Two hotels for sale

Oybin/Eckartsberg. Conrad Siebert is a committed man. Not only does the man in his early forties sit on the local council, he has also been running the “Am Berg Oybin” hotel for many years. Now, however, we will get rid of it as quickly as possible. It has been available for sale on relevant real estate portals since the end of September. Cost for possible interested parties: 890,000 euros. But there is also a lot on offer: 806 square meters of restaurant space, 15 double and four single rooms, as well as all the amenities that guests expect today. But why the decision to get rid of it all?

“The house was completely renovated in 1996 and is now slowly being renovated again,” explains the owner. He and his wife would have liked to devote themselves to this task, but the Sieberts gave up because of excessive bureaucracy. To understand this, you have to know the whole story. “We wanted to really get started and invest around 2.2 million euros.” Expand capacity and modernize the entire property. We had set ourselves the goal of four-star standards and rooms suitable for disabled people.” However, nothing came of this. It took the district a whopping 19 months to get the building permit, peppered with additional demands and additions – also because of a neighbor who couldn’t get used to the investment. Full of disappointment and with a smug undertone, the Oybin hotelier calls the district office “Mr. Meyer’s enabling authority”. The district administrator has repeatedly emphasized in the past that investments must be made possible through quick action by the authorities. “Unfortunately we didn’t notice anything about it.”

When the okay from Görlitz was finally on the table, the general conditions were no longer right. “Between 2021 and 2023, construction prices and interest rates rose so much that we have to add half a million more.” In return, the funding rate in the selected program fell from 45 to 35 percent. “None of that happened anymore,” is how Siebert sums up the past few years. The conclusion he and his wife came to: Sell! “We’re still relatively young now, but we don’t want to keep chasing forever until this project is implemented.” Given the current circumstances, we wouldn’t tackle it anyway.”

However, Conrad Siebert has no illusions. It will probably take two or three years until the right interested party is found. “We’ll continue until then, of course.” That means: Overnight stays in the winter months and breakfast if you register in advance, and breakfast spontaneously in the summer. Restaurant operations at the “Am Berg Oybin” hotel were discontinued in 2016. In terms of costs, it’s simply not worth it, explains the boss.

The Parkhotel “Zur alten Toboggan Run” is available for around the same price – exactly 840,000 euros. In addition to 632 square meters of dining space, the three-star hotel, which was also completely renovated in 1996, has 14 hotel rooms and three spacious dining rooms. There is also a single-family home built in the same year, which is offered as accommodation for the future owner or as a holiday apartment. Stefan Jungnitz has owned the hotel, which was founded in 1907, for ten years. Now, however, he is 64. At that age he wants to be more calm. The hotelier is already only opening when it is actually worth it. “Anyone who doesn’t do that is engaging in self-exploitation,” he clarifies. Don’t misunderstand him: “The Zittau Mountains and Oybin in particular are attractive for tourists.” But they only come at certain times.” That’s why the Parkhotel is currently closed and will only open again shortly before Christmas – until the beginning of January. “We will welcome the next guests during the winter holidays – and of course in the summer.”

Stefan Jungnitz enjoys being a hotelier, “but being constantly under high tension drains your reserves.” In addition, the general conditions are constantly changing – the excessive bureaucracy, higher costs for staff, energy and food. That’s why he hopes that a buyer will be found. “We will be there for as long as possible with our small team. It’s stressful, but it doesn’t help.” Because Oybin is “actually horny” during the season. Conrad Siebert also thinks so. And at the same time adjusts the relationships: “We are just a second or third holiday destination.” That makes the number of guests more manageable.”

Axel Klein also sees “difficult times” for the hotel industry. The general manager of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) in Saxony is not surprised that there is now a hotel earthquake in Oybin. Tax burdens, bureaucracy, lack of budget decisions in the Free State, because the government will probably be missing here for weeks. “There is simply no planning security. It goes into the potatoes and out of the potatoes – that’s what we restaurateurs would say.” That’s counterproductive to achieving proper development.

Klein has generally identified a trend that is increasingly causing self-employed people to seek refuge in the hospitality industry. “If you run a restaurant or a hotel, have responsibility, invest time and energy, then in the end you want to have more in hand than an employee.” Jobs financed by public budgets are becoming more and more competition. A hotelier has to work a long time for 4,000, 5,000 or 6,000 euros – if he can even reach such sums.” That’s why it’s becoming increasingly difficult to sell accommodation businesses. Other uses in the game can also be used instead. But a nursing home in the “Am Berg Oybin” hotel? Klein admits that this is difficult to imagine – but in today’s uncertain times it is by no means impossible.

There have already been such mind games at the “Goldene Höhe” country inn in Eckartsberg. But they are not ready for a decision at the moment. “There are no interested parties at the moment,” reports Kathleen Prescher, the daughter of the former owner Irina Wilhelm, who died in 2021. The young woman is currently in personal bankruptcy as a result of her mother’s debts and accrued costs that also occur while the property is vacant. Because the intended sale has not been successful so far, the insolvency administrator wants to hire a broker again who will also put out feelers to Poland and the Czech Republic. It is foreseeable that the inn will be auctioned off, but not. It is not yet clear whether it was initially offered for 300,000 euros or most recently for 250,000 euros.

SZ