Balaton wellness hotel closes due to high overheads

A wellness hotel in Balatonkenese is facing a five-month forced holiday. There are fewer guests than usual, and rising overheads make it unprofitable to maintain.

After the summer months, October saw an even bigger drop than usual in traffic at the Hotel Marina in Balatonkenese. The number of corporate events and individual leisure trips were also lower than usual.

Read alsoHungary’s unemployment rate among best in EU

According to Csaba Szijártó, director of Hotel Marina Port, although the occupancy rate was 94 percent in August, the interest dropped in autumn. The 94 percent occupancy rate exceeded the 93 percent in 2019, before the pandemic.

“Because of this, we plan to close for 5 months at the beginning of November and only reopen for the Easter holidays. In addition to weak demand, the reason for closing the hotel is the increase in energy prices,” Szijártó said.

During the planned winter closure, the energy system will be upgraded with self-financing, Forbes reports. As part of this, solar panels and heat pumps will be installed.

The manager of the Marina Port Hotel said that the hotel’s gas bills have jumped 263 percent, while electricity bills have increased by 174 percent. “We have not signed a contract with the gas supplier for 2023 because they have already offered us 10 times the price for gas,” Szijártó said.

Read alsoHungary’s biggest hotel closes soon

Source: Forbes