With a three-week delay, now the five-star hotel opened 160 rooms out of the total of 240 rooms, with the remaining rooms scheduled to be opened next week.

One of the most prestigious hotels on the Slovenian coast will thus be able to accommodate almost 500 guests.

"The refurbished five-star hotel is an additional competitive edge for us. We remain the leading congress hotel in the country," Rajko Rešek, the chairman of operator Hoteli Bernardin, has told Delo.

The rooms were expanded by around two square metres and almost the entire equipment and installations were replaced.

According to Rešek, the project cost Hoteli Bernardin EUR 5.6m, which was secured from own funds. The operator did not have to take additional loans, but still owes EUR 26m to three banks.

The plans is to sell two resorts to decrease the debt - the apartment resort Simonov Zaliv in Izola and Hotel Salinera in Strunjan. The operator expects to get first binding bids this month.

"We count on selling at least one of the two resorts," Rešek said, adding that the plan for next year was to overhaul the four-star Histrion and the three-start Vile Park hotels in Pororož.