SOLD! – Hungarian historic hotel to become a luxury resort
Danubius Hotels Group has concluded an agreement with the Hungarian real estate investor Indotek Group for the sale of Hotel Gellért – written in the hotel group’s announcement.
To realise the closure of the transaction, several legal and administrative issues need to be settled by the parties, which will presumably take a few months. Jellinek Daniel – Director and majority owner of the investor company, Indotek Group – is one of the wealthiest Hungarians, being the proprietor of a huge business complex.
Indotek Group is planning to implement a complete reconstruction on the protected historic building – while preserving its original appearance – in order to provide higher standard service, strengthening the quality of tourism in Budapest – explained by the representatives of the real estate development company.
As the Hungarian news portal index describes, the sales contract of Hotel Gellért stipulates that during the planning phase of construction and completion of the permitting process, its operation will be continued by Danubius Hotels Group.
By the termination of the reconstruction, Indotek Group intends to assign a luxurious international hotel chain with the hotel’s operation.
The legal procedures do not affect the hotel’s daily operation – reservation management and guests welcome are realised just as usual. It is also important to mention that the hotel building sale does not cover the operation of the neighbouring Gellért Thermal Baths, as it belongs to the management of the municipal corporation of Budapest thermal baths.
Source: index.hu
I just stayed at the Gellert and was so disappointed and disgusted by how dirty, stained, shabby, and worn the facility was. I suppose this sale explains why the previous owner didn’t want to invest any money in making the place look nice like it used to. I understand the spa is owned separately but it was also in bad shape and the pool waters were dirty. I certainly wont be going back there in the future! Such a shame.
The Hotel St. Gellert is a beautiful iconic Hungarian landmark. I stayed at the hotel last year and I can tell you the rooms were Soviet style drab and a disgrace. I stayed in the room where the Hungarian flag proudly waved from my balcony and it had an obvious dark black ashen splotch the size of a silver dollar that looked like it had been there for some time. I brought it to the attention of management and it was cleaned a day later. Where was the pride? Then I had two pairs of reading glasses taken from a locked secured room at the same time( I carry backup glasses and keep them in separate places in the room). Management was indifferent , defensive and completely unprofessional with regard to this very annoying theft and not even an incident reprt was made although I had requested one. There was no security office or even security people there on the weekend so I was advised to send an email to management regarding the incident.. Needless to say, I didnt receive a response to my email. I am a police officer and I notice things and I know people in high end hotel security and they couldnt believe that such a renowned hotel did not meet even minimal standards of professional behavior . As an American of Hungarian heritage it pained me to see such a Beautiful Historic Hungarian Hotel have such low standards and unprofessional management. I sincerely hope that the Hotel St Gellert undergoes a complete change in management attitude from indiffernt, pompous, arrogant and incompetent to professional, capable and caring. God Save the Hotel St Gellert and Make the Hotel St Gellert Great Again/
I hope the renovation will be carried out with the respect of the beauty and the iconic style of the building. I stood in the Hotel for three nights few years ago. It was obvious that the building needed a proper decoration and refurbishment. I can’t wait to see the hotel after the renovation.