Hungary's biggest hotel and several spas to close for winter due to soaring energy prices

Danubius Hotel Hungaria, located in Budapest is to temporarily close its doors on 1 November. The closure is expected to last until 28 February 2023 – turizmus.com reports. According to the company, based on the current occupancy forecasts, they would not be able to operate the hotel profitably.

Danubius Hotel Hungaria is located on Rákóczi street in Budapest, across from Keleti Train Station, and is Hungary’s biggest hotel with its 499 rooms.

Danubius Hotels owns several well-known hotels around the country, and those are expected to operate as usual. The renovation of Hotel Béke – also owned by the company – was finished in the summer, and it is now receiving guests, while the renovation of 44 rooms at the Danubius Hotel Astoria was finished in May.

Skyrocketing overheads have led to the closure of hotels, restaurants, pubs and spas across Hungary. Most recently, it was announced that Szeged’s Anna Fürdő and part of the Zsóry Baths in Mezőkövesd will also close for the coming months.

Several wellness hotels can't afford to stay open

According to Tamás Flesch, honorary president of the Association of Hungarian Hotels and Restaurants (MSZÉSZ), more than 25% of Hungarian wellness hotels may close for the winter months as well.

Speaking to Hír TV recently, Flesch said that these hotels have the highest overheads, with individual hotels paying monthly energy bills of 10-12 million forints a month even before the energy crisis. For them, this amount has now shot up to at least HUF 100 million (but Flesch knows of cases where overhead costs are twenty times what they used to be) per month, which these hotels will no longer be able to afford, and some of them may even close permanently.

In addition to rising overhead costs, MSZÉSZ expects hotels to be hit by a decline in demand as well, since families' living costs have soared due to inflation and there will not be as much money available for holidays. Flesch says that to operate economically, the whole sector would need to increase prices by around 50 per cent, which is not realistic at all in places which are visited mainly by Hungarians.

When asked whether the hotel closures would be temporary or permanent, the honorary president said there would certainly be some establishments that would not reopen. However, they expect the majority to be open again in the spring.