Spanish-held NH four-star hotel in Piata Unirii, put up for sale in 2008 for EUR18 million and then EUR14 million in 2010 is now listed for a negotiable price of EUR8.5 million, according to information from a real estate website.
“There are no buyers in the market. Hotels are no longer boasting the results of 2008 in terms of occupancy rate and tariffs. Investments in a four-star hotel are not recouped earlier than ten years,” says Lucian Marinescu, a consultant with Trend Hospitality.
Whereas Bucharest hotels posted an over 60% occupancy rate in 2008, now the rate slightly exceeds 50%.
A hotel is a serious investment only for those who think on the long term, but now most investors are seeking more lucrative acquisitions with a shorter return on investment, the consultant says.
“Hotel owners keep hoping they will sell their hotels, while buyers are offering only half of their asking price,” said Gabriel Diaconeasa, real estate senior broker of Expert Group, a real estate company in charge of finding buyers for ten hotels.
Other hotels put up for sale in Bucharest are the four-star Parliament, with 76 rooms, near the Parliament Palace and the three-star Trianon, close to the Cismigiu Park in the center of the city.
“Owners are putting hotels up for sale for lack of hope that better days will come for their business, they have no customers, they don’t see anything done towards a fiscal relaxation. As far as tourists are concerned, a vacation is becoming a luxury product,” said Dragos Raducan, vice-chairman of the federation of companies in the Romanian tourism industry FPTR.
Market conditions made many investors delay the development of hotels from scratch.
Businessman Radu Enache, a stakeholder in Continental hotel chain, announced he would develop several hotels countrywide, but put the project on hold. He said early this year he saw no signs of a rebound in tourism and the economy.
Other hotel owners chose to turn their hotels into apartment buildings. Such was the case of the largest hotel in Bucharest, Rin Grand Hotel, partly converted into apartments in 2011, which the owners, the Negoita brothers, put up for sale.
Another hotel owner, George Copos, plans to convert the 53-room Poiana Hotel in Poiana Brasov near the city of Brasov in central Romania into an apartment building.
Banks are also seeking buyers for hotels they foreclosed on in their bid to recoup the money they lent to clients.
Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR) has 15 accommodation facilities (hotels, boardinghouses and villas) for sale on its website.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)