Cyprus’ first executive residency hotel is scheduled to open in Larnaca by March 2020 and to be operated by global brand Best Western.
It is the second brand hotel chain to open in the town following the opening of the Radisson Blu.
The two companies behind both ventures are Larnaca-based developers Quality Group and hotel management company SunnySeeker Hospitality.
Quality Group CEO Savvas Kakos said the Executive Residency Zenon Hotel – to be built in the heart of Larnaca – is a pioneering concept and a milestone for the town and Cyprus tourism in general.
“We are offering a unique product after signing a deal with one of the biggest hotel businesses in the world, the construction will start soon and operate in 2020,” Kakos told a news conference on Wednesday.
He said there were plans to build another two of these Best Western hotels catering for longer-term stays in apartment-style residences in Larnaca, before branching out elsewhere in Cyprus.
“We aim to raise the bar in the hospitality sector to the benefit of Larnaca and Cyprus, the town has been overlooked for so long, so we are trying to support it with long-term investments,” said Kakos.
“We will continue to invest in Larnaca because we believe in it – Larnaca is the next ‘big thing’ in Cyprus,” he added.
Best Western director of sales and operations for southeast Europe Katerina Kyriakopoulou said the company would not have invested in the project if it did not believe Larnaca could deliver.
“We will support this project by selling the destination and the experience,” said Kyriakopoulou.
The hotel chain is returning to Cyprus after its previous venture on the island in the early 1990s failed to blossom.
She said this new category of hotel was aimed at upper to midscale clients who demanded a ‘home away from home’.
SunSeeker CEO Marios Polyviou said it was to be the first service apartments hotel in Cyprus for longer-term residence while the rooms are also up for sale to investors.
Larnaca mayor Andreas Vyras said the town hall supported such private initiatives in order to progress with much-needed infrastructure projects.
“If there is cooperation from the private sector together we can change Larnaca for the better over the coming decades,” said Vyras.
Larnaca has lagged behind the rest of Cyprus as a tourist resort because it has lacked accommodation while the Radisson Blu is the first 5-star hotel to be built in the town since the 1970s.
Although the number of visitors to Larnaca has doubled over the last five years – 420,000 in 2018 compared to 220,000 in 2013 – it still only has around 12% of the tourism market – losing out to Limassol, Paphos and Ayia Napa.
“It is not by accident that the first Executive Residency in Cyprus is in Larnaca, we unreservedly believe that Larnaca is the tourist and hotel destination with the biggest growth prospects in Cyprus,” said Polyviou.
US-based Best Western is an international brand that operates more than 4,000 hotels and motels worldwide.
The €10-mln Zenon is a 16-floor hotel with 39 serviced apartments, spa centre, swimming pool on the 4th floor, cafeteria and three parking levels with 42 parking places.
