Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti and Igor Bavcar, CEO of food, energy and tourism holding Istrabenz, laid a foundation stone on Tuesday in a symbolic gesture marking the renovation of the Palace Hotel. The investors expect that the hotel will reopen in the spring of 2008.
Bavcar said that investors are facing a challenging time as they will be renovating the hotel, one of the landmarks of the seaside resort of Portoroz, part of the coast and the area around the building.
Igor Okorn, the director of Istrabenz's tourism subsidiary Istrabenz hoteli, told the press the investment is worth EUR 37.5m, with the state contributing EUR 4.17m. Istrabenz, the hotel's owner, is providing the rest of the funding.
Okorn explained that the facility will become the first Slovenian hotel in the five stars de luxe category. It will have 185 rooms, including luxurious presidential suites, and sport a congress centre, library, gallery, and wellness centre.
When it was built at the end of the 19th century, the luxurious Palace Hotel was the largest hotel of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
It boasted top-of-the-line equipment and a variety of premises for socialising such as a reception room, a crystal hall as well as gentlemen and ladies' salons.
The hotel was last refurbished in 1951 and has been closed since 1990.
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