Boutique hotel trying to gain foothold on five-star market

Epoque five-star boutique hotel in Bucharest, launched yesterday in the wake of 8m-euro investments in the area of Bucharest Cismigiu Park, targets revenues worth more than 1m euros in its first year in business and a 55-60% occupancy rate, slightly above the average reached by Bucharest hotels over the past year.

The hotel operating just 45 apartments is run by Antoni Kuhnen, the former general manager of Howard Johnson hotel during the 2002-2005 period. Kuhnen has been in Romania sine the early 2000s, a period during which he also ran Bucharest’s four-star Sofitel, currently Pullman.

“Tariffs per night will range between 120 and 150 euros,” Kuhnen stated.

The boutique hotel, built on a 5,200-sqm area close to Cismigiu park, is owned by D&M Perfect Real Estate, set up in 2004 and controlled by Dan Claudiu Parau.

“The project was initially due to be a real estate one, but over the past year and a half it has been converted into a hotel. The moment the hotel is delivered on the market is a good one, given building materials and employee costs,” stated Lucian Marinescu, a senior associate with Trend Hospitality hotel consultancy, managing Epoque Hotel.