The idea is to get in line with the InterContinental Hotels Group standard, which puts the Crowne Plaza brand in the ‘upscale’ category. The management applied for a four-star certificate for all of the hotel’s standard rooms, general manager Franz Rattensteter told ZF.
Whereas the website of Ana Hotels, owner of the Crowne Plaza and Athenee Palace Hilton, showed both of them as five-star hotels at the beginning of the year, now Crowne Plaza is presented as a four-star hotel. Booking.com, too, lists Crowne Plaza a four-star rated facility.
Other websites, however, such as the seebucharest.ro managed by the Bucharest City Hall, continue to list it as a five-star hotel. Copos’ hotel in northern Bucharest is part of the InterContinental chain and the Crowne Plazas in other countries are rated as four stars.
The Crowne Plaza in Bucharest operates 164 rooms and its owner said he expected EUR6.5 million revenue from it in 2012.
Representatives of other hotels in Bucharest say the Crowne Plaza management decided to request a change of rating to be able to get contracts from pharmaceutical or medical companies that do not organize events in five-star hotels.
“It is not allowed to organize events (and/or accommodate the healthcare professionals) at five stars hotels for the events organized by ARPIM members. This restriction refers to the events organized in Romania. By its content and character, the entertainment episode must not be prejudicial to the image of the pharmaceutical industry. The current section applies both to events initiated by an ARPIM member and to those organized in Romania by professional associations and sponsored by one or more ARPIM members,” reads the “Events and Hospitality” chapter of the Ethical Code of the Romanian Association of International Medicine Manufacturers (ARPIM) available on its website.
Contacted by ZF, Dan Zaharescu, the ARPIM director, said the ethical code refers to medical promotion and does not allow organizing events in hotels rated above four stars.
He explained the provision came into force this year, even though it had been recommended in 2009. The provision arose from the need to comply with reasonable image standards. As a result, “no events organized in five star hotels get sponsored any more,” he added.
Sponsorship budgets for a national or international event, such as a convention on a specific topic amount to EUR10,000 to EUR15,000 spent in a four star hotel, Dan Zaharescu said, adding that usually the amount allocated to a medical event is EUR2,000 to EUR3,000.
Hotel operators in Bucharest say that event demand mainly comes from the pharmaceutical and medical industries, which are the most active clients. There have been several dozen medical events since the beginning of the year.
When ZF asked him whether such events were held at the Crowne Plaza hotel, Dan Zaharescu said it did host a very important convention with foreign participants, but only did so after giving up one star of its rating.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)