Suncani Hvar Hotels invited their partners and the media to the opening of their 7 million euro upgrade of Hotel Pharos on June 18, 2016, once a tired two-star hotel now transformed into a swanky millennial hotel, but one for all ages. TCN, mojito in hand, was a rather happy spectator.
If by a hotel a destination is known, then good times are once more coming to Hvar Town, a prime tourist destination which is dominated by the Suncani Hvar Hotels group, which own almost all the hotels in the popular town on Europe’s sunniest island.
After years of financial problems, it seems the corner has been turned for good, and as TCN reported yesterday, the company is in new majority ownership, and the focus seems to be on investment.
The most visible sign of that investment has been the 52 million kuna upgrade of the two-star Hotel Pharos, which is ideally located in a residential area of pine trees, just a three minute walk from the beach and town centre. Reflecting the changing nature of tourism in the town (in 2008, there were no hostels in Hvar Town, this year there are 29, of which 16 are licenced), the company made the bold decision to upgrade the hotel into the island’s first millennial hotel. You can talk a tour of the hotel here – rather innovative for Croatian tourism.
Although the hotel opened for business on June 3, the date for the opening party was set for 2 weeks later, and the young and energetic staff made the necessary preparations for the evening’s festivities, without disturbing the relaxing routine of its guests.
In addition to hotel partners, many residents of Hvar Town also came along, keen to take a look at this latest addition to the island’s tourism scene.
Suncani Hvar Hotels Marketing Manager Anja Levak was first to speak.
She was followed by the President of the Suncani board, Gordana Tomicic, who spoke with obvious pride and satisfaction that they had been able to pull off such an ambitious project in just seven months. After all the rocky recent years, the future is looking very bright indeed, and that is in part to the dedication of the staff, who have worked hard to turn things around. Having followed the Suncani story closely for a number of years, they had every right to that pride and satisfaction, and it was nice to see many of the senior staff letting their hair down later in the evening, leading the partying from the front.
There was a substantial buffet catering to all tastes around the pool.
And plenty of well-known names. No Hvar party is complete without legendary winemaker Andro Tomic, who got into the millennial mood with with Facebook heart love of the hotel.
Central Dalmatia’s energetic and much travelled tourist board director Josko Stella was also there for the weekend, clearly looking relaxed after another punishing schedule which is resulting in taking tourism in the region to the next level.
There is no better way to mark a millennial hotel opening than with a giant selfie…
A really pleasant evening, and a fantastic addition to Hvar tourism. As for the hotel experience, I feel totally relaxed and rejuvenated after my 48 hour stay, and I know need to learn how to Snapchat and get on Instagram, so I can keep us with this younger generation.
