“The renovated Hotel Dubrovnik Palace will be opened on 29 May by President Mesić before some 600 VIP guests. One hundred guests will arrive on a special British Airways flight from London, while another hundred will arrive from Zagreb with Croatia Airlines. I sent invitations to all the government ministers, taking advantage of their recent stay in my Bonavia Hotel in Rijeka. The celebration will begin with a short film on the history of the Hotel Palace: how it was before the war, its closure in 1990, the destruction which occurred during the war and its renovation. Following is a carefully designed program by Egon Šoštarić and Boško Petrović is responsible for the music. Both are my childhood friends. The culmination will be at midnight, when there will be a special surprise,” said Goran Štrok last week in Dubrovnik. Štrok, a businessman who began his career some 30 years ago in Zagreb before moving on to London and the Far East where he became very wealthy in the oil platform business. In the mid 1990s, he surprisingly entered into the hotel business in Croatia and Great Britain. He is currently owner of three English hotels, he recently sold another three, and since 1995 when he bought his first hotel in Croatia, the Bonavia in Rijeka, he has bought another four hotels, all in Dubrovnik.

This 57 year old, well known for his energy, who used to invest first in automobiles and then in business, still follows his passion for speed and today drives the fast and most luxurious cars, planes and boats. He owns beautiful and lavish homes in England and on Sardinia, where he has brought together many business partners and friends over the years. He is also known for his complete dedication to the business in which he, as he confesses, accidentally stepped into – the hotel industry. The purchases and operations of his Croatian hotels were followed by numerous criticisms and affairs. Alongside his British hotels which are part of the Wren’s Hotel Group, his company in Croatia, Adriatic Luxury Hotels, registered in 2001, consists of the Bonavia in Rijeka, Hotel Excelsior in Dubrovnik purchased in 2000, Hotel Bellevue purchased in 2001, the Dubrovnik Palace purchased in 2002 and the Hotel Kompas, purchased in 2003. The company has also invested in two small hotels and a restaurant in Konavle, purchased in 2002.

Last Wednesday, Goran Štrok took us on a tour of the Hotel Dubrovnik Palace, which is soon to be opened. This though is hard to believe, as the hotel is still a large construction site, with many workers working quickly to finish off the interior and exterior, and as such, the final appearance of the hotel which will satisfy international five-star standards, is difficult to imagine. His wife Renata and the painting couple Edo and Goranka Murtić accompanied us on the tour. The famed painted came to select a wall in the main salon of the hotel, where one of his canvases will be hung. During the two hour tour of the massive complex which was first opened in 1971 and which was reputed as one of the best hotels on the Adriatic Sea during the socialist period, we learned some of the amazing details on the rules in the top hotel business. We rushed through the dust behind Stork, whose quick steps covered the floors, terraces, and machine rooms, which in size are reminiscent of those on the Titanic, and viewed the pools, viewpoints, beaches, restaurants and kitchens. As he said, this was the largest investment in Croatian tourism in the last 30 years: a total of over 40 million Euro.

NACIONAL: You purchase the Hotel Dubrovnik Palace on Lapad two years ago, and announced that it would be opened last year. How did the renovations take so long and how did you become the 100% owner?

In January 2002, my company, in cooperation with Ingra from Zagreb, purchased the Dubrovnik Palace from the Dubrovnik company Hotel Maestral. The Palace, hit by Serbian missiles in the war and devastated after refugees were put up in it, was purchased for 5.1 million Euro. Ingra and I were the only bidders in the tender. Quickly after signing the contract, Ingra backed away from the investment and sold me its 25% share. The renovation of the hotel and the costs of the operative team which began working two years ago, together with the opening, will cost a total of 40 million Euro. That means that each room cost 125,000 Euro! The renovation was a massive task. We also had to renovate the exterior area of 40 thousand square metres. The entire reconstruction and renovation project was, to say the least, a nightmare because of problems with the architect, and the entire project was delayed. Immediately after purchasing the hotel in 2002, we began to design the plans with the Dubrovnik company Alfaplan owned by architect Stjepe Butijera. The problems for the most part arose due to the lack of professionalism of our partners. I sent the entire stack of correspondence with them to the mayor of Dubrovnik. Unfortunately, over the past year, a certain antagonism has arisen against me, Excelsior and all of us who work here, and not only in Dubrovnik. It all began with former Tourism Minister Pave Župan-Rusković. Many were surprised to see the minister, who is from that city, humiliate its best hotel, her city and her country by lobbying to have one of the hotel’s stars taken away. That is not appropriate conduct for a minister.

NACIONAL: Excelsior was shaken by the decategorization affair, you had to change several things and force out some important people. There was also criticism concerning the purchase of the hotel itself; some say that you bought the hotel for too little with the help of politics.

