Preserve and modernize

"Every five to seven years, chains have to renovate and upgrade their hotels to keep to international standards," says Dorota Latkowska of Knight Frank Nieruchomosci. In one sense the Hotel Polonia on Aleje Jerozolimskie in Warsaw, would seem to be a salient example of this, as it is currently undergoing renovation, which began in 2001. When BEA Hotels NV, (a subsidiary of the Israeli Elscint Ltd, itself part of Elbit Medical Imaging Ltd) acquired forty nine per cent of the shares in Syrena Immobilien, whose subsidiary in Poland Syrena runs five hotels in Warsaw, it and co-investor, the Austrian BAU Holding AG pledged to begin an extensive programme of renovation for the hotels. Many would argue that it this was long overdue. One of the five, The Metropol, situated on the crossroads of Jerozolimskie and ul Marszałkowska, is functional at best and before renovation, the Polonia, despite its rare heritage status, (it was built in 1913) attracted internet reviews such as: "The rooms were small and creepy. The hallways smelled of stale smoke and were dingy and dirty. I checked out and went to the Forum."

Bringing in the new

As the former state-owned hotel chain during the Communist period, Orbis has had the massive task of renovating "fifty hotels in big cities across Poland", according to its Vice President for Development and Investment, Irek Weglowski. Not only does this involve dragging "obsolete", as he puts it, structures and interiors into the twenty first century, there is also the task of wholly upgrading the standards of safety and security. Currently, work is underway on the Novotel Centrum hotels in both Warsaw and Poznań, which should be completed in eighteen months' time. Orbis will then concentrate on developing new hotels, though Weglowski insists that this isn't part of any rigidly set out strategy: "there are no certain figures," he says, "we approach the matter as a 'case by case' study."

Doing up the old

In 2000, the Von der Heyden Group took on the challenging task of renovating the Hotel Lublianka, in the eastern city of Lublin, which was 150 years' old. Such was the complexity of the work involved, that the re-opening of the hotel was delayed by four months. Given that it is generally maintained that developing new hotels is more profitable than renovating existing ones, it might seem that the Von der Heyden Group overburdened itself somewhat. General Manager of the hotel, (which has been operating since may 2002) Hiren Prabhaker explains that "the building had a very rich heritage and it is located near an emphatic Old Town in Lublin. We wanted to keep in with the style of the city." But it was hard work. Unlike when a new hotel is being developed, renovating a heritage site involves keeping official conservators happy, every step of the way. "You have to give and take and work round the situation," says Prabhaker, clearly satisfied with the end result.