The West Flemish project developer Ghelamco has found a manager for Le 8300 and Locarno, two hotels that have been vacant in Knokke-Heist for almost ten years. The French group Costes will manage both hotels from the second half of 2023. Ghelamco CEO Paul Gheysens told De Tijd this.
The Costes family is known as the owner of the Parisian five-star Costes hotel, close to Place Vendôme. The group also owns dozens of restaurants and cafes in prime locations in the French capital.
Ghelamco developed the two hotels in a prime location in the chic district of Het Zoute. But the buildings were never put into use. Last year, this led to a complaint to Audit Vlaanderen, which was investigating the permit of Hotel Locarno. Audit Flanders found no construction violations, but advised the municipality of Knokke-Heist to keep a close eye on the fact that there was no occupation, contrary to the hotel function.
Ghelamco also wants to build a hotel on the new, second golf course that the group is planning in Knokke-Heist. To this end, Gheysens is in talks with a global player, presumably the American hotel chain Marriott.
In recent years, names of possible owners for the empty hotels have been circulating regularly.