Malta-based International Hotel Investments plc (IHI), the trading name of Corinthia Group, on Thursday announced that it has leased its Corinthia Hotel in Prague to Czech Inns.
Czech Inns, the largest hotel operator in Prague, will start to operate the hotel as from 1st April 2024.
The hotel will therefore be marketed under a new name by Czech Inns, following a de-branding period from IHI.
IHI has owned the 550-room high-rise hotel since 1998, with the property overlooking the Czechia capital and adjoining Prague Congress Centre. It is a landmark conference hotel, having over 3,000 square metres of meeting space, food and beverage options, spa with indoor swimming pool, and an executive lounge floor.
In its statement, IHI explained that the decision to appoint a third-party lessee to operate the hotel is in line with its decision to focus its Corinthia brand “solely on ultra-luxury operations,” whilst seeking other brands and solutions for its upscale and mid-market owned hotels.
The Prague hotel’s rebranding comes at a time when the Corinthia brand is undergoing significant expansion, with luxury hotels currently in construction and scheduled for opening over the coming years in New York, Rome, Brussels, Bucharest, Doha, Riyadh, and the Maldives. These new properties will be added to its current portfolio which has operations in cities and resorts such as London, Lisbon, Budapest, and also the brand’s home base in Malta.
These additions come after IHI received approval from the Malta Financial Services Authority for a €60 million bond issue, as the company seeks to increase its room inventory by over 11 per cent to 5,627 keys over the coming three years. Plans indicated that there will be 316 rooms added in 2024, followed by a further 190 rooms and 73 rooms in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
Czech Inns has over 2,600 rooms under management, with over 20 hotels spread across different parts of Czechia.
IHI remarked that as landlord and property owner, it looks forward to having a “strong and successful relationship with Czech Inns over the term of the lease.”
