In the last five years, the wellness industry has seen significant growth. And that’s because, after the pandemic year 2020, people started to integrate sports and spa therapies into their lives.
According to a 2023 report by the European Spa Association, the spa market in Romania grew at an annual rate of around 12% between 2018 and 2022. Translated into business jargon, this statistic has become one of the benchmarks for entrepreneurs who have chosen to invest in hospitality businesses.
This is the case of Hotel Peștera Wellness & Spa, a hotel located at 1600 meters above sea level, on the Peștera-Padina plateau, which will officially open its doors to tourists in December 2024, being the first 5-star accommodation unit in Dâmbovița County. The hotel was built in less than two years. Located in the middle of some of the most emblematic tourist sights, such as Babele, Sphinxul, Ialomiței Cave, Cheile Tătarului and Bolboci Lake, the hotel is an investment thought, designed and financed by businessman Valentin Calcan, recognized as one of the leading entrepreneurs in the textile industry and president of the Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture Dâmbovița (the Calcan family is the owner of the Alca Industrial Group, with activities in the knitwear industry for export).
Hotel Peștera has earned the title of “the first five-star hotel located in the tourist resort of national interest Peștera-Padina in the Bucegi Mountains”. The investment amounted to EUR 15 million, of which EUR 5 million came from a loan from Garanti BBVA. The hotel has 63 rooms, of which 55 are double rooms and eight are suites. The hotel also has a bar, restaurant, as well as a wellness and spa center with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, saunas and massage rooms.
For Hotel Peștera in the Bucegi Mountains, the winter holidays were a real success. The hotel reported an occupancy rate of 100%, and for the summer season, the hotel’s representatives estimate an occupancy rate of over 80%.
Hotel Peștera has its origins in 1923, when the first tourist lodge was inaugurated in Poiana Crucii, near the Monastery of Peștera Ialomiței, at the initiative of Mihai Haret, grandson of the scientist Spiru Haret. Destroyed by a fire in 1940, it was rebuilt and inaugurated in 1942, and lasted until 1970, when a new fire led to its demolition. Between 1970 and 1978, it functioned temporarily in barracks, and in 1974 the construction of the current hotel began, inaugurated on December 31, 1978, with 148 seats.
After privatization in 1998, the hotel was modernized, equipped with a spa and upgraded to 3 stars. Further improvements were made after the 2003 acquisition by the Alca Industrial Group, with the restaurant expanded and rooms renovated. In 2015, the hotel was upgraded to a 4-star hotel, and in 2020 construction began on a new 5-star Wellness & SPA area, officially opened on November 30, 2024.