“I believe in everything that is unique” – thematic hotel developments in the countryside

Reminiscent of a catamaran, the building’s interior design is a little astonishing – perhaps it’s fair to say it will be sexy. The style evokes the glamour of the French Riviera in the 1960’s, with an Italian sense of dolce vita.

 

This is the atmosphere we want to create in and around the complex of buildings overlooking the Ferenc Zákonyi promenade. Gastronomy can tie in very nicely with this; we plan to open 4 restaurants in the complex – drawing on the expertise and decades of experience of the Zsidai Group. An emblematic bar is also an indispensable – if you like, a must, just like the port: the 203-place BalaPort will be ready in 2022, and I dare say it will be one of the most modern ports on the Hungarian sea, and a key base for Hungarian sailing. The 102-room, beachfront hotel and 24 apartments are scheduled to debut in 2025 as the first rural addition to the Marriott International hotel network – making history. Within Marriott, it will operate under the brand Le Méridien, which resonates beautifully with the French line, with an indoor and two-storey terraced outdoor area of almost 2,500 square metres of beach and spa facilities and a 196-place underground car park.

Within the Szepard portfolio, this house will be the jewel in the crown. Just like in BalaPort, where you can find Nemere. I believe that the complex can contribute to the development of the city on several fronts: in addition to creating secure jobs through its four-season operation, it can also be a means of extending the season, and I predict a boost in conference tourism for the longer season, especially thanks to the conference centre that was opened last year for a walking distance. Looking beyond Balatonfüred, such a hotel can also promote the international development of the entire region – for example, we can show our guests the outstanding gastronomy of the Káli Basin, taking them to Köveskál, among other places, by shuttle. It is important to highlight that BalaPort will be based on the so-called “adults only” theme and will provide a fully relaxing environment for adult travellers, mainly leisure travellers.

Time and my first two hotels, the Fabulous Shiraz Hotel in Egerszalók, which evokes the Arabian world, and the Bambara Hotel, which was built a few years later – just in the middle of the recession – and is inspired by West Africa in both its appearance and services, are proof of this.

The two five-star hotels realized under the egis of Dreamland Holding Zrt., inaugurated in 2023 are another examples of this: the 109-room Mövenpick BalaLand Resort and FamilyPark in Szántód offers design and services inspired by Jules Verne’s novel Around the World in 80 Days, while the Minaro Hotel MGallery in Tokaj brings Eldorado and South America to life in the hills surrounded by vineyards and in the middle of an andesite mine. This is the place where Tokaj’s liquid gold, or the aszú wine , meets the “regular” gold. Each hotel has around 100 rooms – a size that is no longer small, but not too big either, so it is human-scale and economical. You could call it a kind of size theme, and I will continue with the target group theme: the Fabulous Shiraz Hotel has been turned into a 14 adult-friendly hotel at one point, Minaro welcomes the 16 age group, and BalaLand is family-friendly and welcomes especially children aged 2-6 years.

The Bambara in Felsőtárkány in the environment defined by the Bükk Mountains is also a family-friendly forest setting, and to improve its leisure offer, the Bükk Mystery Park has been completed, a delight for all ages. And then there is the theme of location: if forest, then Bükk, if water, then Lake Balaton, if thermal water, then Egerszalók, if wine, then Tokaj. These are all well-defined themes, and theming works as well for a mega investment as it does on a smaller scale. Based on my more than 20 years of experience in hotel development and hotel management, and having seen the numbers of the four-star premium Shiraz and the Bambara, I can say that it is possible to build on the solid base of Hungarian guests who come for long weekends to relax, and during that time, many of them are looking for special and wellness services. They return regularly, as long as the staff are friendly, the food is excellent, the atmosphere is family friendly and the quality doesn’t drop over time. In the case of the five-star Minaro, we also have to target a foreign audience. It is no coincidence that we have entrusted the operation of both that house and BalaLand to an international hotel chain, namely the French Accor.

Yes, the revival of the Lepence Baths in Visegrád, which closed many years ago, is in the preparatory stage – there are agreed concepts, we are in constant consultation with the municipality, but we will turn to this topic in a more favourable market situation, in case of bath subsidies. This year I have scheduled and already started renovation work on Bambara and later Shiraz – maintaining, rebuilding and even enhancing the theme and architectural quality. They are running at normal operating hours, as were the expansions in previous years, without disruption.

Because of the nature of my parents, I was predestined to be an entrepreneur. I studied business and computer science in the United States, political science at home, graduated from the Faculty of Law at ELTE, and got my MBA from CEU. They always say that education is a good investment, but nowadays it is especially true, and my children are still studying, my eldest son at Yale, but our second son and our third child, my daughter, are also going to America, to excellent universities.

My wife has been with us from day one, helping us with interior design and development, as well as providing professional assistance in the kitchen and wellness areas of the hotels we work in. What I have built, I believe, can work also without my children, with a staff of about 400-500 people, with very skilled and loyal managers, but if they think they would like to work in the hotel industry here at home, and in companies that are family interests, I will certainly not put obstacles in their way. We’ll see.