I can once again repeat the story of the purchase of the hotel. I bought the Excelsior for 4,730,000 kuna, and took over all the debts of 21.35 million Euro. A part was paid in cash and a part was guaranteed by the Royal Bank of Scotland, which freed up the state guarantee for 17.5 million Euro. I put everything I had on this hotel, from my watches to cars, houses and other hotels. The whole deal was crystal clear, which was confirmed by the findings in the state audit, done three times, and the investigation conducted by the State Prosecutor. It is true that the hotel management was replaced, which also aroused quite a stir in the public, as the story in Dubrovnik was ‘Štrok is throwing out our people’. However, there were mistakes made in the hotel, and people had to go due to bad contracts they signed and poor business operations. This primarily related to the contracts between Excelsior and the Casino, the company IT Computers, various tour operators, and mistakes made in categorization. Believe me, it was harder for me than anyone to fire the head man who ran the business. However, he was lost in the massive job, and I had to make all the necessary moves to ensure that the hotel didn’t go bankrupt. Some of the people, the older ones, were not used to being accountable to the owner, as they had never had a real boss during socialism or during the first HDZ years. When I appeared, they realized for the first time that I’m the one to pay the high price for their mistakes. I am exposed in every situation and I took on all the risk myself. However, once I accepted that risk, I will not permit someone else’s mistake. When I didn’t open Hotel Dubrovnik Palace last year, as I had originally announced, Minister Pave Župan-Rusković and a part of the media placed stories that Germans were not coming to Croatia because of me, because the German did not come to the Adriatic. I have a document proving that only 19 rooms were reserved in that hotel for guests of that ship. It is true that the hotel was not opened on time last year, but a ship with 2000 guests is not cancelled because of a reservation for 19 rooms. Dubrovnik was not ready to take that job, because the city was not able to secure neither the planes nor buses nor hotels for that number of ship passengers. We were attacked, and yet we are the only ones in this city that are seriously working. We will employ 250 people at the Dubrovnik Palace, along with seasonal workers, and we will have a foundation for education tourism workers. We used exclusively Croatian companies and manufacturers in the reconstruction and equipment of the hotel, and Adriatic Luxury Hotels signed a contract with the Park Plaza Hotels about franchises, with the Bonavia becoming the first hotel in that chain in Croatia. We have succeeded in making a special partnership with British Airways which will fly from London direct to Dubrovnik three times weekly from the end of March to 1 November, when they will decide whether to continue flying through the winter months.

NACIONAL: What is this partnership with British Airways?

Adriatic Luxury Hotels has entered into the world hotel network. The people from British Airways, together with director of marketing Jane O’Brian, came to look at our hotels. We have no idea that they were staying at the Excelsior. Later I learned by chance that this lady knows Croatian, as she studied Slavic languages in Zagreb and met her English husband on vacation in Šibenik. We also had a group of tourism reporters from the Observer, Times, Sunday Times and other important British papers stay with us, and they wrote very positive articles about Dubrovnik and the Excelsior.

NACIONAL: Now the Dubrovnik Palace is in the limelight. What kind of hotel is it?

This was a massive investment in the Croatian economy, it will be one of the best hotels on the Mediterranean because of its congress capabilities and as a centre for rest and recreation, all year round. The Adriatic Luxury Hotels Group will have a total of 1400 beds on the Dubrovnik region with the opening of this hotel.

To illustrate, the Hotel Dubrovnik Palace has 320 rooms, 400 bathrooms, 11 bars, 3 restaurants, 4 pools plus a fifth next season, 2 large congress halls for 1000 and 700 participants, a wellness centre, 1700 paintings and photographs by the leading Croatian artists, including Murtić and Džamonija, and a special wing with a presidential suite intended for VIP guests. This suite includes all the needs for the necessary staff – bodyguards, governors, with sophisticated electronic security and the highest level of security in Croatia. Everything has been equipped with the top technology, every room has a flat screen TV connected to the network broadcasting system, by which they can receive all possible information and services. They just told me at the building site that a total of 80 km of pipes and 300 km of cables were laid. When we put out advertisements for hotel staff, we received 900 applications. Our staff are already going through their training programs. We hired German Kay Yackle as the Food and Beverage Manager, as he has experience in the best world hotels and he will give the restaurant a new concept. The problem in Croatian tourism is that the menu is always the same. We will offer an international menu – Thai, Chinese, Japanese and other foods.

NACIONAL: Who are the guests of Adriatic Luxury Hotels, and who will be staying at the Dubrovnik Palace? How much will it cost them?

In all my hotels, 80% of guests are foreigners, mostly British and German, but also Austrian, Italian, American, Japanese, French and others. 18-20% of guests are Croatian. We already have people who pay 600-700 Euro per night for a suite at the Excelsior, and they will also be at the Palace. We will charge 100 Euro for an average room. The Presidential Suite costs 1500 Euro. The guests package begins at the airport: the guest is greeted and driven in a brand new Audi A8 with driver, he receives everything he wants at the hotel and not a single mistake can be made until he leaves. When we opened the agency Adriatic Luxury Services, which services all eight facilities, our idea was to do all we could for the guests of those hotels. The guest can take a plane and fly to Venice for an excursion, or see the islands by boat, the agency will manage our congress tourism and restaurants. We are a team. Furthermore, the Croatian government chose the Hotel Bonavia for its stay in Rijeka, there is nothing better for our company. The Dubrovnik Palace is already fully book for the entire season.

