The reconstruction of the Thermal hotel will begin next year after the festival

Karlovy Vary - The reconstruction of the Karlovy Vary hotel Thermal, which is the heart of the International Film Festival, will begin next year after the film showcase ends. The first phase will focus on the repair of the building's envelope and utility distribution systems. The total estimated cost of the hotel's repair, excluding the outdoor pool, is 734 million crowns, but Finance Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) believes they can significantly reduce that amount. He stated this to journalists today.

According to Babiš, almost no investments have been made in the state-owned hotel for the past 40 years. This corresponds to the technical condition of the building. "We have a clear timeline of priorities. We will start with the hotel's envelope, insulation, and window replacement, which is an investment of 90 to 120 million, for which we have requested a subsidy from the Ministry of the Environment. The subsidy could be up to 40 percent. After that, there will be energy technologies, air conditioning, heating, and media replacement, which will be another approximately 120 million crowns," Babiš said.

The limitation is both the festival, which takes place at Thermal every July, and the requirements to maintain the copyrights of the Machonins, who designed the hotel. All construction work must therefore be completed during the interim between festivals.

The next steps will focus on the renovation of the rooms. The hotel renovation will be partially financed by the state, which will increase the hotel's equity by 300 million crowns, and partially by the hotel's resources, which will take out a loan.

According to Babiš, the priority is the hotel renovation, while the hotel’s outdoor pool, which has been closed for two years due to its technical condition, will have to wait. However, it will not be sold yet. Babiš mentioned that there are several alternatives for reactivating the pool. For example, it could be reduced from 50 to 25 meters, and the current depth of 4.5 meters could also be decreased.

Babiš also suggests that the city or the Karlovy Vary Region should participate in the discussion about the future of the pool. He noted that it was the city that refused to take over the pool from Thermal for one crown and preferred to build its own pool center near KV Arena.

Last year, the Karlovy Vary hotel Thermal operated with a net profit of 3.2 million crowns. The revenue was 5.5 million crowns lower than the year before. The hotel, like other hotels in Karlovy Vary, was affected by a decline in Russian clientele. The year-on-year decline in the number of guests from Russian-speaking countries was 44 percent.

Hotel director Rudolf Mašata told ČTK today that the hotel is negotiating a contract with the General Health Insurance Company, allowing it to provide spa services for Czech insured clients. He also wants to focus on Chinese clientele, which currently only visits for short stays but could represent significant potential in the future. This will also be supported by an exhibition of terracotta soldiers that the hotel is preparing for December.