An agreement with a Cypriot investor for the acquisition of the legendary Hotel Verengaria in Prodromos was closed by Gordian Holdings. The deal closed at close to 2 million euros and the buyer's intentions are expected to be known soon. Since 2012, the property a planning permission to operate as a 5-star hotel with a capacity of 170 rooms. Permission has been given both for the construction of a new wing with suites, but also for the conversion of Zena Kanther's residence into a Health Center. The news has already caused joy in the Prodromos community as the reopening of Verengaria will contribute to the creation of many new jobs and the revitalization of both the community and the whole of Marathasa.
The long abandoned hotel is located at an altitude of 1400 meters and on land of a total area of 26,520 square meters. The main building has an area of 4,500 sq.m. and consists of 80 rooms in two wings and a swimming pool, while in the eastern part of the building there is a guesthouse of 280 sq.m. and a coffee shop of 200 sq.m. The hotel around whose name myths and legends were built, was constructed between 1927 and 1930, and was at the peak of its glory in the decades 1950-70. Through the years it was visited by great personalities, among them Winston Churchill and the King of Egypt Farouk the 1st. It ceased operations in 1984 and is currently in a poor condition.
Legends and bureaucracy
The property had ended up in the hands of the Bank of Cyprus due to debts owed by its owner, who in previous years planned to convert it into a casino resort. The failure to grant a licence and the withdrawal of interest from investors who would undertake the financing of the grand project have put an end to any dreams. After two failed attempts to sell it through an auction, it was acquired in 2016 along with non-performing loans with a nominal value of more than $2 billion. The amount of the loan was EUR 1 million from the Apollo investment fund. So his management passed to Gordian.
The hotel went back on sale last June, following the collapse of the agreement to sell it to PlanetVision, a development attributed to the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but also to bureaucratic delays, with the shots targeting the Department of Urban Planning. It wasn't the first time an attempt to revive it collapsed. The hotel was purchased in the late 1980s by Columbia planning to renovating it, but was not licensed by the then Vasiliou government. A few years later, it was purchased by Salamis Tours for the same purposes. Renovation work began but a large fire in 2001 on the remaining roof, as well as the collapse of the stock market, also withheld renovation plans. In 2015, the superstitions that brought the hotel to be "haunted" were revived, as while a Russian-American investor was in Prodromos preparing to put the final signatures on his acquisition, he was notified that his son had been killed. Devastated he left Cyprus and withdrew his interest.
