New high-class hotel opens in Lviv

An exquisite six-story hotel claiming to offer services matching those available in four-star hotels in the West opened its doors last week in the city of Lviv, as foreign investor interest continues to grow in this architecturally rich, but investment poor, cultural capital of western Ukraine.

The management of the Opera Hotel, as the new hotel is called, is positive that the establishment is exactly what the city needs.

"Lviv is in dire need of high-class hotels, considering the growing interest of investors [in the city] and the tourist opportunities here," said Valeriy Lavsky, general director of the Opera Hotel.

Lavsky added that Lviv, a city of 1 million, and western Ukraine's largest city, currently has only a handful of decent hotels.

Venture Fund Professional, which operates under the management of Optima-Capital, an asset-management company, funded the project. The firm invested approximately $3 million to $4 million into the hotel.

According to Lavsky, the investors are a group of Ukrainian companies.

The Opera Hotel has a total of 51 rooms, including five luxury suites, the prices for which range from Hr 420 ($85) to Hr 1,500 ($300), Lavsky said.

Roman Motychak, the head of the external communications department at Optima Group, the holding which owns Optima-Capital, says the hotel's gem is its Lviv Opera House theme, reflected in the hotel's furnishing and elegant interior design.

Furniture evincing the "beginning of the 20th century," posters from century-old performances, and portraits of famous opera singers, both local and foreign, help to create that atmosphere, said Motychak.

He said that the hotel, located just a few meters away from the Lviv Opera House, has acquired the exclusive rights to use the Opera's image in the development of its brand.

"It's arguably the first hotel in Lviv with such interesting brand positioning," Motychak said.

Lavsky said the hotel has a modern conference hall equipped with the latest equipment for presentations, including simultaneous translation services into four languages, and a restaurant.

"We have a goal of turning Lviv into one of the centers of European tourism," Lavsky said, regarding the hotel's long-term ambitions.

The historical central part of Lviv, which celebrates its 750th anniversary this year, is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site as a cultural center of western Ukraine.

Yulianna Vilkos, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
Mar 01 2006