Another Radisson Blue hotel managed by The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group opened up in one of Ukraine’s most picturesque places – Alushta, Crimea. The company claims boldly that it will take the region’s infrastructure to a totally different level.
“Except for
giving the region 200 more new work places, we are also introducing the policy
of responsible business and attracting more tourists by bringing the service to
the international level,” says Fikret Yuksel, general manager of Radisson
Resort & SPA, Alushta. “It is hard
to say whether there is something like this in the whole Ukraine, but there is
nothing even close to it in Crimea,” he added.
The first
building of the hotel opened back in 2008, and 63 rooms of 209, with classical
Italian design, are available now and have been accepting guests for five years
already.
The first
building was actually constructed out of the already existed one – an architectural
monument from 1913 – while the modern housing is a totally new project and is
much bigger the first one. It consists
of 146 newly built suites, including two Presidential suites and two rooms for
disabled people, a large Spa Shore Zone and three open swimming pools,
including one in a designated children’s area.
The territory of
the Radisson Resort complex also includes a hotel beach line and four
restaurants, two in the old building and two more in the modern one.
Another
attraction of the new resort complex is a set of seven conference and meeting
rooms of different sizes that can hold more than 300 people.
“The last few
years have shown that 30 percent of our guests are foreigners,” says Natalia
Belnachuk, the hotel’s sales director. “They come here despite all the
difficulties with transportation, but now we also aim to attract business
groups, and we have lots to offer – the nature, infrastructure and a high level
of service are among those advantages,” she said.
Despite the
promise of high-quality service, the prices are not shockingly high for the
region. A double room with breakfast included
will cost some 199 euros during the high season. Prices drop some in the
off-season. The same room with breakfast will cost 149 euros per night in autumn
and spring, and just some 110 euros in winter.
Belanchuk says
the new Radisson Alushta Resort also has a wide discount system for tourist
agents as well as for guests, and is a part of the International Razidor
discount system offering its clients a Carlson Card, valid in all the group’s
hotels around the world.
“We also present
ourselves as a family resort, so children under 17 who come with their parents
can stay in the hotel for free,” she added. This basically means that a
standard hotel room for a mother with a child under 17 will cost 179 euros
instead of 199.
Hotel managers are
confident guests will enjoy their stay at the hotel, which they say is a notch
about the rest in the region.
“I wanted to say
something about the competitors, but we don’t really have any competitors,”
Yuksel says. “Don’t get me wrong, I do respect the other hotel businesses in
the region, but we are the only international brand with an international level
of service here,” he explained.
Civic activist,
Irish-born, Padraig Purcell who’s been living in Ukraine for three years says
he still didn’t have a chance to visit Crimea. “I also don’t know, and I haven’t researched accommodation
options in Crimea, so it is likely that I would play safe and select Radisson,
at least in the beginning, because I am familiar with the brand,” he said. “I
have stayed in Radissons in many countries and I know what to expect,”
he explained and added that it is also important for him that the staff of the
hotel speak English.
While the list
of positives is long, the investors – Russian diversified company IFD Capital –
does not expect to break even soon, with Hr 500 million invested in the project
only during the second stage of construction.
“We expect to see
our first profits in about 20 years,” says Andriy Zaitsev, general director of IFD
Capital’s Ukrainian branch. “We counted Crimea’s short tourist season (which is
just three months) and a 40-46 percent yearly occupancy rate,” he explained.
The hotel expects to see 60 percent of its revenue from room rentals, counting
on long-stays, 30 percent from conferences and some 10 percent from other
services.
A week long summer
vacation in Radisson Resort & SPA, Alushta can be as expensive as an all-inclusive
trip to Egypt or Turkey, and taking into account the region’s poor transport
connections this can be a deterrent.
But hotel
representatives aren’t worried. “The Black Sea is different and cannot be
compared to a Mediterranean Sea or any other, it has its own coloring and
spirit,” Yuksel said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Daryna Shevchenko can be reached at [email protected].
