January 27, 2021 – They promised its arrival this spring and, true to their word, these first-look photos show the construction of the beautiful new Rijeka Hilton Costabella Beach Resort & Spa is complete

With an investment of €80 million and the keen co-operation of the city authorities, the arrival date of the new Rijeka Hilton Costabella Beach Resort & Spa was never in doubt. They said it would be ready for spring and due to open its doors in April. As these first look pictures show, they've been true to their word. Construction of the new Rijeka Hilton Costabella Beach Resort & Spa is complete.

Its been at times difficult to fully visualise the completed project from the glossy, computer-generated builders' images of how they predict the finished product will look. Rijeka residents too have had their worries – would the new promenade in front of the complex (paid for with city money) place a section of their beloved coastline off-limits to those not staying at the Rijeka Hilton Costabella Beach Resort & Spa?

They needn't have worried. As these new images show, the major construction work at the Rijeka Hilton Costabella Beach Resort & Spa is complete. It looks as though they could throw open the doors tomorrow. The worried-over promenade snakes between the main complex and the hotel residents' beach area. It allows pedestrians full access to the seafront – they can pass along the entire front facade of the Rijeka Hilton Costabella Beach Resort & Spa and enjoy the view from the shore just as much as hotel residents. When the Rijeka Hilton finally opens its doors, they'll also be able to take advantage of all of its spa facilities too, which will be opened up to local residents via a membership scheme.

The Rijeka Hilton Costabella Beach Resort & Spa complex has been built across a considerable 18,000 square metres. The main building complex has 10 floors which hold 132 rooms. The site also has 66 villas separate to the main building, six restaurant/bar/food outlets, a private beach, and one of the largest wellness facilities in the region - the two-floored spa area covers more than 3,000 square metres.

The new photos of the complete Rijeka Hilton Costabella Beach Resort & Spa, which are signed as Mr. Fly, were posted publicly to the Facebook group Riječka enciklopedija - Fluminensia by renowned Rijeka photographer Dario Matijević, whose breathtaking images of the nature, landscapes and cityscapes of the Kvarner region are often signed as Baredice Photo and can be enjoyed here. They were subsequently used by RiPortal in their coverage of this story.

October the 20th, 2020 - Fancy ditching your ''home office'' with washing machines going, kids running around and pans boiling over as you try to work for a rather more relaxed approach? A Hilton office might help tune the work-break balance that has lacked so much throughout 2020.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 19th of October, 2020, with the new wave of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that hit most countries in the first days of autumn, the filling up of hotel rooms is again in question, as well as the return of millions of workers to their offices - for those who had a summer break, the "home office" returns, with all the disadvantages it brings with it.

The combination of dire pandemic-dominated circumstances has inspired the hotel industry globally to a stronger and better supply of jobs in the safety and quiet of their hotel rooms, along with all the other benefits a hotel has to offer.

The model is being developed either independently or in collaboration with coworking companies, and is being developed by many global hotel companies, including Hilton, MGM Resorts, Mandarin Oriental, and CitizenM. This is followed by the growing trend of extended stays in hotels, which came to life before the pandemic took the world by storm and is now continuing to flourish.

Despite the fact that the Croatian market, and the more specific market of Zagreb can't possibly be compared in size with the markets of San Francisco or London, the ''long stay'' trends are slowly coming to the domestic market, and for those who'd like to trade their kitchen table and a view of mildly rotten fruit in the fruit bowl for a Hilton office, that possibility is now available.

Zagreb's Hilton hotels introduced their "work place" offer back in the spring, from the end of the lockdown onwards, confirmed Josipa Jutt Ferlan, the director of Zagreb City Hotels and cluster general manager for Hilton in Zagreb.

“We give guests a special, more comfortable work chair so that they can work more easily at a table, a higher level of internet, a discount on their laundry. Our guests also have a discount on a la carte restaurant services, a limousine with a driver for meetings, and a discount on spa services. We motivate them and reward them with points in our loyalty programme. The offer is being carried out at the global Hilton level,'' revealed Jutt Ferlan.

The price of Hilton's packages isn't unique, and it all depends on which services guests want to include.

"The so-called ''long stay'' has become very popular, there are mostly businessmen, IT people, consultants. We had one whole family from the US who lived at the Canopy for as long as four months. We have business people from London who normally have a home office, as well as Germans. They say that the climate is better in Croatia and that the number of infected people isn't the same as in their countries. And of course, because of the chain and the brand, they trust us to stick to all the measures,'' said Jutt Ferlan.

