YEAR 2016
Crowne Plaza, Novi Sad, Serbia
The 144-room hotel will be located in the heart of the business district of Novi Sad and just a short walk to the city centre for guests wanting to explore the city’s renowned 18th century architecture, visit the fortress of Petrovaradin, the plethora of beautiful churches or take a tour of the nearby vineyards and gastronomy sites. Crowne Plaza Novi Sad will feature a range of business and meeting facilities, including five meeting rooms and two boardrooms. Guests will also be able to enjoy the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant and unwind at the sky bar, which promises panoramic views of the city.
Luxurious Hotel Hills, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
There will be a multipurpose congress centre with modern conference technology, a thermal spa offer, indoor and outdoor pools, an adrenaline park for children and adults at an impressive 2,200m2, wedding halls, several restaurants with national and international food menus and a restaurant on the hotel’s roof.
Mariott Hotel, Skopje, Macedonia
A charming city with a fascinating history, Skopje is located in the northern part of Macedonia with the beautiful Vardar River flowing through it. The Skopje Marriott Hotel will be located in the city square, the hub of business and social activity, near the Stone Bridge which represents the connection between Skopje’s past and present. The new hotel will feature stylish guestrooms with plush beds and bath linen, flat screen televisions, a modern business centre and high-speed internet access.
Hotel Dioklecijan, Split, Croatia
A new, luxury 5 star hotel, worth about 35 million euros, will be built on a plot of 8,000 square metres in Trstenik bay, one of the most attractive bays in the city of Split, Croatia. According to the preliminary design the hotel should have 7 floors, 200 rooms and suites, a conference centre, swimming pool, spa-centre, and two restaurants.
CONVENTION CENTRE SARAJEVO, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina
The preparations began at the end of 2012 and now, after making a decision to start the preparation of an urban project and after a public hearing, the final version of the project has recently been adopted.
Given that Sarajevo does not yet have a congress centre, the construction of such a facility in the heart of the Novi Grad Municipality will place Sarajevo on the congress cities map and the capital will be able to achieve greater profile as a European metropolis. In October 2015, the Novi Grad Sarajevo municipal council adopted the Draft Decision on the adoption of the city planning project called Sarajevo Convention Centre, deciding for its implementation. The centre will be built next to the Radio-televizija BiH building, nearby to the Novi Grad city hall. The centre will contain several meeting rooms and halls, while the complex will have a hotel, a shopping mall, garages, office buildings and a residential area.
The construction of the Congress Centre Sarajevo will put Sarajevo on the map. Besides its congress focus, extra facilities are also planned. Taking into account that only holistic and multi-functional projects have a chance in today’s competitive market, alongside the congress component, where it will be possible to maintain the central business and educational, cultural and other events, it is also planned to construct hotels with enviable levels of accommodation capacities, a shopping centre, underground parking, additional business facilities, as well as the construction of an element of housing. Just 15 minutes from where Congress Centre Sarajevo will be located is Sarajevo Airport, making every other part of Sarajevo easily accessible by public transport, taxi or even walking.
Opening 2016
Bosna and Hercegovina is just a few months away from getting its first Five Star International hotel, as the renovation works on the former Mostar Hotel Rose are in full swing. The hotel complex will include approximately 200 rooms and a conference hall that will be able to accommodate more than 800 visitors. The hotel will also contain rooms for meetings and seminars, a spa and wellness centre, and a spacious rooftop terrace for guests to enjoy panoramic views of the city of Mostar. The hotel will include fast food for all fast food fans, particularly fans of the Bosnian local specialties such as cevapcici (a simple and boldly flavoursome finger-sized sausage of grilled meatballs). It will also contain two “five star” restaurants that will satisfy even the most demanding guests. Rose will almost certainly become part of the Sheraton hotel chain, based in Turkey. Rose Mostar is assigned to be the most modern hotel of the chain in the region. The realization of this project will deliver 173 new workplaces and the total value of the Hotel Rose reconstruction project is almost 40 million EUR.
