Although the number of hotels in Bucharest doubled in 2015 from the 54 operational in 2005, which could sleep 9,200 people, the hotel market in the city still needs investments.
“There is still room for new hotels in Bucharest, there are still areas not covered yet, such as the north part of the city, Pipera, where a business hub developed, without hotels, though. If a hotel were developed there, it would be very good,” said Lucian Marinescu, hotel industry consultant with Trend Hospitality.
Daniel Ben-Yehuda, general manager of five-star Sheraton Hotel near Piata Romana, central Bucharest, has recently said the hotel operated at peak capacity in September and October and the rising demand prompted its operator to buy a plot of land near it to build another 60 to 100 rooms and a spa center.
Last year 1.6 million tourists stayed in hotels in Bucharest. They stayed for two nights on average, totaling 2.7 million nights, according to National Statistics Institute data.
The five largest hotel operators in Bucharest, ANA Hotels (five-star Athenee Palace Hilton, Crowne Plaza in Bucharest and other hotels on the seaside and mountain resorts), Bucuresti Turism (the operator of the five-star Radisson Blu in Bucharest), Societatea Companiilor Hoteliere Grand (the five-star JW Marriott), Continental Hotels (five-star Grand Hotel in Bucharest, ibis hotels and other hotels) and Compania Hoteliera Intercontinental (five-star Intercontinental Hotel) posted 518 million lei (about EUR116 million) revenue last year, according to ZF’s calculations based on Finance Ministry data.
The largest hotels in Bucharest operate under international brands, and the international chains on the market include Hilton, Marriott, Rezidor, Ramada and Intercontinental. However, the affiliation to international brands is low, only 7% in the country, which is indicative of how attractive Romania is to tourists.
Bucharest has been unable to attract luxury hotel brands like Ritz Carlton – a Marriott brand, or Four Seasons, which operate in Budapest and Warsaw.
“Bucharest is several years behind the other European capitals in the region, such as Budapest, Warsaw and Prague, where luxury hotel brands entered. Bucharest lacks such luxury hotels as Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton, which is indicative of the maturity of the market,” says Sorin Ionescu, consultant with Fivestar Hospitality.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)