Lublin: VDHG terminates the Lease Agreement with SORAT Hotels for the Grand Hotel Lublinianka

Von der Heyden Group terminated the 10-year Lease Agreement with SORAT Hotels Sp. z o.o. as the Tenant did not comply with the conditions of the lease agreement signed on 6. February 2001. SORAT failed to pay its rental obligations for 3 consecutive months and did not meet other financial obligations under the Lease Agreement.

Von der Heyden Group has taken over the majority of the staff and is fully prepared to run the Hotel as of 1 September 2002. Agreements with all key suppliers have been entered into in order to guarantee a smooth transition and ensure that the guests of the Hotel will have at least the same as before level of service. The pre-bookings are stable for the coming months. The average Room Rate is around 105 Euro and the Owner expects an Average Occupation in the first year of operations of around 40-45 %.

Awards for Von der Heyden Group

The first Construction Journal Awards for Poland produced excitement, surprise and controversy in equal measure as the cream of the Polish real estate community applauded the event’s launch as a resounding success.

The four course dinner and awards ceremony, held at the Warsaw Marriott hotel in downtown Warsaw on Wednesday night (6th November 2002), saw the Von der Heyden Group celebrate an outstanding double success in winning the event’s two major prizes, the award for Best Overall Development as well the industry’s own ‘oscar’ for Personality of the Year 2002.

Grand Hotel Lublinianka was cited by the awards jury as ‘a truly brave development’, while the head of the same company, Sven von der Heyden, was honoured for ‘outstanding contribution to the development growth and profile of the real estate industry in Poland during 2002’. Kinga Koninska, who picked up the award on behalf of Mr von der Heyden, read out a statement saying that he was ‘very surprised and honoured to have been nominated and elected to be the Construction Journal Personality of the Year 2002, and even more really very moved’.

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Grand Hotel Lublinianka awards

First Anniversary of Grand Hotel Lublinianka

On July 18 the Grand Hotel Lublinianka in Lublin celebrated its first anniversary. Despite the holiday season, the celebration was attended by many friends and partners of the hotel, who were having a great time till late at night.

The event was hosted by Jacek Borkowski, who entertained the guests with the songs from the repertoire of Frank Sinatra. The dancing couple of The Salsa Kings gave a stunning and lively performance of Latin American dances and encouraged the audience to learn salsa and have a go at the dance floor. The comedian show of the famous Lublin based “Ani Mru Mru” satirical group added up to the jolly spirit of the evening. The elaborate buffet and the wide variety of drinks, the 4 tier cake and a lucky draw for the guests made this special evening complete.

The hotel’s first anniversary was also the occasion to make the official presentation of the new General Manager. Hiren Prabhakar took over the post from Javier I. Soria-Torres, and he made a commitment “to provide a high standard of quality and service that guests can experience in hotels anywhere in the world”. He also invited the citizens of Lublin to food promotions at the “BelEtage” Restaurant, to “take advantage of the rich culinary heritage of Poland with an international fusion”.

The owner of the hotel and the President of the Von der Heyden Group, Sven von der Heyden, announced the new management with the IBB Hotels from Spain, represented at the anniversary by its President, Damian Llull.

Refinancing for Grand Hotel Lublinianka

On 24th of February 2006 Lublin Grand Hotel Sp. z o.o. – one of the Von der Heyden Group companies established to realize the “Grand Hotel Lublinianka” project – has refinanced it’s loan in Millennium Bank S.A. with a new loan granted by Bank Zachodni WBK S.A.

The loan Agreement between Lublin Grand Hotel Sp. z o.o. and Bank Millennium S.A. was concluded in the year 2000. During the five year period a lot of changes connected with the project and it’s environment took place, what encouraged the Management Board of the Company to work out a new conception of the project financing.

From among all banks invited to co-operation, the best offer was made by Bank Zachodni WBK S.A. The agreement is concluded for the period of eleven years.

Von der Heyden Group thanks Millennium Bank for the five years of cooperation and enormous equity contributions by its shareholders, which allowed to restore splendor of this historical building and re-open this magnificent hotel in the City of Lublin.

IBB Andersia Hotel and IBB Grand Hotel Lublinianka win Expedia Awards 2009!

It is a great pleasure of IBB Hotels and Von der Heyden Group to announce that IBB Andersia Hotel in Poznan and IBB Grand Hotel Lublinianka in Lublin have been chosen as an Expedia Insiders’ Select hotel as one of the world’s top properties!

Expedia is the world’s leading online travel company with the largest travel marketplace and unmatched global demand across 70 points of sale in more than 55 countries.

The Expedia Insiders’ Select list is an annual award recognizing the very best hotels in the world as judged by the experience of Expedia’s clients. Based on hundreds of thousands of hotel reviews submitted by Expedia’s travelers, IBB Grand Hotel Lublinianka and IBB Andersia Hotel were identified and awarded for: “consistently delivering superior services, an exceptional guest experience and notable value.”

What makes this Award even more special is that the Expedia Insiders’ Select program includes just 1% of all hotels in the world offered on Expedia.

After receiving this valuable distinction, Angel Llull, Managing Director of IBB Hotels, said: “This award motivates whole team as it is the result of the hard and tough work we have been doing in our first year of operations. We are a hotel chain with the obsession to offer the highest quality service to our guests, and recognitions like this show us that we are on the good track..”

Through continuous acquisitions of shares during the last years, Von der Heyden Group has become a majority shareholder in IBB Hotels, a Spanish origin hotel chain that has been successfully operating on the Spanish, Polish and German markets.

The common values shared by the developer and the hotel operator such as top quality individual approach and care for detail allow for an excellent teamwork between the two companies.

