Saimi Hoyer, the entrepreneur who went through the bankruptcy of Hotel Punkaharju, tells HS what he hopes for from the new owner.
Bankruptcy the former entrepreneur of the run-down hotel Punkaharju Sami Hoyer hopes the new owner will continue the work he and his staff started.
“I wish them luck in upholding cultural heritage values, which I think is extremely important,” says Hoyer.
The bankruptcy estate of Hotel Punkaharju announced on Wednesday, that the hotel has been sold. The hotel was bought by AK Properties oy, a real estate company from Kotka, whose owner and entrepreneur is an American Artur Karaman.
Karaman is already almost unknown to Finns. The purchase price or details of the hotel have not been made public.
Karaman was one of the three partners in Hotel Scandinavian Oy, which ran the hotel Leikari in Kotka. Hotel Scandinavian oy was declared bankrupt at the end of 2022.
Karamani's other business includes Hotel Jokipuisto and Beach Hotel Santalahti in Kotka.
Hoyer did not want to comment on trades for HS last week because he had spent a month abroad and the situation was, according to him, “confused”. Hoyer still says he won't comment directly on trades.
Karaman representative Miika Sollo on the other hand, told HS last week that he did not know about the bankruptcy of the hotel partially owned by Karamani. The next day Sollo said Ilta-Sanomthat the matter had been discussed after all.
Hotel Punkaharju, built in the 19th century, is closed for the time being.
Hoyer bought the hotel together with her ex-husband in 2015 and renovated it. As a result of seven years of almost round-the-clock renovation, marketing and hotel work, Hoyer became the face of Hotel Punkaharju.
Hoyer, who spent his childhood summers in Saimaa and lives in Punkaharju, is not giving up Punkahraju as an area, but when it comes to the hotel, he describes himself as an outsider at the moment.
Hoyer is, however, ready to tell what the new entrepreneur has in front of him.
“It was really challenging. Seasonality, corona, war and really big investments at the beginning. It's a building protected by the Finnish Museum Agency, and of course the investments were big then and the debts went down with it. Then there were other burdens,” Hoyer says.
“This requires a lot of love for the region.”
Hoyer emphasizes that circumstances are not the only reason for bankruptcy.
“Mistakes have been made, and all of us make mistakes. I am
not Hotel Punkaharju, Punkaharju or Punkaharju lountomatkilu oy. I'm Saimi Hoyer and I'm human, it's good to remember that in all of this. I'm not bankrupt.”
Hoyer says that he grew up to be a hotel and restaurant entrepreneur, even though it was never his goal. The educators were numerous mentors and other close people.
Punkaharju is one of Finland's national landscapes.
Hoyer hopes that the new owner will continue the work he started not only for the hotel but also for tourism and nature in the entire Saimaa region. He describes the hotel as “the property of all Finns”.
“The hotel had time to become a certain kind of concept. It wasn't quite an ordinary hotel and restaurant.”
Hotel An offer of 745,000 euros was first accepted for Punkaharju, but the entrepreneurs who made it withdrew their offer in September. In November, 310,000 euros were offered for the hotel in a new auction, but the mortgagee did not accept the offer.
At that time, the hotel's condition inspection revealed that it has damages that require repairs. Mightily to interview a condition inspector specializing in old buildings Niko Palonen according to the hotel's condition is very normal for an old building, but not all maintenance and repair work has been done in the best possible way.
According to Hoyer, there are a few things that need to be fixed, but they are not very big.
Now Hoyer seems relieved. At the weekend, he spoke to both old and new faces at an event for Varsinais-Suomen entrepreneurs. He calls returning to the podium one of the most significant tasks of his life.
“It was a great and maybe even a bit moving moment.”
“Nine months have been quite a difficult time with the bankruptcy. It feels good to continue other works and focus on them at the moment. Although the sale of the hotel in itself was not related to me, this has taken a lot of energy and time,” he says.
At least there is one more thing to come. Karaman representative Sollo said to Eastern Savo on Wednesday that Karaman plans to contact Hoyer. There has been no contact yet.
“I will be happy to test the restaurant as soon as it opens and see the hotel.”
Saimi Hoyer in the hotel library in 2020.
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