Bucharest’s Hotel Cișmigiu sees “best year ever” amid rising revenues, occupancy

Hotel Cișmigiu, part of the Hercesa Romania portfolio since 2004, saw revenues and occupancy rise this year. In the first 11 months of 2023, the landmark hotel in downtown Bucharest recorded revenues of EUR 1.9 million (up 15% year-over-year) and an occupancy rate of over 78% (vs 70% in 2022).

In 2023, the hotel reached the figure of 40% of tourists in the leisure segment, and 80% of visitors were foreigners.

“For Hotel Cișmigiu, 2023 was the best year ever. Not only did we recover, but we also surpassed the level of 2019, a benchmark year before the pandemic, in terms of occupancy and revenue,” said Mirela Cojocaru, general manager of Hotel Cișmigiu.

“This year, the percentage of tourists from the leisure travel segment increased to 40% of the total, with the business segment remaining the majority. At the end of November, tourists from Israel, an important part of the leisure segment, started to return after their numbers had dropped in October, with the outbreak of war,” she added.

Meanwhile, the corporate events segment, served by Hotel Cișmigiu through five conference rooms with capacities ranging from 30 to 70 people and an amphitheatre, has not fully recovered compared to 2019, with many of these events still taking place online.

“The year 2023 was not without its challenges, even though we recorded, both at market level and in the case of the Hotel Cișmigiu, significant growth. The sudden post-pandemic recovery generated a labour shortage, which has considerably diminished in this segment in the period 2020-2021, a difficulty we are still facing today, along with high energy prices and inflation. We expect these challenges to continue in 2024, and, in addition, we are already seeing signs of shrinking travel budgets in the corporate segment,” Mirela Cojocaru explained.

Hotel Cișmigiu comprises 60 apartments and also houses cultural venues such as the Humanitas Bookstore and the Cervantes Institute. It also hosts the Gambrinus Brewery on the ground floor and Bistro Cișmigiu, operated by Stadio on the sixth floor.

“Hotel Cișmigiu was acquired by Hercesa in 2004, and we keep it in our portfolio, although the company’s core business is residential […]. Eleven years after its reopening in 2012, Hotel Cișmigiu is a successful project, and we are looking forward to further investments of this kind, which for the time being are still difficult due to various legal and administrative issues,” said Romeo Ghica, operations manager of Hercesa Romania.

Hotel Cișmigiu, initially named Palace Hotel, was built in 1912 and inaugurated the following year. The building, renamed Hotel Cișmigiu in 1965, was first closed in 1985 due to deterioration and then again in 1995 for similar reasons.