Pokémon Reveals First Look at Japan’s New Official Dragonite Hotel Rooms
Image by Charlotte DavisPokémon has revealed the first look at a new official hotel room experience that will let fans spend the night surrounded by Dragonite high above Japan’s Fukui Prefecture.
Two “Pokémon Traveling Dragonite Rooms” are currently being created at the Grandia Housen hotel in Awara Onsen, with the limited-time accommodations scheduled to welcome their first guests from November.
The rooms have been developed through a collaboration between Fukui Prefecture, The Pokémon Company and Grandia Housen, extending Dragonite’s role as the region’s official Support Pokémon into a full overnight travel experience.
Dragonite was appointed as Fukui’s Support Pokémon in October 2023 as part of the wider Pokémon Local Acts project, which pairs different Pokémon with Japanese prefectures to promote regional tourism, attractions and locally produced goods.
The Dragon-type Pokémon is particularly well suited to Fukui, where more new species of dinosaur have been discovered than anywhere else in Japan and the Kuzuryu River, whose name includes the Japanese character for dragon, runs through the northern part of the prefecture.
The first details of the new rooms build directly around Dragonite’s ability to fly, with both located on the 11th floor of Grandia Housen and large windows looking out across the fields of the Sakai Plain toward the surrounding mountains.
The concept is designed to make guests feel as though they are travelling through Fukui from the sky alongside Dragonite, turning the landscape outside the hotel into part of the Pokémon experience rather than limiting the theme to decorations inside the room.
Dragonite designs will be scattered throughout the accommodations for guests to discover during their stay, although Grandia Housen is currently keeping much of the finished interior and its individual Pokémon details under wraps.
Each room will use a Japanese-Western layout combining a traditional Japanese space with beds and a separate living area, alongside a private bath, shower, and toilet.
The collaboration also incorporates materials made within Fukui itself, with cushion covers and bed throws produced using textiles from Maruoka, an area known for its fabric manufacturing.
Decorative hanging scrolls inside the rooms are also being individually finished by Fukui craftspeople, connecting the Pokémon theme with the same regional manufacturing and cultural traditions Dragonite has been promoting since becoming the prefecture’s official mascot.
The hotel is located in Awara Onsen, one of Fukui’s best-known hot spring areas, giving the collaboration another connection to the wider tourism campaign rather than operating as a standalone Pokémon attraction.
Dragonite’s presence across Fukui has already expanded far beyond merchandise, with dedicated Poké Lid manhole covers appearing around the prefecture alongside Dragonite-themed trains, local product collaborations, tourism events and videos following the Pokémon as it explores Fukui’s food, traditional crafts and natural scenery.
Pokémon has increasingly experimented with dedicated accommodation experiences across Japan, with another regional Support Pokémon, Lapras, receiving two themed rooms at OF HOTEL in Sendai earlier this year.
That collaboration similarly used its Pokémon as a way of promoting the surrounding prefecture, with Lapras serving as Miyagi’s Support Pokémon and the hotel rooms building their designs around the region’s connection to the sea.
Pokémon took the idea much further in Hokkaido during 2026 with its “Stay in a Poké Ball” project, creating an entire three-meter-wide Poké Ball accommodation beside a lake as part of an official Pokémon Sleep collaboration.
More conventional Pokémon Rooms are also available through the MIMARU hotel chain, which expanded and redesigned its dedicated accommodations across Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka in 2025 to feature around 100 Pokémon throughout their interiors.
Grandia Housen’s new Dragonite project takes a more region-specific approach, using one Pokémon and the surrounding Fukui landscape as the basis for the entire stay.
For now, several important details are still being saved for a later announcement, including room rates, when reservations will open, how many guests each room will accommodate, and whether stays will include any exclusive Pokémon merchandise or other bonuses.
The two “Pokémon Traveling Dragonite Rooms” are scheduled to open at Grandia Housen in Awara Onsen, Fukui Prefecture, on November 12, 2026, with further booking and accommodation details expected ahead of their debut.
If you enjoyed this article, you can see more from us directly in your Google feed by adding us as a preferred source.
This post may contain affiliate links, and Essential Japan may earn a commission if you purchase through them.
