Eight months after earthworks began and the foundation stone was laid, all the floors of the first airport hotel in Hungary with direct terminal access have been constructed, and the highest point of the structure has been reached. During the traditional topping-out ceremony, the managers of developer Wing Zrt. and Budapest Airport announced that the hotel is due to receive the first guests at the end of this year, as planned.

NASDAQ and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange-listed Elbit Imaging has put two of its Bucharest hotels on the market. The company is hoping to finalise the sale of the five-star Radisson Blu and the four-star Park Inn by the end of the year. 

Swissôtel, part of AccorHotels, has entered into a franchise agreement with Al Shiddi International for the development of a new 218-room urban resort scheduled to open in early 2018. Situated next to Bosnian Parliament, within the mixed-use Sarajevo City Center project, consisting of shopping mall and office tower, Swissôtel Sarajevo will be located in the Bosnian capital’s centre.

While individual markets in CEE have developed differently, the hotel market in the region as a whole has registered an upward trend in 2016, which makes it attractive for investors, Christie & Co reveals. The hotel property adviser has recently released its latest report on the Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) hotel market which examines market trends in major capitals across the region, namely Belgrade, Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw. Christie & Co based some of their findings on performance data provided by STR.

Paris claimed top spot in Colliers International’s Hotel Investment Attractiveness Index, an analysis of the investment climate of 20 European cities, despite predictions that investors and tourists would lose faith in the city due to political uncertainty and the perceived threat following various national security breaches. Prague was ranked in 10th place in the index, boosted by the low level of development costs and high number of tourist arrivals.

Resilient European economies, the continued popularity of Mediterranean leisure destinations and Europe’s importance for business travellers, should drive hotel occupancy and revenues in 2017, according to the latest PwC European Cities Hotel Forecast. Most European cities, including Budapest and Prague, are expected to see additional revenue growth in 2018.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has announced the signing of Holiday Inn Warsaw West Station. The hotel will be developed with franchisees VHM Hotel Management, owned by the Satoria Group SA, and investors Capital Park. 

Owner Strabag has put the five-star JW Marriott Hotel on the market, zf.ro reports. The potential sale is reported to have attracted interest from various foreign and local investors, including the Paval brothers, the owners of DIY retailer Dedeman. The value of the 402-room hotel is estimated to be around €100 million.

The investment volume achieved in 2016 totalled almost €1.2 billion with 46 transactions recorded in core CEE hotel investment markets. In comparison, 2015 reached just over €700 million with 45 transactions. Austria was the star performer with almost €800 million transacted, which made up 67% of the total investment volume. In other CEE markets volume was lower than in 2015 with a particular decline in Poland which more than halved in volume. The Czech Republic accounted for 18% of total CEE investment share; most of the investment took place in Prague which saw 7 transactions including the Hilton Old Town, Park Hotel and Chopin Hotel.

According to Christie & Co's recent hotel market snapshot, Bucharest is an emerging market for hotel investments. While the city's hotel market may yet to fully recover from the financial crisis, it has made tremendous progress in recent years, reporting upward trends in key performance indicators and growing investor interest.