Radisson SAS to become one of the biggest hotels

The opening of Bucharest’s Radisson SAS by the end of this year, the first such hotel operating under the renowned international brand in Romania, will likely triple sales of the Centre Ville hotel complex it’s part of, the biggest such in the country, according to Centre Ville’s General Manager Yaron Ashkenazi. With a total of 708 rooms, Centre Ville will be followed by current market leader JW Marriott, whose 402 rooms yielded €37 million in revenue last year.

“Our turnover will be €22 million in 2008, based on an average degree of occupancy of more than 80 percent in our ApartHotel, and provided Radisson SAS will see 60 percent occupancy in the first year,” Ashkenazi says. At present, the Centre Ville complex includes the four-star ApartHotel and Elite Apartments. Centre Ville had a turnover of €6.4 million in 2006, and executives are expecting €7 million in 2007. The complex, developed by Israeli company Elbit Medical, has a profit-before-tax ratio of 60 percent. Inauguration of the Hotel Bucharest Radisson SAS is expected by the end of the year. With 424 rooms, the unit will be the largest five-star hotel in Romania. Non-hotel retailers in the Centre Ville commercial area are expected to see revenue worth €1 million in 2008, the first year in which all of the complex divisions will be operational. The project, located on the site of the old Hotel Bucuresti, on histoic Calea Victoriei thoroughfare and just around the corner from Bucharest’s Hilton Athenee Palace, will also include six restaurants, an interior garden, stores, and a swimming pool.