January 10, 2020 - A number of new hotels will open in Croatia this year. A look at five unique luxury hotels that should open this spring or at the start of the tourist season. 

According to the eVisitor system, more than 1,170 hotels with about 172,000 beds are registered in Croatia.

Of the total accommodation capacity, which amounts to about one million beds, hotels account for only about 12 percent.

However, five hotels will improve that ratio somewhat. A look at the new luxury hotels opening in Croatia this year, courtesy of T.portal. 

Hotel Costabella, Rijeka

The five-star Costabella Hotel Complex is set to open this summer. It will have 280 rooms with a total of 560 beds, a large area for wellness, fitness and a private sandy beach.

All rooms and suites will have views of the Kvarner Bay. The resort will offer six restaurants, a beach bar, and a rooftop restaurant.

Costabella Simulation / Facebook

The investment is worth as much as 80 million euros. The investor is JTH Costabella. The resort will be part of the Hilton hotel chain.

Hotel Ambasador, Split

The new Ambassador Hotel is expected to have four-plus stars, with 101 rooms and suites, 240 restaurant seats, a spa, a gym, a nightclub and an underground garage with 59 spaces.

The Ambassador is seeing an investment by one of the world's most famous shoemakers, Klaus Alex Birkenstock, who announced that he was planning to build a new favorite tourist resort for tourists from the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and France from the once dilapidated building on the Split waterfront.

Ambasador Simulation

Birkenstock has invested around 17 million euros in the new hotel.

Hotel Armerun, Šibenik

The Armerun Hotel will have 17 accommodation units, 14 of which are in the property itself, while three are in a separate property that can be rented as a villa. It will have two categorizations, one with four stars and as a heritage hotel.

Screenshot

On the ground floor of the hotel, there will be a restaurant for outside guests to enjoy.

The hotel is scheduled to open in the spring of 2020. The total value of the investment is around 2 million euros and the main investor is the company Stanovi Jadrana.

Amfora Resort, Split

The Hotel Amfora by Zvonko Kotarac, a businessman from Split, was supposed to open last year, but due to construction problems (and an invalid building permit), the opening has been delayed. 

Amfora Simulation

The total investment is over 26 million euros. The investor insisted that the hotel would have 207 rooms and suites, a 500-seat congress hall and 2000 square meters of wellness.

Courtyard by Marriott, Split

Courtyard by Marriott, the business brand of the renowned Marriott International Group, should also open this year. The hotel is located in the Dalmatia Tower, the tallest building in Croatia, standing 115 meters tall. 

Courtyard by Marriott will be located on the building’s top floors, from the 16th to 26th, allowing guests a spectacular view of the city, and because of the specific shape of the building, each of the 190 rooms and four suites will have sea views.

Westgate Group 

In addition to the conference facilities, the hotel will feature a wellness area, a gym, a restaurant and a bar.

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“This is, apparently, a good story,” says Zvonko Kotarac proudly while looking at the selling capacity of his new hotel. “The interest is unbelievable, we are close to closing bookings for the peak season,” adds the Split entrepreneur. He is convinced that having a hotel that is 65 percent full year-round will certainly be achieved, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on February 18, 2019. 

The hotel above the Žnjan plateau is still under construction. When opened in May, which the investor does not doubt at all, it will be the largest operating hotel in Split.

With 600 beds available, it will significantly improve the tourist image of a city that cries for quality hotel facilities as opposed to plenty of beds in private accommodations. It will also change the image of Žnjan.

“It seems to us that this is the correct way of urbanizing this area,” says Kotarac.

The luxurious building will consist of two parts; the Amfora Resort is the main facility on nine floors with 207 accommodation units, 30 to 70 square meters in size, while the Amfora Resident will include 30 high class apartments between 40 to 100 square meters. The buildings will be connected by a walkway.

Unlike the latest trends in buildings with fully enclosed facades, as many as three-quarters of all rooms will have a balcony overlooking the coast, the sea and the central Dalmatian islands. The total investment is more than 26 million euro.

The main building and public spaces were designed by Emil Šverko, rooms created by designer Patricia Sabljić, and the restaurants and Sky bar by architect Ante Vrban. The residential part is authored by Neno Kezić.

The hotel will be called "Amfora" because Zvonko Kotarac owns a family collection of amphorae, one of the most complete in the area, which is greatly preserved and aged between 1800 and 2500 years. Thirty listed and conservation-protected amphorae will be permanently exhibited at the hotel. As a national cultural asset, it will be accessible to the public in the lobby of the hotel.

Amfora will offer a congress hall with 500 seats, a wellness center of 2000 square meters, four types of saunas with an open view, three swimming pools, two of which will have a sea view and one that will be a winter pool with a glass wall, and two restaurants and three bars next to the spectacular Sky Bar, in an area of 800 square meters for 500 guests at the top of the building.

Amfora will accommodate a very diverse clientele, from business people to families, mainly from the UK and Scandinavian countries. The hotel will boast 80 permanent staff and 40 seasonal workers. Interestingly, competitions for staff are still open.

The investment per room is at the level of the European average of about one hundred thousand euros. A lot of the accompanying content burdens the price but gives it quality. According to today's business parameters, the investment should be returned in ten years, and maybe a bit sooner. 

Kotarac is not a new player in the hotel business. You might already know him as the owner of the first five-star hotel in Split, "Atrium", which will be closed for two months due to complete reconstruction next January.

However, future hotel Amfora will be completely different. The Atrium, as a city hotel, has a large fluctuation of guests who stay for a day or two, while the Amfora will see guests staying for half a week to a week. The Amfora is expected to be even better annually. 

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The future largest hotel in Split is currently under construction.