Platres' Forest Park Hotel sold to XM for over €10 million, with €15 million renovation to follow

An important deal that is anticipated to contribute, in turn, to the further upgrading of the tourist product of Cyprus' mountain resorts was made a few days ago, concerning the historic Forest Park Hotel in Platres.

As InBusinessNews has been informed, the hotel was acquired by XM, a Cypriot foreign exchange (Forex) company, which acquired 100% of the share capital.

According to the same information, the deal exceeds €10 million, while a major renovation of around €15 million is expected to follow, to rebrand the hotel, bringing it up to the Swiss standards of the iconic resorts of St. Moritz.

The information about the acquisition of Forest Park by XM was confirmed by the President of the Troodos Network and head of the community council of Platres, Panagiotis Papadopoulos, who emphasised at the same time that this development will contribute to the regeneration of both Platres and the mountain area resorts in general.

"Another one of the big hotels is changing hands and it is expected that it will contribute to the quality upgrade of Platres and the increase in the level of services provided," Papadopoulos also revealed.

Papadopoulos indicated that the contracts have been signed and XM plans to upgrade the hotel. Specifically, the current administrator (NNV Mountain Resorts Ltd), who rents the historic hotel from the previous owner (the Skyrianidis family) will remain in place until January, when the procedures required for the renovation, such as building permits, are completed.

After that, Forest Park will be shut down for the work to be carried out, which is expected to take at least two years.

"XM is already talking about a hotel of the level of St. Moritz and they expect to spend around €15 million, to reach that level," added Papadopoulos.

The historic hotel

The Forest Park, which is a Platres landmark, was established in 1936 by Georgios Skyrianides.

It was officially opened in July 1936 by the then English Governor of Cyprus, Sir Hebert Richmond Palmer and was one of the few hotels built to European standards in terms of bar, lounges and dining rooms.

Many international celebrities have chosen Forest Park for their vacations from time to time, as they felt it had the amenities they required. Among them Princess Mary of the United Kingdom, King Farouk of Egypt, as well as other blue bloods from Egypt, Britain and Greece.

At the beginning of the 90s, significant improvements were made to the hotel's structure and facilities, and then, in the period 2003-2004, a major renovation was carried out.

The management until 2018 was under the Skirianides family. However, due to various problems faced by the hotel, mainly financial, it was closed for a period of nine months namely from 2017 until July 2018 when it reopened its doors.

More specifically, in 2018, it was rented by the company NNV Mountain Resorts Ltd and reopened.

Today it operates with 137 rooms, consists of two three-story buildings and has private forest lands and gardens of 10,940 sq.m.

It is worth noting that Forest Park is the hotel where the great poet and Nobel laureate Giorgos Seferis, in 1955, was inspired for the poem "Helen", with the characteristic line "The nightingales don't let you sleep in Platres".

Also, it was at the Forest Park, the Cypriot drink Brandy Sour was "born", especially for King Farouk of Egypt, who, being a Muslim, wanted a cocktail that looked like iced tea but also contained alcohol

The company that has purchased the Forest Park

XM is a foreign exchange and consulting company founded in 2009 and headquartered in Limassol. Apart from Cyprus, it has offices in four other countries.

Today it employs more than 900 professionals and has more than 10,000,000 clients, having managed to develop into a large and established international investment company.

Its traders are located in more than 190 countries, while at the same time it provides support in 30+ languages ​​worldwide.

(Source: InBusinessNews)