Norwegian hotel chain Citybox is opening a new hotel in Antwerp. Due to COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, the entire hotel has been designed digitally via Teams. The hotel will open at the end of summer 2021. Citybox currently operates four hotels and has already signed five new hotels to open in upcoming years.
"For a long time, we have wanted to establish a hotel in Benelux, and we are beyond excited to both sign and open this hotel in record time. We strongly believe that Antwerp’s tourism industry will make a quick recovery now that the pandemic moves to an end," said Martin Smith-Sivertsen, Head Chairman at Citybox.
"For the neighbourhood, the redevelopment of the former Headquarter of social security into a hotel is much welcomed. We are very happy with Citybox as a long-term tenant and trusted operator. We are convinced of their added value to the hospitality offered in Antwerp and wish them good luck once travel bounces back and brings tourists and businessmen/women back to Antwerp," stated Carl-Philip de Villegas, CEO of IRET Development.
"When IRET presented the project, we knew that both the location and the size of the building were perfect for Citybox. If the times were normal, we would travel down to see the building and to discuss the possibilities within the projects. We knew that we probably wouldn’t see the hotel physically until close to the opening, but we all agreed that we had to make it work. The solution was Teams and video calls. We have weekly Teams-meetings with everyone involved plus additional meetings for different disciplines. We’ve also had numerous video viewings of the property where the project managers from Iret have worked as our eyes and ears," said Eivind Hjulstad, CEO of Citybox. "It’s been a crazy couple of months. Just imagine decorating a lobby and 180 rooms without the possibility of seeing the property. It’s almost like decorating your own home, just relying on the floor plans before you even get access to the house. In only months, we’ve negotiated a deal, planned, and built a hotel – without even physically meeting each other or seeing the property. I’m sure that we will look back at this in a couple of years and think that it was completely insane. We often say that we like to do things differently at Citybox; this project proves it."
