| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 14/08/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 29 |
| Copyright: Other |
Budapest by Brian Richards
Making room for improvement
Quality drive sees hotel groups stake £300m in top-end properties
A TOTAL of £300 million is being invested in new upmarket hotels in Budapest over the next two years, as part of the Hungarian capital’s biggest hotel spending spree since the early 1980s.Three five-star and 13 four-star hotels are set to open by the middle of 2002, reflecting a drive for quality – in all, 2,614 rooms are being added in the top two-star categories.
Despite the success of the three-star panzio (pension) properties in the last decade, Budapest’s future lies in top-end hotels, according to the Hungarian Tourist Office’s UK director Gabor Tarr.
“Nothing under four star is acceptable now,” he said. “Though the panzios have proved successful, it’s better to have more four-star hotels and a wider band of rates.”
The Kempinski Corvinus was Budapest’s last five star, opening in 1992 (see hotel check).
Next door on Elizabeth Square, the finishing touches are being made to the £30 million Le Meridien, a former police headquarters, which opens soon adding 215 five-star rooms.
By mid-2002, there will be another 180 top-bracket rooms in the £56m Four Seasons, opening in the former Gresham apartment building by the Chain Bridge.
The 100-year-old Corinthia Royal, being rebuilt by the Maltese Corinthia Group will offer 400 rooms at a cost of £60m.
Two four-star hotels are newly opened – the 205-room Pava Plaza in southern Pest and the 240-room West End Hilton by the west railway station.
Imminent additions are the 155-room Park Plaza by Castle Hill in Buda, the 72-room Andrassy in a one-time Foreign Office building by Heroes Square and the 130-room Mercure Metropol.
Beyond 2000, key four-star openings include the £50m, 310-room Crowne Plaza and the £23m Holiday Inn Rozsadomb, with 301 rooms.
“Hotels are averaging 75% occupancies, with rates having stayed consistent over the past few years.
“Apart from January, February and July, hotels are fully booked for much of the time,” he said.
While the six operating five-star hotels are meeting demand from Budapest’s flourishing corporate market, the four stars are pitched at a broad mix of business and leisure.
The rise in popularity of Budapest has created unforeseen demand in the leisure sector – it now rivals Prague among Central Europe’s leading city-break destinations.
Two-thirds of the 250,000 UK visitors to Hungary last year stayed in Budapest, spending three nights on average and dividing their time between Buda’s Castle District and downtown Pest.
“We could still use a direct service from Manchester to Budapest,” he said.
Budapest
High above the Danube, the Castle District, with its web of cobbled streets, neo-Gothic Matthias Church, ornamental Fisherman’s Bastion and impressive Military History Museum, is the big focus for tourists.
Here sits the Royal Palace, packed with prized pieces in its art galleries and housing the Budapest History Museum. Behind rises the green wooded backdrop of the Budapest Hills, easily accessible from the city.
On the Pest side of the river, summer crowds throng Vaci utca, the city’s prime shopping street that now has a serious rival in the new Westend Centre, one of Europe’s largest retail complexes next to the West station.
Meanwhile, St Stephen’s Basilica remains shrouded in scaffolding, in the midst of a massive interior and exterior restoration due to be completed by the building’s centenary in 2005.
hotel check
Location: on Erzsebet ter (Elizabeth Square) on the Pest side of the Danube in central Budapest, Hungary.
Overall impression: pricey but offering the highest quality in every respect, most notably the cuisine. Definitely a hotel to return to.
Sample product: Crystal Holidays offers a three-night break with breakfast, including return scheduled flights with British Airways from Heathrow, from £439 per person (extra nights from £65).
Kempinski HotelCorvinus
Fisherman’s Bastion: part of the Castle District and a highlight of a visit to the city
Budapest: the rise in popularity of the city has led to the biggest investment in accommodation since the early 1980s