The new owner of the hotel is now Klaus Alex Birkenstock, one of the world’s largest shoemakers, owner of the Birkenstock brand
Famous Split the Bellevue hotel, located in Prokurativi, was sold at the commercial court on Friday for slightly more than 14.1 million euros to the company Retoi from Split. of the hotel, the offer with the highest amount that met the sales conditions was accepted, the Hina agency reported.
This company is owned by German billionaire Alex Birkenstock, heir to the Birkenstock family empire, specializing in production of anatomical footwear.
Photo: Splithotels
Former workers and now creditors of Bellevue, after the opening of bids at the Commercial Court, told journalists that they were satisfied with the new owner and they hope to get the money they claim from their former employer.
One of the oldest Croatian hotels
In that hotel they are numerous famous people from the world of entertainment and politics, scientists, writers, Nobel laureates and writers stayed there, and shots of the popular domestic series Velo misto were filmed there. The hotel is located in a prominent city location with a view of the Riva and the Split Gate. It is one of the oldest Croatian hotels, mentioned around 1875 under the name hotel de la Ville, writes Hina. Christie and Anatole France. In the 1960s and 1970s, the cafe and hotel became the central place for the Split celebration. In the early 2000s, bankruptcy proceedings were opened against the hotel, which has been going on for more than twenty years.
Who is the new owner
The new owner of the hotel is now Klaus Alex Birkenstock, one of the world’s largest shoemakers, the owner of the Birkenstock brand. and built a new building on that spot, which started receiving guests last year, writes Slobodna Dalmacija
The old, half-decomposed building on the Trumbić coast marred the view of Split, and now it is a five-star hotel that offers guests 101 rooms, including three suites, each of which has a view of the city or the harbor.
Fast growth of Glov in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Strong local team and focus on multiple categories
The heir to the Birkenstock family empire, specializing in the production of anatomical footwear adored by numerous world stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Gwyneth Paltrow, spared no expense to turn the old building into a new favorite resort for tourists from Great Britain, Germany, Austria, France … That’s why it will be very interesting to follow what plans he has with the legendary “Bellevue”.
already wrote that revenue is not the only reason why the 54-year-old heir, the middle of the three sons of Karl Birkenstock, decided to invest in Croatia. Namely, he is a great lover of Dalmatia, which he has been visiting regularly for more than 20 years and owns several attractive properties there. position of executive director, which turned the German shoe company from a family business into a corporation led for the first time in its almost 240-year-long history by someone not named Birkenstock, today the 54-year-old German decided to devote himself more seriously to his second passion, real estate trading.
He is the owner of numerous properties in the United States of America. According to the latest Forbes list, the “heavy” is 1.6 billion dollars, and apart from America, his undeniable passion for luxury apartments on the highest floors of buildings is also visible in the example of Split: he also owns a penthouse in Dražanac Street, located across the street of the “Ambassador” hotel.
Favorite place
Despite the fact that he has at his disposal the most luxurious real estate in Europe and America, as well as in Split, Alex Birkenstock– who, by the way, spends three to four months a year in Croatia– prefers to stay in Brela.
There, in a village at the foot of Biokovo, he bought a series of country houses which he renovated from the ground up and in which, in the company of his more or less well-known friends, among whom, allegedly , German football legend Manuel Neuer occasionally finds him, he spends most of the summer, he wrote earlier in Jutarnji. to the refugees from Vukovar who settled in that town on the Adriatic highway, and shortly thereafter decided to invest in the town that knocked him off his feet.
A man whom his Croatian friends and acquaintances say is, considering the wealth at his disposal, “incredibly ordinary”, he renovated his house as a sign of thanks to his employees.
He continued to invest in his property in Brela, so today there are “some olive trees” there, and he also planted vines, with the intention of starting wine production.
It was precisely his love for Croatian wines, among which those from Pelješac are leading, that pushed him to invest in real estate on that Dalmatian peninsula. In Trpanj, a place on the northern coast of Pelješac, he bought a house in 2008, which he imagined would become his summer residence.
However, because he is allegedly neither guilty nor liable, he was involved in some small-town quarrels, in 2010, Alex Birkenstock, otherwise a very non-conflictual man, was accused of illegal construction. he decided to look elsewhere for carefree evenings on the terrace overlooking the sea.
It’s a shame for Trpanj and its population because he planned to invest a lot of money there. He had already bought an old sardine factory, which he planned to convert into high-class accommodation units, and he also intended to buy real estate in the docks, renovate them and bring in old-timer fans, including himself.
Normal and cute
For the man who will share with his younger brother Christian a multi-million dollar shoemaking empire, which in the last few years has turned from a synonym for orthopedic sandals into a serious fashion brand whose models regularly appear on the pages of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and other world fashion magazines and whose designs have been “inspired” by numerous fashion houses such as Celine, Givenchy and Isabel Marant, locals say that it is normal and nice.
Although he speaks little Croatian, Alex is a big fan of Oliver Dragojević, and he also likes the Intrade band, which is a frequent guest at his neighbors’ birthday parties. Of course, he pays the bill.
At the same time, the 54-year-old German avoids the attention of journalists and the public. There are almost no photos of him on the Internet, even the Forbes list of the richest lists his data, but the picture is missing.
The Best Amsterdam hotel Deals
Click the button listed below to get the very best discount rates on hotels in Amsterdam.
Visit Amsterdam?
Get The I-Amsterdam City Card and Save!
The I-Amsterdam City Card is an All-In-One Amsterdam Discovery Card that includes Free Public transportation, totally free entry to 70 museums, totally free canal boat trips, totally free bike leasing, and a lot more!
Click the button listed below to understand more