Pro Kapital opens hotel in Tallinn's Old Town

TALLINN - A new three-star hotel, Domina City, was opened in Tallinn's Old Town on Vana-Posti Street on Sept. 27.

The five-story hotel belongs to the business partner of notorious Italian businessman Ernesto Preatoni, Pier-Paolo Cimatti, and is operated by Pro Kapital subsidiary Domina Hotels and Resorts.

The newly renovated hotel includes 68 rooms and suites, a meeting room for 40 people, a sauna and a cafe. Room prices range from 1,200 kroons ($71) to 2,200 kroons. The hotel's prices will be kept low until the end of this year, said Aare Jaanus, manager of Domina Management.

According to Jaanus, Domina City's owners and management are working toward earning a four-star rating. There are five four-star hotels in Estonia presently.

He said that like the two other hotels located in the Old Town, the Park Consul Schlossle Hotel and the St. Petersbourg Hotel, Domina City is too small for groups of tourists and is therefore focusing on individual tourists and business clients.

"There are people who prefer hotels like the one we have at Ilmarise Residence with big rooms and a peaceful atmosphere. But some want to be in the center of entertainment and business. The small rooms at Domina City are appropriate for them," said Jaanus.

Domina City's clients have free access to the famous nightclub Hollywood, which is near the hotel.

The building the hotel is now in was burnt during World War II and rebuilt into an administration house for sailors at the beginning of the 1950s. It was probably used by the intelligence service afterward, said Jaanus.

All of the furniture and building materials have been imported from Italy. The rooms differ in size, but the bathrooms and furniture are of similar look and color.

The renovation of the building cost 60 million kroons. The operator has promised to return the investment in five years.

Domina Hotels and Resorts franchises a total of 13 four- and five-star hotels, most of which are located in Italy. It is the company's third hotel in the Baltic countries, including the Ilmarine Residence in Tallinn and Domina Plaza Luxury Apartments in Vilnius.