July the 3rd, 2021 - The long awaited Rijeka Hilton Costabella Resort has finally opened its doors to guests after much talk. With the vaccination rollout in Croatia and Europe going well, there's hope to be had yet for the height of 2021's summer season.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, the very first Croatian summer resort of the global hotel company Hilton, the Rijeka Hilton Costabella Resort and Spa, has been officially opened. The resort with a private beach and its own anchorages is an investment of the Czech JTH Holding, which has invested more than 105 million euros in this project.

Following nothing but bad news dominating the travel and tourism industry across the world as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, this is definitely the event of the year for the Croatian hotel sector.

The Rijeka Hilton Costabella Resort's hotel offers a total of 132 rooms and 62 villas and apartments, the first eforea spa & health club in all of the Republic of Croatia and a fitness centre which is open 24 hours a day. The hotel also boasts six restaurants and bars, including the fine-dining Nebo Restaurant & Lounge at the very top of the hotel.

At the head of the restaurant is the youngest Croatian chef with a Michelin star, Deni Srdoc, and along with him, four restaurants and bars will be run by chef Miljenko Kosanovic.

"My dream has come true. This, I'm convinced, will be a place where thousands of guests will come, but also a place which has created many jobs and positioned this destination to a much higher level when it comes to tourist accommodation. I'm sure that this trend will continue,'' said Jaroslav Tresnak, the CEO of JTH Holding.

Simon Vincent, Hilton’s executive vice president in charge of the EMEA region, revealed that Hilton plans to open 40 new facilities across Europe this year alone, despite the continued difficulties when it comes to leisure and travel.

This new Rijeka resort is also part of the Hilton Honours loyalty programme, which covers 18 Hilton hotel brands, and guests who make reservations directly through Hilton's official channels can enjoy a number of different benefits, which will attract many new guests who are yet to come and discover Croatia.

For more, follow our dedicated travel section.

April the 16th, 2021 - Yet another beautiful Opatija Riviera hotel is set to be constructed in autumn this year, bringing yet more luxury to this picturesque part of Croatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, although there are still a lot of challenges ahead of this Opatija Riviera hotel project, the construction of a brand new luxury hotel next to the marina in Icici should begin this year. It marks an investment from the Hungarian entrepreneur Lorinz Meszaros worth a massive 50 million euros, which may bring a new global hotel brand to Kvarner.

Optimism despite the ongoing coronavirus crisis

Denis Sikljan, the owner of the DDG Group, which developed the project on the land of a former hospital, which covers 20,000 square metres next to Marina Icici, confirmed that the main project has faced delays because of the pandemic.

The new Opatija Riviera hotel will be a five star facility with 180 rooms and 12 villas, next to which a square for public use will be built, and the project includes the construction of an access road, a pedestrian bridge to the sea, and a new rainwater drainage system from Ucka. Fountains, shopping facilities and complete horticultural landscaping are planned on the public square, which will become the new center of Icici.

"We're very optimistic about it all, although we do still have a lot of work to do, precisely because a number of public institutions are involved in all of this, from the state to local government and public companies, and it involves a series of permits that must be obtained for implementation.

For now, everything is going according to plan, although slower because the pandemic has slowed down the administrative processes, and part of the property status of some of the land needs to be resolved. Once the works start, and we expect them to begin to be right after this summer season, everything should be completed within two calendar years.

It would have been earlier, but we have to take into account the ban on such work during the tourist season, which automatically takes away eight months of work,'' revealed Sikljan, who took over the project from Karlovacka banka after the bankruptcy of Industrogradnja, which initially purchased it from KBC Rijeka. There used to be a hospital for lung diseases on the land, and it end up being left totally neglected for a long time.

The investor, Meszaros, is known to the public as the owner of NK Osijek, and he connected with Sikljan, a well-known developer of luxury tourist projects in Kvarner, mostly on Krk, through sport.

The investor profile

The company that is implementing the project in Icici is Rivas Hotels & Resort, registered back at the end of 2019 in Rijeka, and its founder is the company Talentis group, owned by the family of Lorinzo Meszaros.

The company has 30 hotels in its portfolio in Austria, Hungary, Romania and Montenegro, and soon plans to develop a strategy for its expansion in Croatia, with Icici as the first hotel project.

