Controversial Slovak Businessman's Firm Plans Major Expansion of Tatra Mountain Hotel

A Czech construction company linked to controversial Slovak businessman František Hodorovský is planning a significant expansion of the Atrium Hotel in Nový Smokovec, a resort town in the High Tatras mountain region of northern Slovakia. The project will increase the hotel's capacity by nearly 60 percent at a cost of more than seven million euros. Hodorovský is a figure known in Slovak business circles for a trail of bankruptcies across multiple industries, with numerous companies associated with him having collapsed in the past. Despite this track record, he has emerged as one of the stronger domestic players in Slovakia's tourism sector, where his ventures appear to have fared considerably better than his other business pursuits. The expansion of the Atrium Hotel represents one of the more substantial private tourism investments in the High Tatras, a popular year-round destination that draws visitors for skiing in winter and hiking in summer.