What happened
GCP Hospitality will rebrand a 1,063-room Kyoto portfolio now running under various M's names into IHG brands, with 12 properties becoming Garner. One hotel will become a Holiday Inn Express, IHG's third in Japan after Osaka and Sapporo. One property will take a brand that has not been announced.
The hotels will be renovated first, then open in phases. GCP Hospitality will manage the full 14-hotel portfolio. Properties sit in core Kyoto districts around Kyoto Station and Shijo. These are Japanese-style business hotels with very small, functional rooms. The M's Hotels website lists 15 Kyoto hotels, so one property appears to sit outside the deal.
The conversion puts more midscale IHG One Rewards hotels into Kyoto at modest cash rates. Leave the M's hotels out of any IHG award search until they appear in One Rewards over the next 12 months.
- Announced
- Aug 24, 2026
- Numbers
- 14 hotels: Kyoto hotels being converted into IHG brands
- 1,063 rooms: total rooms in the conversion portfolio
- 12 hotels: properties converting to Garner
- 12 months: timeframe for conversions and phased openings
- 15 hotels: Kyoto hotels listed on the M’s Hotels website
- Where
- Kyoto, Kyoto Station, Shijo, Gojo
- Takeaway
- Do not expect these M’s hotels to be bookable as IHG stays yet; watch for them to appear in IHG One Rewards over the next 12 months.