A strategic plan for the future has been developed to increase the portfolio in Spain, Poland and Germany by opening in each of those countries one new hotel per year. At the same time, IBB Hotels will look for new destinations including in Asia. To support the plan a new corporate image has been created for IBB Hotels Brand.

IBB Hotels:

IBB Hotels was founded in 1992 by Damian Llull in Menorca. In 2001 Von der Heyden Group purchased 25,5% shares in IBB Hotels and by further acquisition of shares became the main shareholder in the following years.

IBB Hotels entered the Polish market in 2002 where at that time, the Von der Heyden Group already had a well-established position as a real estate developer and investor. IBB Hotels commenced its operations in one of the most beautiful heritage buildings in Lublin, the four star de-luxe Grand Hotel Lublinianka and became the first Spanish hotel chain operating in Poland.

Today, with around 7 hotels and projects in Germany, Spain and Poland, the company develops an ambitious expansion plan for the pan-European market and not only.

In Poland, besides the existing IBB Grand Hotel Lublinianka in Lublin and IBB Andersia Hotel in Poznan, the IBB Hotel Gdansk on the prominent Dlugi Targ is in the pipeline. In Spain, the company is involved in the development of some projects. The focus is on a 4-star de luxe standard, centrally located and the acquisition is not excluded, something rare in the industry.

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IBB-vdHG Press Release Expedia Award-Andersia, GHL- English-15-07-09

Expedia Awards 2009

IBB Grand Hotel Lublinianka and IBB Andersia Hotel awarded for exceptional hospitality services!

TOPHOTEL 2015: ‘Best weekend Hotel in Poland’ for IBB Grand Hotel Lublinianka

‘Brand of the Year’ Award: ‘Best City Business Hotel in Poland’ for IBB Andersia Hotel

‘Super Star Award’ (2nd place) for conference centre in Poland for IBB Andersia Hotel
IBB Hotel Collection (IBBHC) and Von der Heyden Group (VDHG) are delighted to jointly announce that two IBBHC hotels in Poland: IBB Grand Hotel Lublinianka and IBB Andersia Hotel have been granted prestigious market awards for exceptional hospitality services.

IBB Grand Hotel Lublinianka in Lublin has won TOPHOTEL 2015 award as ‘The best weekend hotel in Poland’, and IBB Andersia Hotel in Poznań has obtained: a ‘Brand of the Year’ prize in ‘City Business’ category, as well as a ‘Super Star Award’ (2nd place) for its conference center, both awards granted during Hotel Brand Awards 2015 at Polagra and Hotel Invest Fair in Poznań.

Recent awards for IBB Grand Hotel Lublinianka and IBB Andersia Hotel, prove not only the well-established renown of Polish IBB hotels to deliver first-rate standards, but also the ability of IBB Hotel Collection to perfectly address needs of different type of guests. Previously, both buildings have also gained numerous development awards, e.g. IBB Grand Hotel Lublinianka: ‘Best Overall Development 2002’, ‘Laur Konserwatorski 2003’, ‘Zabytek Zadbany 2003’, ‘Kryształowa Cegła’, and IBB Andersia Hotel, e.g.: ‘Building of the Year 2007’, ‘Best Hotel Development Project 2008’, ‘CEE Hotel & Leisure Development of the year 2007’ (2nd place).

Growing success of IBB Hotel Collection paves the way for another hotel in Poland coming soon – IBB Długi Targ Hotel in Gdańsk and demonstrates the IBBHC Group capacity to effectively utilize its key assets – a combination of top locations, knowledge  and professional and friendly staff.

The 90 Room IBB Długi Targ Hotel Project (estimated investment value: Euro 11 mln) developed by Von der Heyden Group, is based on refurbishment and conversion of three historical semidetached city houses into a unique hotel in a unique place. This property acquired by VDHG is located in the most attractive part in the heart of Gdańsk, at the corner of historical Długi Targ Boulevard and Mieszczańska Street, almost opposite to the Neptun’s Statute and the Dwór Artusa Building. In February 2015, ‘Długi Targ’ Hotel Project has obtained bank financing with the best offer made by Alior Bank S.A.

Construction works are planned to start in January 2016 and finish in 2017. The building has been re-designed and will now boast about 1.200 sqm of prime retail space on the ground floor combined with an internal rearrangment.

About ‘Hotel Brand Awards‘ and ‘TOPHOTEL Awards‘:
Hotel Brand Awards are presented on the basis of various factors determining the power of the brand to attract guests. Depending on their character, hotels are rivaling in 10 categories in a competition organized by: Profitroom, leading supplier of IT solutions for hotel bookings, and Poznań International Fairs.

Hotel Brand Awards engage leading experts in branding and hospitality gathered on annual Invest-Hotel exhibition. Winners of the competition are selected by 200 representatives of the hotel industry during Hotel Marketing Conference. IBB Andersia Hotel gained ‘Brand of the Year’ prize in ‘City Business’ category and ‘Super Star Award’ in ‘Conference’ category, proving its ability and flexibility to be a hosting partner for biggest market players and create excellent environment for its guests’ businesses.

In September 2015, IBB Grand Hotel Lublinianka obtained a TOPHOTEL 2015 prize as the best hotel destination for a weekend in Poland in an annual contest organized by Hotele.pl. Hotele.pl is the leading portal for on-line room reservations in Poland with more than 200 thousands hotels in their offer. Since 2008 Hotele.pl has been presenting TOPHOTEL prizes in 19 categories differentiating the character of services delivered by hotels in Poland, and two additional awards – TOPHOTEL Partner and TOPHOTEL of the Year. Hotels are nominated on the basis of a grade obtained from users of hotele.pl website and opinions of hundreds companies using Corporate Travel Assistant to book their business travels. The best hotel in a given category is selected through a vote on TOPHOTEL website.

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IBBHC VDHG Press release ENG 29-09-2015