Opening, April 2016
A new, contemporary 4-star hotel is about to open its doors in Istanbul this April – the Mercure Istanbul Airport Hotel. The hotel is located just a 3-minute drive from Ataturk International Airport, 1.2miles (2km) from ArmoniPark Outlet Centre and 1.9miles (3km) from Istanbul Aydın University. CNR Expo Centre and the WTC Istanbul Business Towers are also within 6miles (10km). Close to the main attractions of the Old City Taksim, this Istanbul Hotel is easily accessible via public transport. Mercure Istanbul Airport Hotel offers free WIFI in all of its 377 rooms, a 24-hour room service and parking.
Radisson Blu is opening its first hotel in Moldova. The Radisson Blu Leogrand Hotel, Chisinau, is located in the heart of the city, close to the Central Park and within walking distance from the main tourist attractions. This is the biggest hotel in Moldova with 143 rooms and suites, each room featuring an elegant interior and contemporary furnishing which provides comfort and convenience. Business travellers will be able to enjoy 6 different function rooms in what will be the biggest Convention Centre (over 1200 sq m.) in town. The unique and innovative architecture of the Convention Centre enables it to host any scale of event, either an official meeting in theatre style seating, a seminar in classroom style, a reception for 1000 guests, or a banquet dinner.
This completely renovated 4* hotel with a new congress centre, a new Luxury Wellness & Spa, refurbished rooms, outdoor pools and a theme restaurant is nicely hidden in the shade of a pine forest and close to the most attractive sand beach in Dalmatia.
The Smart Selection Hotel Palace Bellevue, a landmark of the town of Opatija, will welcome its guests in 2016 with a whole new image. Renamed as the Remisens Hotel Palace Bellevue, it will comply with the highest standards guaranteed by the Remisens brand. This includes 196 completely refurnished rooms and modern congress halls with additional services, as well as a new wellness centre with a Revital Zone.
RADISSON BLU HOTEL, ISTANBUL ATAKOY, Turkey
January 2016
This January the Radisson Blu Hotel, Istanbul Ataköy welcomed its first guests. The hotel is located in the Ataköy neighbourhood – a residential area between Atatürk International Airport (9km) and the old town (6km) – and it will also host residential units. Besides the 133 rooms with Radisson Blu signature services such as free high speed internet access, the hotel will offer an all-day-dining restaurant with private dining, a lobby bar and patisserie, and an impressive 980sqm spa that will include a traditional Turkish Hammam and treatment rooms. Guests will also benefit from an indoor and outdoor pool. For meetings and events, the hotel will comprise 2 board rooms and 2 meeting rooms. 50 parking spaces will complement the facilities.
RADISSON BLU BEACH RESORT, Milatos Crete, Greece
Opening in second quarter of 2016
The former Minos Imperial Beach Resort and Spa in Milatos in Crete will start operating under the Radisson Blu Beach Resort name from the second quarter of 2016. The hotel will undergo a complete overhaul, amounting to 8.5 million euros. This will be the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s (one of the largest and most dynamic hotel groups worldwide) second Cretan hotel in Greece after the Radisson Blu Park in Athens. The hotel is situated on the northern shore of Greece’s largest island with 318 spacious rooms and suites. The hotel family-friendly accommodation also boasts 7 swimming pools, including a water park and an adult-only pool. “We are confident that the new Radisson Blu Beach Resort, Crete Milatos will become a competitive destination – due to its authentic design, casual atmosphere and affordable luxury”, said the owners.
FAIRMONT QUASAR, Istanbul, Turkey
Two 41-story towers will sit prominently above a 4-story office podium with fitness facilities and luxury retail stores. The towers will house a Fairmont Hotel and Fairmont Residences, as well as Quasar Residences and offices that will be managed by Fairmont. The hotel will feature Fairmont Gold, a number of lounges, congress halls and several restaurants, 2,000 square metres of function space and a Willow Stream Spa.
