Wyndham Istanbul Kalamis Marina hotel opens

 

Istanbul (Dunya) – Without fanfare or fireworks, the Wyndham Istanbul Kalamis Marina opened its doors to guests on January 7, becoming the latest five-star hotel facility in Turkey's largest city.
 

"We will hold our big celebrations on the first anniversary of the hotel," said Alper Can Bulcum, its trim, youthful looking general manager. 
 

Located in Istanbul's Kadikoy district, across from the Kalamis Marina, Istanbul's biggest yachting port, the Wyndham Istanbul Kalamis Marina hotel aims to serve a mix of international and local tourists, businessmen and travelers, Mr Bulcum, 42, said.

"Since Wyndham is an American hotel and resort chain, it will have a strong presence in Turkey's international tourism market," Mr. Bulcum explained in an interview. "We certainly expect to serve visitors from Europe, the Middle East and the U.S., as well as Turkey"

The Wyndham Istanbul Kalamis Marina hotel, owned by the Turkish Reisler Leather Industry and Trade Ltd., is operated by the Parsippany, New Jersey-based Wyndham Worldwide Corp, the world's largest operator of hotels. 

 

Wyndham operates 7,260 hotels worldwide and owns more than 17  hotel name brands, including the popular Ramada, which already operates nearly a dozen hotels in Turkey. Wyndham is the upper segment brand of the group.

 

A second Wyndham Hotel, the Wyndham Petek, is expected to open this summer in Istanbul's Yesilkoy district, near the Ataturk Airport, on the European side of the city. 

 

 

The Wyndham Worldwide plans to operate more than 30 hotels in the country, according to news reports.

 

"As Wyndham aims to serve all budgets and demands with its different brands, it is entering Turkey," Mr. Bulcum stressed.

 

The Wyndham Istanbul Kalamis Marina hotel has 210 rooms, a king's suite, 14 meeting rooms, two ball rooms, a spa and fitness center and two swimming rooms, has been constructed on a plot of land that once served as an outdoor cinema. Its spa is one of the biggest on the Asian side of the city and has already signed up scores of club members among residents living in neighboring areas.

 

"The hotel aims to host company meetings on weekdays, and serve families on weekends, including holding of weddings," Mr. Bulcum added. "It will also be a key meeting place for people."

 

He also plans numerous events affiliated with the nearby Bagdad Avenue, the Champs-Elysees of Istanbul, to attract more corporate customers, family and individual customers. 

 

Mr. Bulcum graduated from the Etiler Tourism High School in Istanbul received a B.A. in tourism and hotel management from Hacettepe University in Ankara and M.A. from Cornell University. He has worked for the Hyatt, Ritz Carleton, Hilton, Jumeirah,

 

Rotana and Intercontinental Hotels 

 

 

Mr. Bulcum brings more than 15 years experience in international hotel management abroad. He has worked for five years in Dubai, five years in Kazakhstan, two years in Washington D.C., two years in Bahrain and 1.5 years in Azerbaijan. He was recruited to run the new Wyndham Istanbul Kalamis Marina hotel last December. 

 

 

 

The opening of the hotel comes at a time foreign investment is stampeding into the Turkish hospitality business.

Investors are pouring $10 billion into the construction of 224 new hotels, including 22 five-star and 36 four-star facilities, across the country, the Tourism Investors' Association said. Some 50 hotels, are being revamped. x

 

In addition to the Wyndham, some 255 foreign hotel operators have direct investments in Turkey, including America's Hilton, the Ritz Carlton Hotels and Resorts, Radisson Hotels,  the Starwood Group, and Canada's Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Britain's InterContinental Hotels, Germany's Kempinski and Iberotel, the Marriott and France's Novotel Hotels, Accor Group, and Club Mediterranean, Hong Kong-based Mandarin Oriental Group and Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, and Dubai-based Jumeirah Group and the Address hotels. x

 

On the Asian side of Istanbul alone, some 21 hotel projects are in various stages of planning and construction, and several have opened, including the DoubleTree by Hilton in Moda, the Ağaoğlu My City in Ümraniye, the Green Park Pendik, the Titanic Business Hotel in Kartal, the Divan Istanbul Asia Pendik, and the ByOtell in Kozyatağı, the Ramada Altunizade and the Radisson Blu and the Mariott in Atasehir. 

 

In Besiktas, on the European side of the city, Tanriverdi Holding has invested $250 million to transform an old tobacco warehouse into the seven-star Shangri-La Istanbul Hotel. The hotel is expected to open in the first quarter of this year. The Singapore-based Raffles Hotels and Resorts will operate a 5-star premium hotel at the Zorlu Center in Zincirlikuyu starting this summer.