The five-star hotel from the Metropola Business Center, which will be built on the premises of the former Radio House in Bucharest, will be affiliated to the Hyatt international chain hotel.
"We negotiated with several hotel chains and Hyatt turned out to be the right choice for this project. We had to bear in mind that this was a renovation, not something that was going to be built from scratch," said Coskun Erginer, general manager of Dambovita Center SRL, the company developing this project.
"We will sign the contract with Hyatt in one month at the latest. We are now going over certain technical details, which need further discussions," Erginer added.
Metropola Business Center is the biggest such project in Bucharest, and even in Eastern Europe, according to representatives of the companies involved. This is also the first public-private partnership in Romania.
The Bucharest project is a public-private partnership between Dambovita Center SRL and the Romanian Ministry of Transports, Constructions and Tourism (MTCT).
Mimeel Insaat and Orb Estates are the main shareholders of Dambovita Center. Last March, the consortium comprising the two companies signed a partnership with the Ministry of Transports, which provided the respective land and the building, assessed at 19 million dollars.
Besides the hotel, the complex will also include an office center, luxury condos, a mall, conference rooms, a health and fitness center and multistory parking. The total investment in this project amounts to 130 million dollars.
Mimeel Insaat is one of Turkey's main construction companies, whereas Orb Estates is a British financial services company.
"We have got the financing and we shall start the construction works in May at the latest. We will first build the other objectives within the complex, with the hotel to come in the end. The complex will be dedicated in 2007 and will employ some 4,500 people," Erginer stated.
Hyatt Corp. is one of the world's best-known luxury hotel chains, with more than 207 hotels based both in the international metropolises (New York, Tokyo, Berlin), but also in famed tourist locations (Dubai, Hawaii, Bali).
The number of international hotel chains operating in Romania will thus go up to seven, as the Hyatt will join Marriott, Hilton, Intercontinental, Howard Johnson, Accor and Best Western.
"The hotel's outside architecture will be classical - it will look more like the Marriott than the Howard Johnson," Erginer stated. The hotel will have 300 five-star rooms and will be rated as Grand Hyatt (the chain's top category).
Bucharest boasts four five-star hotels affiliated to international hotel chains: Marriott Grand Hotel, Athenee Palace Hilton, Crowne Plaza, and Intercontinental.
According to analysts, the new hotel will have two significant competitive edges: location and its being part of a business center. gergiana.stavarache@zf.ro
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