Along with the Hilton office possibility, the respected Croatian company Valamar Riviera also decided on introducing the "long stay" option this autumn. As of this year, two camping resorts in Valamar will remain open to guests all year round. These are the Istra Premium Camping Resort in Porec and the Jezevac Premium Camping Resort on the island of Krk. Valamar has also introduced a rental service for a longer stay of at least one month in these two camps, which is valid for the period from September the 30th, 2020 to March 31st, 2021.

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As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 2nd of May, 2019, with the launch of Hilton in the Costabella resort between Opatija and Rijeka, Kvarner has gained its first global hotel brand and Hilton is entering the market for summer resorts in the Republic of Croatia for the first time.

As we reported recently, last week, Hilton confirmed that they signed a contract with JTH Costabella on the management of Hilton Costabella Beach Resort & Spa, which should open before the 2020 summer season, and the investment poured into the project by a Czech investor is worth about eighty million euros. The investment was announced as a luxury product since its very inception, and when in search of an operator last year, the investor negotiated with the well known Hard Rock Hotels group. Eventually, the results of the negotiations ended with Hilton entering the resort. The company has more than ten resorts in Europe.

Siniša Topalović, a partner at the Horwath HTL consulting house, believes that opening of Hilton's new resort in Kvarner is a very positive move for a number of reasons.

"The internationalisation of the Kvarner tourist offer, the strengthening of traffic in the pre and post [tourist] season, the raising of the quality of the tourist destination's offer, as well as transferring the knowledge of the workforce and internal education are just some of the expected positive effects of this cooperation," Topalović stated.

He also recalled the fact that Hilton recently updated its concept, and this would be the first regional resort to adhere to the globally respected company's brand new philosophy and standards. Sanja Čižmar also emphasised that the entry of Hilton into Kvarner will contribute to deepening the global recognition of the Croatian tourist offer as a whole.

Josipa Jutt Ferlan, the director of the cluster of Hilton Hotels in Zagreb and the director of Zagreb City Hotels revealed to Poslovni Dnevnik what Hilton had brought to the Croatian capital.

"Hilton brought with it a higher quality perception of Zagreb as an international destination, because with the entry of Hilton, Zagreb gained the presence of yet another, globally strong hotel company. The diversity of hotel deals through the presence of various brands, strengthens the destination compared to its international competition,'' explained Jutt Ferlan.

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Click here for the original article by Marija Crnjak for Poslovni Dnevnik

After finding its place in the country's capital, Hilton is looking for further potential locations and opportunities along the Croatian coast for its Canopy hotels as Cappelli cites an investment in tourism for 2019.

As we reported yesterday, in a huge investment in tourism, Canopy by Hilton has found its way to the Croatian capital of Zagreb, but the search for possible hotel locations isn't over for the highly respected hotel company yet. 

As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 12th of November, 2018, the brand nurtures local culture, and this is Canopy by Hilton's very first hotel in continental Europe. After the opening in Zagreb, such hotels in desirable European capitals are set to open, including London, Madrid, and Paris.

Hotel Canopy by Hilton, a massive eight million euros worth of investment by Hrvoje Pezić's Zagreb City Hotels company, was opened on Monday in Zagreb's Branimir Centre.

The lifestyle brand is, as stated, set to take numerous other European cities. It nurtures local culture, and domestic designers, including Studio Franić and Šekoranja, as well as Croatian furniture manufacturers, who are engaged in decorating the Zagreb hotel, as pointed out from Hilton.

In the hotel itself, you can find various pieces of Zagreb's long history, from folklore to its rich scientific and industrial heritage, as well as some of the capital city's typical traditional dishes presented in a new, modern way at the ReUnion restaurant.

The hotel boasts 151 rooms, a restaurant and bar, a fitness room, a retreat room, a transfer room and two meeting rooms.

''After DoubleTree, we're opening Canopy, and we're expecting the opening of Garden Inn next year. We're exceptionally proud of this hotel and we're happy to have had such good cooperation. Croatia is an extremely important market for Hilton. It has a wonderful coastline and we're already looking to expand there and develop our hotels there, but the City of Zagreb is also of utmost importance because it's growing, and we also want to participate in that,'' stated Alan Mantin, Managing Director of Hilton for the development in southern Europe.

Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli emphasised that this investment with the world-renowned brand will contribute to the even better positioning of Zagreb as well as Croatia as a destination which boasts a high quality offer.

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Click here for the original article by Marija Crnjak for Poslovni Dnevnik

The new Canopy hotel by Hilton has 151 rooms, a restaurant and bar, a fitness room, a retreat room, a transfer room, and two meeting rooms.

Zagreb is upping their hotel game with the addition of new more hotels.