Romanian developer One United Properties has purchased an unfinished, abandoned building in the historic centre of Bucharest, for €13.5 million. The building will be transformed into a 5-star lifestyle hotel - One Plaza Athénée.  

Romanian entrepreneur Ovidiu Budeanu has signed a franchise agreement with French hotel group Accor for the opening of a new 4-star Mercure Hotel in Bacău.

Hungary's BDPST Group is set to acquire Hotel Gellért in Budapest, located in the same building as one of the city's most famous spas, from Indotek Group. The price of the transaction was not disclosed. Indotek obtained the hotel in 2019, buying the property from Danubius Hotels Group, portfolio.hu reports.

In its latest study on the CEE hotel market, hotel real estate expert Christie & Co sheds light on how the capital cities of Prague, Bratislava and Budapest developed during the Covid-19 pandemic and which of the three cities emerged the strongest from the crisis.

Massive construction is underway on one of the artificial peninsulas being created off the UAE's coast. The Czech company Preston Capital is now investing in a four-star hotel complex there. It plans to invest $50 million (€48 million) in Ras al-Khaimah, E15.cz reported.

Hotels are under extreme pressure across Europe and there is no investors’ rush to put money in these assets under the current tough economic conditions. Property Forum asked Péter Takács, Investment Director at Newmark VLK Hungary about the way out from this crisis and the chances of local mid-size investors in the CEE region.

Strabag Real Estate has announced the development of Upper One, an office and hotel complex at the junction of ul. Grzybowska and Jana Pawła II in Warsaw. It will replace the out-of-use Atrium International office building.

Service providers, including international property agencies, are bound to adjust their services to the rapidly changing demand from occupiers, developers and investors. Property Forum asked Kata Mazsaroff, the recently appointed Managing Director of Colliers Hungary to unveil her expectations about the commercial real estate market in the region and in Hungary in particular.

The volume of investment transactions recorded in the hotel sector on European markets in the first half of 2022, reached a similar level to last year's. The UK remains the most active market, followed by France, Italy, Spain and Germany, says Walter Herz.

Rising energy prices and construction costs, the volatility and depreciation of the forint against the euro, rising interest rates and tightening financing conditions all represent challenges for the actors over the short term, the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) states in its fresh outlook.