Zagreb Finally Gets a Four-Star Hotel in the City Center After a Long Time

The company Exportdrvo projekti (ExD) will open a four-star hotel in early November on Tkalčićeva Street in Zagreb as part of the new Academia center, in which it has invested a total of 80 million kuna. This is the first new hotel in the city center after a long time, emphasizes the director of ExD and the hotel, Ivica Prevolšek. The center has a total area of 17,500 square meters, created by renovating the former Cascade shopping center on Tkalčićeva Street, in close proximity to the Kaptol shopping center. Hotel Academia occupies three floors in this center and offers accommodation in 53 double rooms and four large separate apartments, along with accompanying facilities such as a restaurant for about 250 guests, a wellness and fitness center.

On the ground floor of the center, there will be two larger stores, for which rental negotiations are in the final phase, as well as for three to four smaller business spaces, while a smaller à la carte restaurant on the ground floor will be managed by the Academia center. Below the building (on two levels) is a garage with about 170 spaces, which, like all the center’s facilities, will be available to citizens and guests of Zagreb.

– Since this is one of the most attractive streets in Zagreb, located just a few hundred meters from the main Zagreb Ban Josip Jelačić Square and in close proximity to the city’s main attractions, we believe in excellent future hotel occupancy, especially during Advent in Zagreb, but also next year, for which we already have great announcements from various markets. We also believe that the center and the hotel will contribute to even better tourist recognition and traffic for all hospitality providers and shops on Tkalčićeva Street and will be a nice story, says Prevolšek.

He also notes that they are already collaborating excellently with all the largest online rental platforms (Booking.com, AirB’n’B, TripAdvisor) for booking accommodation in the hotel, as well as with several agencies, while the prices in the hotel will be, as he says, competitive.

– The price for a room/night for two people with breakfast will be around 900 kuna, which is initially slightly lower than prices in Zagreb hotels of a similar category, but will change depending on demand, we believe it will slightly increase, says Prevolšek.

Investment Cycle of Two Years

– We started the investment cycle two years ago during which we made significant construction interventions that almost completely changed the interior of the center and its exterior appearance. The largest works involved demolishing internal walls to achieve greater openness and light in the interior space, and we also installed seven elevators, fire exits, and more. Domestic companies were engaged for construction and works, from which we exclusively sourced hotel furniture, restaurant equipment, and others, emphasizes Prevolšek.

A total of nearly 50 people will be employed in the hotel and restaurant, mostly young people up to about 30 years of age, and additional labor will be hired as needed.

Explaining the ownership structure of the building, Prevolšek states that one part is owned by the Chapter of Canons of the Cathedral of Zagreb (due to the land position), while the majority owner is the company ExD, which purchased the property in bankruptcy at a public auction for about 20 million kuna.

The investing company ExD is owned by Tomislav Marinov.