanese and in other languages. In the event of any inconsistency between the Japanese version and a version in another language, the Japanese version shall prevail.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes, we will update the "Effective date" at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you by email or through the Services. Your continued use of the Services after the revised policy takes effect constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
Effective date: 2026-04-14. This Privacy Policy supersedes all prior versions. If any provision of this policy is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect. In the event of any conflict between the English and Japanese versions of this policy, the Japanese version shall prevail for users resident in Japan; the English version shall prevail for all other users.