HAMILTON, Bermuda --
Orient-Express Hotels, based here, acquired the 301-room Grand
Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg, Russia. The purchase price for the hotel, previously managed by the
Kempinski group, was not disclosed.
Plans call for
investing at least $125 million to refurbish the property, which is
located on Nevsky Prospect not far from the Russian Museum.
Orient-Express Hotels owns 48 deluxe hotels around the
world.
We feel the
competitive situation is good with only one other 5-star property
in the city, said Simon Sherwood, president of Orient-Express
Hotels in a statement. Business activity is increasing in the
region as St. Petersburg has always been a major educational center
& . Thus, there is and will be an increasing demand for luxury
hotels by the business community.
To contact
the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Michael
Milligan at [email protected].