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Victoria Mindova

Bombastic headlines about boom in the sale of hotels published the Greek press this week. Imerisia’s publication drew almost a desperate picture of the market where owners of small and large hotels are trying to dispose of their property in 2011. The report says that 500 hotels in Greece are currently looking for a new owner and their number is going to increase in the coming months. The data were collected from various real estate websites and according to the publication, there is a serious investment interest but the market is still frozen because those interested are waiting the prices to fall.

We asked the opinion of hotel business specialists that denied there is an extraordinary boom to speak about. The president of the Athens Hoteliers Association Ioannis Retsos said particularly for GRReporter that the supply of hotels on the real estate market is not bigger than in the past. "If you refer to the data of big real estate companies from previous years you will see that there is a number of hotels for sale every season. This is not unusual for the Greek market and we can not speak of a boom in supply," explained the specialist. He did not deny that in times of recession some businessmen would like to get rid of investments made in the past but this did not indicate unusual movement on the market yet.
 
Ioannis Retsos stressed that the data for the supply and demand of hotel units in the country are reflected in a crooked mirror because of the current crisis and the difficult months that lie ahead for the Greek economy. To the question "Do you think that the crisis could lead to the entry of new foreign investors in the hotel business which will replace local businessmen," Retsos replied: "Of course, but there is not increased interest yet." According to him, it is too early to say that there is a greater presence of foreign investors than before. However, he evaluated a similar outlook as positive for the future. "The only condition is the sales on the market to be based not on desperation but on estimated investment risks."

Some of the Greek hotels advertised for sale are located in the most popular summer tourist destinations in the country as Rhodes, Crete, Mykonos, Ionian Islands, Santorini, Athens. If you have a million in hand, you might be interested in some of the offers.

A hotel of nine acres with 46 beds, for example, is offered for 2.5 million euros on the island of Rhodes. A hotel with 18 beds is offered for 1.4 million euros on Santorini known as the island with the most beautiful sunset. There is another offer on the same island for a building with 12 rooms for rent for 500,000 euros, and 23 studios on the island of Skiathos are offered for 700,000 euros. The beautiful island of Corfu known for its spectacular architecture offers a small hotel with 40 beds for 1.3 million euros.

The ads continue offering hotels on the party island of Mykonos for sale. Two hotel units are offered – one for two million euros and another for 3.5 million euros but it is not mentioned how many beds are available or in which area they are located. Northern Greece also has something to offer – a complex of furnished studio apartments on the Halkidiki peninsula are being sold for 790,000 euros. In the centre of Athens where a total of five hotels closed in 2010 there is an offer for a hotel unit located right in front of the central train station Larissa. The hotel avails 171 beds and its price is 4.7 million euros.