NACIONAL: You have been criticized in Dubrovnik for not yet renovating Hotel Bellevue. When will the renovations to Bellevue and Kompas begin?

We only received the building permit for Hotel Bellevue a few days ago, after waiting two and a half years, so we could not begin the works. When and whether that will begin is my business, that depends on my finances and no one has the right to criticize me fore that. They have also criticized me for not completing the projects in Konavle, while still today we don’t have the proper clean paperwork from the Konavle municipality from whom we bought two small 20 and 30 room hotels and a restaurant on Molunte. Our marketing plan is to raise Hotel Kompas to the four-star category in the next two years, Bellevue to 4+ stars, the Palace has 5 and the Excelsior, which has 5, will be raised to 5+, meaning Extra Deluxe. We want the Bonavia, which has 4 stars, to receive the category of Park Plaza Premier. The Park Plaza is part of the Carlson group, has a total of 19000 rooms in 900 hotels and the highest bookings in the world.

NACIONAL: There was frequent mention of your cooperation with Adrian Zeccha, owner of the world Aman Resort chain, in hotels in Croatia. Why did that not happen?

Adrian Zeccha came to Croatia 6 years ago and has been here some 30 times since. He sees Dubrovnik as the place where he would like to see the first Mediterranean Aman. The opportunity arose, with a facility near Excelsior, but could not be realized at that time. The second opportunity was the old section of the Excelsior. I was prepared to enter into the deal with him as a minority partner, but when the situation presented itself, neither he nor his investors, among them the Quant family, owners of BMW, did not have the cash as the deadline was too short. So, two years ago, Adrian wanted to take the old part of Excelsior and turn it into an Aman hotel. And we announced that. His architects began working on it and they made a really attractive design. We received preliminary consent from the Agency for Cultural Protection, but not a single paper until summer 2003. When the permit was issued, we couldn’t begin building in the middle of the season, as that would have driven away guests of the Excelsior. All the circumstances were bad. If we add that his business was harmed by 11 September, and then later in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines because of SARS, and the bomb in Bali stopped three of his hotels, it is then clear that his plans could not be realized.

NACIONAL: Over the past few years, you have been living both in Croatia and England. What kind of a life do you and your wife Renata live?

We live in a Croatia Airlines airbus. It’s like in 1992 when I flew London-Kuala Lumpur 14 times, because I had offices in Bangkok, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. I have become accustomed to change, and it is no problem for me to travel London-Dubrovnik at any moment. It’s a little more difficult now because I’m older. My business has been expanding like crazy, but it was a matter of good timing for me and Renata to get involved in the hotel industry. Neither of our daughters, Vanja, a mature woman with a successful fashion business and a family of her own, and Tena, a student at the London School of Art, live with us at Surrey any more, so there is less daily concern for the kids. Renata spends her days at the Palace, because the interior is her specialty, and she is doing a wonderful job, but the fact that we are in business together didn’t have to work out well. In order for a marriage to be successful after 35 years, especially in this business and with this tremendous stress, difference in vision and opinion, a great deal of compromise was required on both sides. Furthermore, this project was a test to everything – my marriage, school day friendships, business life and finances.

NACIONAL: You are spending less and less time in the comfort of your luxurious villa at Weybridge, the residential area near Surrey. What will you do with the house now that you and your wife are alone?

We have the fortune of having a couple look after the house, and they have been living with us and our 3 dogs for the past ten years. However, I believe that we will sell the house soon. Renata and I want to be closer to Vanja, Christian and our grandson, and they live at Windsor where our hotel is. After 21 years, we will leave our village and the White Nights villa, which will not be easy. Though I am not as tied to the place as Renata is. When I decided to sell the house on Sardinia, it was really difficult, but Vanja told me ‘When you stop going there, you will soon forget it’. And that is how it was.

NACIONAL: Living in Zagreb is not a possibility?

I will not live in Zagreb, even though it is in my heart. I actually never left Zagreb. I held on to all my friends and contacts. I came to Zagreb with ten pounds in the my pocket and with a lear jet, and I have always had the same relationship with my friends. Everything I have done in life has been with great passion. 167 of my friends have passed through my house on Sardinia, I have flown hundreds of ours and gone around the world twice. I have had everything I ever loved, I am not interested in status symbols.

NACIONAL: Which automobiles, after your collection of 13 Lamborghinis, a series of Ferraris, Bentleys and Mercedes, are in your London garage today?

Renata and I still have three Mercedes, two with 500KS, a SL 55 and a CLK, a Porsche 911 Carrera GT and a new 600KS Carrera GT is on the way, the best car of all time. Both Renata and I sold our Ferraris. And I still drive dangerously fast – and never pay fines.