Warimpex brings angelo design hotel to Munich

Warimpex, the Vienna-based real estate developer and investor focusing on Central and Eastern Europe, has described the opening of the first angelo design hotel in Germany on Monday as 'a further major milestone' in the positioning of the brand since the launch of the concept in Prague in 2006.

Located in east Munich, the new 3-star-plus hotel with the signature contemporary design of the angelo concept comprises 146 rooms, four conference suites, a restaurant and bar. The hotel was developed in about 12 months via the conversion of a former office building.

The project is a joint venture between Warimpex, fellow Vienna-based developer UBM and hotel management group Vienna International, which will be responsible for operational management. The three companies are also behind the andel's design concept of four-star-plus hotels in Prague and Krakow. Warimpex's Christoph Salzer said the concept behind both angelo and andel's hotels is for a modern design that 'will still be modern in 5-10 years time but not too flashy'.

The partners are working to expand the number of angelo and andel's hotels in Europe. The airport hotel angelo in Bucharest is being upgraded and 70 rooms are being added to convert it to the angelo concept. The renovation is scheduled for completion in the next few weeks. A 144-room angelo hotel is scheduled to open in the Czech city of Pilsen next October, with another angelo under construction in Katowice, Poland.

'We intend to expand further in this location as soon as the angelo concept has established itself in the market,' said UBM CEO Karl Bier. 'Our aim is to tap the four-star segment too, with a further hotel of our andel's brand complete with adjacent apartment complex scheduled to be built in 2009.'

Construction has also begun of an andel's in the Polish city of Lodz and another in Berlin. With 557 rooms the andel's in the German capital will be the largest to date. 'Hotels of the self-developed andel's and angelo labels are also planned in further secondary metropolitan areas in Central and Eastern Europe, the aim being to position them as the region's leading brands, ' Warimpex’s Salzer said.