Ukraine’s hotel landscape is dominated by independent properties; they make up 75% of the country’s overall hotel footprint, according to data from STR, CoStar’s hospitality analytics firm, current as of Feb. 1.
The country’s largest chunk of branded hotels falls under the Reikartz Hotel Group umbrella, which operates 63 hotels around the country, along with a handful in Kazakhstan, Sweden, Germany and Georgia.
The footprint of major international brands in the country is tiny by comparison; Accor has six hotels in Ukraine, IHG Hotels & Resorts has five and the remainder of the top brand presences in the country represent just one or two percent of the country’s total room count, according to STR and the hotel companies’ own data. Major brands with the smallest presence in Ukraine are Hilton and Hyatt Hotels Corp., with one hotel each.
Hilton announced in November it signed a franchise agreement with Ukrainian real estate developer Gefest Group to build a 145-room resort in Odessa, set at the time to open in 2025.
Radisson opened its latest hotel in Ukraine in 2021, the Radisson Hotel City Centre Odesa, in Odessa. It is now closed due to the recent events.
The majority of hotels in the country fall in the midscale and upper-midscale classes, according to STR data.
While it’s difficult to gauge what impact the Russian invasion currently has on Ukraine’s hotels, many in regions experiencing the most conflict are at least temporarily closed. For example, Hyatt Regency Kyiv is temporarily closed according to its website, and Hilton Kyiv is not accepting reservations.
As of Feb. 25, 17 of Reikartz’ hotels in the country had suspended operations because of the invasion, according to the company’s website.