Meszaros is also the owner of the company Mirno more, which owns Vila Maria in the bay of Ceprljanda in Ugljan, and reached the eyes of the media when five years ago a group of hooligans shot at the windows in the house where national team member Ivan Rakitic was staying with his family.

The Talentis Group points out on its Linkedin profile that it is one of the most prestigious investors in Hungary, which is currently developing a new innovative city on 5,000 hectares, with more than 300 real estate projects in the western suburbs of the capital city of Budapest.

Over the last few years, they have completed projects worth more than 100 million euros in total, and in addition to hotel facilities, they have also developed a shopping centre and logistics centres.

For more on upcoming business ventures and projects in Croatia, follow our dedicated section.

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.

As Novac writes on the 20th of June, 2020, Hotel Kvarner, otherwise the oldest hotel in Croatia and in the northern Adriatic, as well as a symbol of the City of Opatija, is currently undergoing the most extensive renovation in its entire history.

The value of the investment stands at an enormous 23.5 million euros. The hotel was built back in 1884 and was initially known as the Quarnero Hotel. Its design and architectural solutions are an example of sophistication and beauty and it has long been known as a hotel that stands out from the crowd. During the renovation, the hotel building will be reconstructed in accordance with all of the proper conservation guidelines in order for this luxury hotel to regain its former beauty once again.

As the best and most important hotel belonging to Liburnia Riviera Hotels (LRH), Hotel Kvarner will open its doors once again in time for the 2021 season. It will offer its future guests an extraordinary experience thanks to a larger number of apartments and bigger and more comfortable rooms, roof terraces, and a completely new museum space, which will feature items from the rich history of the hotel. During the renovation of Hotel Kvarner, the Zelengaj restaurant, which is also owned by LRH, will be converted into a brand new reception. In addition, the ground floor of the hotel will primarily be home to public spaces, such as a library, restaurants and a la carte restaurants, as well as a pool bar and a bar for cigar lovers.

"We welcome the valuable investment in the renovation of Hotel Kvarner, which will be significant for the entire destination. Raising competitiveness is possible only by constantly increasing the quality of the tourist offer, which includes, among other things, investments in accommodation facilities. In the mandate of our government, investments in tourism amounted to a total of 3.5 billion euros, which, in 2019, when compared to 2016, is an increase of 50 percent,'' said Minister of Tourism, Gari Cappelli.

At the same time, Hotel Kvarner's new indoor pool will have direct access to the beach and the sea, while the existing spa area will be expanded by an additional 800 m2 and will be spread over the site of the former Warmbäder hot tubs. The baths were sadly completely destroyed in a fire back in 1889. The famous Crystal Hall will retain its splendor, but along the way it will be modernised so that it can provide all of the benefits of digitisation for the needs of many future exclusive events.

In addition to the renovation of the building itself, the hotel will be surrounded by greenery and all of the hotel's facilities will be open not only for hotel guests, but also for all visitors and friends of Opatija who want to enjoy the beauty of Hotel Kvarner and Kvarner bay in general.

"Thanks to its heritage and luxury, Hotel Kvarner will offer its guests an exceptional experience across its entire offer. By separating each of the properties within the group, our offer will increase and specialise, depending on the needs of our guests. Our goal is to make Opatija one of the most desirable destinations, as well as a unique place you want to return to again to gain even more unforgettable memories. We strongly believe in partnering with the community in which we do business; therefore, in the coming decades, we're going to invest not only in our own property and our employees, but also in the destination and the region itself,'' said Mr. Heimo Waldemar Hirn, President of the Management Board of LRH.

Investing in Hotel Kvarner marks the beginning of a long-term investment plan, according to which LRH will renovate all of its valuable real estate from Opatija all the way to Mošćenićka Draga, as well as the camp in Medveja, and raise the categorisation of its hotels and villas to four or five stars. By providing not only luxury accommodation, but also an exceptional holistic experience to all its visitors, LRH is seeking to change the profile of tourists visiting Opatija. The goal is to separate Opatija from the destinations of mass tourism and turn it into a leading European luxury destination - just as it was in the past.

For more, follow our lifestyle page.

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.

Make sure to follow our dedicated travel, business and lifestyle pages for much more.

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