Is it common to be asked to meet for the first time in a hotel lobby or somewhere similar?

I’m Maezawa from the executive office, and I’ll answer this one too. Thanks for your question. With cafés like Doutor or Starbucks, the seats are often close together, and they’re usually crowded, so finding a seat can be difficult. That’s probably why many people use hotel lounges. However, with Universe, I imagine you’ll generally be having a meal, so if you’re not dining at the hotel, I feel more people tend to meet somewhere other than the hotel. As someone previously asked here, women may wonder, “Why are we meeting at a hotel if we’re going somewhere else?” So it can be a bit tricky. (If you’re using the hotel restaurant, though, I think it’s a fairly standard meeting place.) If you’re not dining at the hotel, some people meet at a station and go to a restaurant from there. Others make a reservation at the restaurant and have their date wait inside.

I’m Kazu, a male member. I think hotel lobbies are popular meeting spots because they’re easy to find. I often see what look like papa-katsu meetups there, so I stopped using hotel lobbies as meeting places. Sometimes I use the cafés in hotel lobbies for work meetings. They’re quieter and less crowded than places like Doutor or Starbucks, and there’s more space between tables, which makes them convenient. Speaking of which, when I once had a meeting in the lounge at the Imperial Hotel, one of my clients felt apologetic after seeing the price of the coffee. Of course, I wasn’t staying at the hotel then either—I just figured that with the nearby Starbucks packed, a hotel lounge was the only place where nearly ten people could sit together. Incidentally, interviews for male members of Universe are also held in hotel lounges.

I’m a male member, and my username is Kamihikōki. The reason hotel lobbies are so commonly used is simply that they’re easy to recognize as landmarks. We don’t use any of the hotel’s facilities. It’s the same idea as meeting an acquaintance in front of Starbucks or Doutor, or arranging to meet inside the café. Hotel lobbies also offer a comfortable amount of personal space, making it easier for two people meeting for the first time to say hello. In a Doutor or Starbucks, it can be harder to approach someone.