Opening 2016
Hotel Constantine Palace, Niš, Serbia
Opening 2016
YEAR 2017
Some of the hotels presented will open in late 2017, 2018 or 2019 due to delays or other problems.
INTERCONTINENTAL LJUBLJANA, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ljubljana’s newest hotel addition will be located near the shopping and business centre in Dunajska Cesta and the tourist and historic areas surrounding Presernov Square and Triple Bridge. The 165 guestrooms will include a presidential suite, as well as an additional two 500-person banquet halls, six meeting spaces, a fitness centre and a spa. The 21st floor will be home to a restaurant featuring outdoor dining with panoramic views of the city. This InterContinental hotel, along with IHG’s worldwide reputation, will provide guests with the highest quality rooms, leisure facilities and restaurants served by the best people offering a world-class service.
HILTON GARDEN INN, Bucharest, Romania
The new hotel is located in a historic building in Bucharest’s Old Town, next to Romania’s National Bank’s headquarters. The building is currently being renovated and when finished it will have 201 rooms. Hilton currently operates five hotels in Romania, the best-known of which is the five-star Athenee Palace Hilton near the Romanian Athenaeum.
INTERCONTINENTAL SOFIA Hotel, Sofia, Bulgaria
The first InterContinental Hotel in Sofia, Bulgaria is waiting to open its doors in 2017. The hotel is situated in the centre of Sofia overlooking the Alexandar Nevski Cathedral and offers easy access to the National Theatre, as well as local shops, boutiques and restaurants. This 182-room hotel will be operated under a management agreement with InterHotel Grand – Hotel Sofia. It will include seven meeting rooms and five boardrooms, a lobby bar, a spa and fitness centre, and a rooftop restaurant.
InterHotel Grand – Hotel Sofia CEO Evgeni Roussev said: “We look forward to continuing InterContinental’s global reputation as the world’s largest luxury hotel brand and providing our guests with unique, enriching experiences.”
W BELGRADE hotel, Belgrade, Serbia
The Serbian capital is an exciting and developing city as well as a brilliant tourist destination in Europe, which is why another chain-brand hotel decided to open its first hotel there. The Starwood Hotels and Resorts will open its first W Hotels property in Serbia in 2019. The W Belgrade hotel will be situated in the city’s new 2km long waterfront area and will include 120 guestrooms and suites. Besides facilities such as an all-day dining venue, bar, spa, fitness facility and pool deck, business guests will have at their disposal a 450sqm meeting and event space. The hotel will also include flat Residences, spanning across two towers and containing 165 residential apartments ranging in size from 55 to 100sqm.
TOURIST CITY – THE BUROJ OZONE CITY, Trnovo, Bosnia and Hercegovina
On the slopes of the Bjelasnica Mountain in Bosnia and Hercegovina, 20km southeast of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, one of Dubai’s leading real estate companies, Buroj Property Development, will begin its works on the 1.3 million square metres surface to build the Buroj Ozone City, the largest tourist city in Bosnia.
On the outskirts of the town of Trnovo, with a population of around 2,000, Buroj plans to build thousands of homes, several hotels, a hospital and Zayed Mall, a shopping mall that will be the biggest in all of Eastern Europe and will feature a lavish “dancing fountain” at its centre. The project also includes the construction of 1,000 luxury villas designed for comfortable living and recreation in a natural setting, with a three-bedroom villa in Trnovo costing about £170,000. The country is not unfamiliar with large projects developed by Gulf countries: a $30m Kuwaiti-funded tourist complex, “Sarajevo resport”, opened in October 2015. Also, a Saudi company’s residential project housing 200 villas in the hills of Sarajevo is slated for completion by the end of 2016.
SWISSOTEL SOFIA, Sofia, Bulgaria
Opening 2018*
The fashionable new hotel will include 200 hotel rooms as well as 81 serviced residences, and will be part of Grand Kanyon Sofia, a stunning mixed-use development that is generating significant interest as an important new hub for business and leisure travellers.
