Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL; Pink Sheets:AFIVY) subsidiary Africa-Israel Hotels Ltd. has inaugurated its Crowne Plaza business hotel at the Azrieli Square Tower in Tel Aviv, which the company calls the most expensive hotel in the country.
Azrieli Group paid for the hotel's façade, while Africa-Israel invested NIS 80 million in the interior design of the rooms, suites, conference rooms, and restaurants.
The inauguration comes just a day after Africa-Israel Properties Ltd. (TASE: AFPR) reached a deal to sell its stake in five malls to Azrieli Group, owned by David Azrieli.
A room costs $410 per person per night, and a suite with a separate room for a security guard or personal assistant can be reserved for $2,000 a night. These suites are intended for corporate executives or national leaders.
Africa-Israel Hotels will pay Azrieli Group subsidiary Canit Hashalom Investments Ltd. $2.5 million in rent a year for 25 years plus an additional amount based on turnover. After 25 years, Azrieli Group will take over the Crowne Plaza business hotel.
Africa-Israel Hotels CEO Ariel Capon said, "The decision to sell the malls does not signal the end of Africa-Israel chairman Lev Leviev's business in Israel. The proof is the ongoing construction of the 180-room hotel in Ashdod, which is intended for families and tourists coming to celebrate events in Israel."
Capon added that Leviev learned about David Azrieli's wish to establish a hotel in the new Square Tower from a report in "Globes". After a 20-minute conversation, Capon and then-Africa-Israel Investments CEO Pinchas Cohen signed a deal with Canit CEO Menachem Einan to build an urban hotel in the New York style in the Square Tower. The 273-room hotel covers 13 floors of the skyscraper.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 13, 2008
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008