Jan Kratina, CEO and chairman of the board of CPI Hotels — Photo by CPI Hotels, a.s.

CPI Hotels is expanding its activities in the Czech Republic and has also entered into the European market. The portfolio of one of the largest Czech hotel groups has as of 1 July 2014 grown by the addition of Mamaison Hotels & Residences operating in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Russia. The current 18 hotels of the Buddha-Bar Hotels & Resorts, Clarion Hotels, Fortuna Hotels, Spa & Kur Hotels and Ubytovny.cz brands will now be extended by Mamaison hotels in Prague and Ostrava – CPI Hotels becomes a new operator of Mamaison Hotel Riverside Prague, Mamaison Residence Belgicka Prague and Mamaison Business & Conference Hotel Imperial Ostrava. The hotel group will also receive an additional 7 hotels located in Bratislava, Warsaw, Budapest and Moscow under the management contract.

"We are opening a new, very interesting chapter in our business. In the past years we focused on the intensive build-up of our hotel network in regional cities in the Czech Republic, but this is our first venture into foreign markets. The inclusion of Mamaison Hotels & Residences into the CPI Hotels portfolio is a significant step forward and strengthens our position on the market, in compliance with our long-term strategy of becoming the strongest player in terms of domestic as well as European market," said Jan Kratina, CEO and chairman of the board of CPI Hotels. The hotel group will hence increase its accommodation and congress capacity to a total of nearly 8800 beds and 11500 conference seats.

"With our new portfolio of 28 hotels, we would like to utilize a synergy of business and marketing activities to service even more clients seeking services from medium- and upper-class hotels. The Mamaison Hotels & Residences brand and its boutique hotels and residences expand our offer with a significant amount of diversity," added Kratina. The newly operated Mamaison Hotel Riverside Prague with its secession-styled exteriors is located near tourist as well as business centers, and hence targets diverse clientele. The same can also be said of the second Prague hotel, Mamaison Residence Belgicka Prague. The portfolio of hotels in the Moravian metropolis was enriched by Mamaison Business & Conference Hotel Imperial Ostrava, a congress hotel with a rich tradition and history. The CPI Hotels brand will newly also include the Slovak midscale hotel Mamaison Residence Sulekova Bratislava which offers high-quality short- as well as long-term accommodation. Fresh additions also include hotels in Budapest, namely the upscaleResidence Izabella Budapest and the upscale deluxe Mamaison Hotel Andrassy Budapest, which profit from their unique position near the renowned Andrassy Avenue, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Mamaison Hotel Le Regina Warsaw with its prestigious address in the historic Mokrow Palace will satisfy even the most demanding clients with its offer of accommodation and other services, while another residence, Mamaison Residence Diana Warsaw, targets the upper middle class of services in the area of both business and recreational tourism. The only new hotel which does not belong to the Mamaison Hotels & Residences brand, Parkhotel Vienna Bielsko-Biała, recently won the award of Business Hotel of the Year 2014. The cherry on top is then the only hotel of CPI Hotels located in Russia, Mamaison All-Suites Spa Hotel Pokrovka Moscow, which offers its guests the comfort of some of the most spacious and luxurious hotel apartments in the capital of Russia.

Last year, CPI Hotels celebrated the 20th anniversary of its existence on the Czech market, where it operated since 1993 under the original name of Fortuna Hotels, under which it managed the first Hotel Fortuna in Prague, now called the Fortuna City Hotel. After its redevelopment, the hotel changed its name to Quality Hotel Prague*** and based on a franchise contract became a member of Choice Hotel International. The company also expanded its portfolio by the Clarion and Comfort hotels and since 1996 is the exclusive representative of the international Choice Hotels International chain for the Clarion brand in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The first of these to enter into operation was the Clarion Hotel Prague Old Town in the historic center of Prague, near the most significant tourist attractions; in March 2008 it was followed by the opening of the Clarion Congress Hotel Prague in Vysocany, whose extensive background of congress facilities on an area exceeding 4 thousand square meters with a total capacity of up to 2500 persons became the company flagship. In 2007 the company changed its name to CPI Hotels a.s. The former portfolio of Fortuna Hotels, Clarion hotels and long-term accommodation services provided under the Ubytovny.cz brand grew in 2009 by the addition of the unique project of luxurious boutique hotels from the Buddha-Bar Hotels & Resorts international network. In 2012, CPI Hotels introduced a new brand of four-star Spa & Kur Hotels, hence entering the perspective field of wellness and spa services. In recent years, the company continued in the systematic development of a network of full-service hotels in the regions. The Clarion hotel network currently includes 9 hotels in Prague, Ceske Budejovice, Usti nad Labem, Spindleruv Mlyn, Liberec and Ostrava. The newest Clarion Congress Hotel Olomouc opened its gates to the first guests in September 2013.

CPI Hotels is also working on the continuous revitalization of its operations. In 2013 it carried out extensive renovations of rooms, gastronomical facilities and restaurant including the addition of a conference center in Clarion Congress Hotel Ostrava. In this year's April it completed the renovation of the reception and lobby in Clarion Hotel Prague Old Town. The Clarion Grandhotel Zlaty Lev is currently undergoing extensive refurbishment, with a goal of returning the secession building to its original look from 1906, when the hotel was originally ceremonially opened by the Austrian and Hungarian emperor Francis Joseph I on the occasion of a Czech-German exhibition. In July 2014, the hotel group expanded its portfolio by 9 hotels of the Mamaison Hotels & Residences brand and by Parkhotel Vienna Bielsko-Biala in Poland, hence significantly extending its activities in the Czech Republic and entering the European market.