Malta's Corinthia brand will open new hotels in Bucharest, Rome, Doha, New York and Brussels next year and in 2024 but parent company International Hotel Investments (IHI) faces uncertainty over its operations in Russia and Libya.

Details were given in a company statement issued to the stock exchange by IHI covering the period up to December 2021, which was before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

IHI has owned a hotel in St Petersburg, Russia, with an adjoining commercial centre for 20 years. The group also owns a 10% equity share in a hotel and residences project in central Moscow. The combined interest in St Petersburg and Moscow represented approximately 8% of the group’s total revenue and assets in 2021.

The Corinthia St Petersburg hotel remains operational, but the group said sanctions imposed on Russia and counter-sanctions that Russia itself has introduced are being carefully monitored and fully adhered to on the advice of its specialist legal advisers. The consequence of the current situation will depend largely on the duration of the conflict. 

The project in Moscow started in 2019 when IHI acquired a 10% share for US$5.5 million in a company formed with a consortium of investors that acquired a landmark property near Red Square.  The acquisition was made with a view to developing the site to include a luxury boutique 42-room Corinthia hotel, 109 upmarket residential serviced apartments for re-sale, high-end retail, commercial outlets and underground parking.  In 2021, discussions proceeded with funding banks, authorities and contractors with a view to commencing works later in 2022. Further progress on this project is dependent on the current situation in Russia, the group said. 

New Corinthia hotels in New York, Bucharest, Rome 

IHI said its hotel operating subsidiary CHL has been engaged to operate and manage a Corinthia hotel in New York once it opens following extensive refurbishment in early 2023. The hotel was acquired by the private investment firm Reuben Brothers in 2020 and is in New York’s luxurious upper east side. It will have 97 guest rooms including 33 suites, 5 signature suites and 12 luxury residences. Design work is almost completed. 

The former Grand Hotel du Boulevard in Bucharest.

Redevelopment works are also advanced at the former Grand Hotel du Boulevard in Bucharest, which will become the Corinthia Hotel Bucharest when the project is completed in July 2023.

The reconstructed hotel will feature 33 luxury suites as well as a fully restored grand ballroom and various dining and leisure venues. 

The building that housed the Italian Central Bank in Rome, now being rehabilitated and converted.

Also set to open next year will be the Corinthia Hotel Rome, housed at the former seat of the Bank of Italy in Parliament Square. The property is currently under extensive reconstruction and refurbishment. It will have 60 guest rooms including a number of suites, two restaurants, bars and lounges wrapped around a central garden. It will also have a spa and other facilities.

'Unrivalled amenities' at new Corinthia Hotel Brussels

IHI said the Corinthia Hotel Brussels is slated for opening 2024.  The owner of this investment is NLI Holdings Ltd, in which IHI has a 50% shareholding. NLI acquired the former Grand Hotel Astoria in Brussels in 2016 for £11 million. The purchase of an empty land plot adjoining the listed hotel building and four vacant town houses at the rear of the original hotel. Once complete, the hotel will be operated by Corinthia Hotels Limited.

A planning permit was issued in December 2017 for the restoration of the historic ground floor and façade of the original hotel, as well as the excavation of basements, and demolition and reconstruction of all upper floors, adjoining land and town houses. The new hotel will have 126 luxury bedrooms and suites. "It will offer unrivalled amenities for the city of Brussels including a fully restored grand ballroom, an 850m2 spa, various dining venues, meeting facilities and high-end retail shops," IHI said.

2024 will also see the opening of a Corinthia hotel in Doha. IHI said CHL has signed an agreement with United Development Company (UDC), the Qatari master developer of The Pearl in Doha, to manage and operate a luxury Corinthia hotel being built on UDC’s newest flagship real estate development, named Gewan Island. The Corinthia Hotel Doha will occupy an area of 13,000m2 and will feature 110 guestrooms, a 1,000-person banquet hall, several restaurants and a luxurious spa facility. The development will also include 18 nearby luxury branded villas for sale or lease, a golf course, and a beach club, all of which will be also managed by CHL under the Corinthia brand umbrella.

The beach and yacht club are scheduled to open this year.   The hotel and luxury branded villas will open in 2024. 

Refurbishment plan for the Corinthia, Attard

On its Malta investments, IHI said a refurbishment plan is being prepared for the Corinthia Hotel in Attard.  Design work is well underway for most of the indoor and outdoor areas of the hotel, including all bedrooms and Villa Corinthia, the original high-end restaurant where the Corinthia brand was born. 

At the Hal Ferħ complex now renamed the Corinthia Oasis Project, architectural designs have been largely completed for a luxury low-rise, highly landscaped resort that is sensitive to Malta’s character, materiality and rural environment. An application to Planning Authority has been submitted. UK-based designers and landscape experts have been engaged. Works will commence once permits are in hand, expected for later in 2022.

Last year IHI acquired the remaining 50% of the issued share capital of Golden Sands Resort Limited, owner of the Radisson Golden Sands Resort. IHI said that since its full acquisition it has adopted a strategy for the future of the hotel, including a medium-term plan to unencumber the property and acquire timeshare allocations. An existing management agreement with Radisson to operate the hotel has been reorganised to terminate by end 2024, or earlier by end 2023 at the company’s discretion. 

Benghazi project at a standstill

IHI said that while it continues to operate its hotel in Tripoli, plans for a new Corinthia Hotel in Benghazi have been at a standstill for years.

IHI has a 55% equity participation in Libya Hotel Development and Investment JSC, a company that acquired a derelict building formerly known as the El-Jazeera Hotel and adjoining site in Benghazi, Libya. The plan was to develop a 228-room five-star hotel, 2,000 square metres of retail space and 10,000 square metres of office space. Whilst planning permits were issued by the Benghazi planning authorities and demolition works commenced in January 2014, in light of the prevailing situation in Libya all works on this development have been put on hold, and current plans are due for reconsideration depending on future developments in Libya. 

Branching out in the four-star sector

IHI said that with its Corinthia brand now firmly established as a luxury operator on four continents, and an operating infrastructure capable of further globalising the brand, it has decided to expand into the 4-star sector.

The group already owns or manages for several hotels under their own independent name or under franchise from other brands.

Work has started to identify a team and international advisory agencies to select a name and draw up property and operating standards, a marketing set-up and a distribution network for this class of hotels. The group’s aim is to launch its new brand by next year.