ONCE AGAIN WITHOUT A RESULT THE AUCTION FOR “GERAKINA BEACH” HOTEL

The auction of National Bank of Greece about “Gerakina Beach” hotel was fruitless once again. The complex Gerakina Beach came into the hands of National Bank on 2012, since the company that had undertaken the management proved unable to cover the large amount of debts and retired from the management. This resulted to the hotel’s not functioning last summer, leading to unemployment more than 250 employees of the hotel and severely affecting the local market.               

In the auction of “Gerakina Beach” the main bidder was the international investment group Oaktree, but eventually they didn’t reach an agreement. The initial price was set by National Bank of Greece to 17.000.000 €. This amount was judged as high enough from local tourist agents who are well aware of the market, since the hotel needs substantial renovation.

“Gerakina Beach” started operating on 1968, moving one step further tourism in Halkidiki. It was at the time one of the bigger hotel units in the area, consisted of 24.345 sqm of buildings and 86.962 sqm of land, just in front of the beach and only 60 km from Thessaloniki airport. It operated from 1968 to 2011 as a three star hotel, but the amount needed in order to be functional again and upgraded to four of five star hotel is about 8-10 milion euro. Any delay in the retrieving a buyer and making a contract reinforces the scenario that “Gerakina Beach” remains closed this year too, depriving Halkidiki one of the most famous hotels in the past.