Corinthia Hotels expands into Bucharest, Romania

Corinthia Hotels is set to open a new hotel in Bucharest, Romania. The former Grand Hotel du Boulevard in the capital city's center is scheduled to reopen in late 2019 as the Corinthia Grand Hotel du Boulevard Bucharest following an extensive refurbishment.

Corinthia Hotels will operate the hotel under a management agreement that was signed earlier this month with the property's owner Niro Investment Group. Corinthia Hotels' sister company QP Management will control the project management and cost management services for the developers. Dubai-based investment, development and asset management firm Beaufort Global advised the deal. 

The hotel, which was built in 1867, originally closed about a decade ago. The property will undergo an extensive renovation and rebranding, which is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2018. Once the renovations are complete, the Corinthia Grand Hotel du Boulevard Bucharest will have more than 50 guestrooms and suites. 

This is Corinthia's most recent hotel restoration of a 19th century property in Europe. The group also acquired, renovated and relaunched the Corinthia Hotel London, the Corinthia Hotel Budapest—formerly the Grand Hotel Royal—and the Corinthia Hotel St Petersburg, Russia.

Corinthia's most recent refurbishment currently underway is the former Grand Hotel Astoria in Brussels, which the company acquired in 2016. This city-center property, originally built in 1909, sat vacant for 10 years before Corinthia began restoring it. The Corinthia Grand Hotel Astoria will have 121 guestrooms and suites once renovations are complete.