Improvement in the hotel business

Hotel owners in Szczecin cannot complain about low number of guests.  The increase in the number of visitors is related to many events carried out in the city (The Tall Ships Races, sports events, Sea Congress) on the one hand, and to the closing of Neptun Hotel with nearly 500 beds in 2011 on the other hand.  Soon, though, a number new of four-star hotels will emerge on the city map.

A historic tenement near Pomeranian Dukes’ Castle will house fourteen cozy hotel rooms on three floors. There are also a small weight room, sauna and Jacuzzi located on the top floor.  A restaurant will operate on the ground floor, with the VIP zone (space for private parties and a wine cellar) in the basement.  There will be a parking lot next to the building.  The new development, called Hotel Zamek, applies for the four-star class status.  It is nearly completed, waiting for last official permits to commence its operations.

The new facility is an investment of Bronisław and Jarosław Kubel, owners of STR Shipping and Trading.  “We address business clients specifically, since there are few similar places in the city”, says Krzysztof Gąsiorowski, the hotel director.
Another four-star hotel shall be developed in the former location of “Dana” clothes manufacturing plant, as announced by J.W. Construction developer company. 

The investor has suspended the construction of Hanza Tower on a plot adjacent to "Dana”, but it has obtained PLN 14 million in the form of low-interest loan from Jessica Initiative, which will be used to transform the old production plant in a hotel facility.  It has four thousand sq.m. capacity on five floors that will be turned into 102 hotel rooms with a parking plot, a sauna and a weight room.  The works have already commenced.  The investment should be completed by mid-2015. The name of the network that will operate it is still unknown, though.

Park Hotel may grow by two or three floors.  Facility owners do not want to discuss details of their plans, as they have already brought about some controversies, especially among conservators and ecologists.  “We have applied for a planning permission and are waiting for a response", says Michał Matuszewski, CEO of Park Hotel Sp. z o.o. “Only having received the permission, we can discuss details.” He admits, though, that the facility owners have been thinking about its extension for quite a while.  “Certainly we need more rooms in the recent location and standard", he explains.  “For the company, it means growth, a guarantee of safety and stability.”

This does not exhaust our hotel news, though.  In future, at least two more hotel facilities will be built in Szczecin.  The first one will include a Turkish sauna, spa, restaurants and playgrounds located near Rusałka in Park Kasprowicza. The original opening date fell at the end of 2013.  The investor, Khaled Chekh, in his public statements has ensured that the plans had not changed but he has never provided any dates.

Magnus Isaksson, a Swedish investor who has purchased three tenements at Obrońców Stalingradu, wants to establish a three-star hotel there.  This will be the second stage of the entire planned investment, including also refurbishment of the adjacent tenements.  Its completion is planned in five years.

At present, Szczecin offers 3.036 beds in nineteen hotel facilities.  The city still lacks a five-star hotel.  Four facilities (Radisson Blu, Novotel Szczecin Centrum, Park Hotel and Atrium) belong to the four-star class and six to three-star class.

ŁP