Secret love hotels open to investors

TOKYO -- Japan's secretive love hotels are opening up to European investors as one player in the sector prepares for a debut on London's stock market this month.

Japan Leisure Hotels, which owns five love hotels worth some $43.68 million in Japan, hopes to lure investors to its IPO with an 8 percent dividend and promises of fast growth -- shedding light on a sector that is often associated with sleaze and organized crime.

Japan's 25,000 or so love hotels have long provided discreet hideaways for couples, some featuring Karaoke machines or vibrating beds. Guernsey-based Japan Leisure Hotels rents out rooms for short stays lasting only a few hours, but the company's director believes this system doesn't just appeal to thrill-seekers.

"People have busy life styles and they don't want to be tied down to 'Now, I got to check in after 12, or after three' or 'I've got to check out before midday'," director Stephen Mansfield told Reuters in a phone interview.

"It's very much like a discount airline. The required time reduces the prices to attract more people in and make it more economical for them. At busy periods, prices go up."