Perfect Blend of Warm Atmosphere and Unique Ambience by the Ohrid Lake

Founded in 2006 as a family business, Hotel Belvedere is a one-of-a-kind four-star hotel situated in the serenity of a perfect location, surrounded by the pine forest of St. Stefan settlement and the magnificent view of Ohrid Lake. Hotel Belvedere offers a thriving combination of contemporary style and authentic Macedonian character along with warm atmosphere and unique ambience. The perfect balance between classical elegance and modern comforts leave a long lasting impression.

From the elegant lobby with classical instruments and antiques, to the comfortable furnished rooms with breath-taking views, all visitors can relax and enjoy the unspoiled natural surroundings. The hotel is backed by employees with great enthusiasm, providing high quality service for every visitor. Filip Vasilevski, General Manager, points out, “At Hotel Belvedere you will feel certain warmth, great service, we are all family here providing together excellent hospitality. It’s a unique experience.”

Discussing the success strategy of the hotel, Filip Vasilevski adds, “The main success strategy for any hotel and restaurant is to have new ideas and be creative. You need to invest constantly and keep up with the modern trends. You need to keep on building and adding new hotel amenities. Of course we don’t just renovate the hotel; we also “upgrade” the staff, by proving attendance to different types of courses and trainings”.

Creating memorable experiences

Hotel Belvedere has 90 rooms divided in three different categories – standard, studio rooms and suites, offering all the necessary conditions to have a warm and unforgettable stay in the hotel. Offering lake or forest view, all the rooms are equipped with: air conditioning, wide LCD screen with cable TV, work desk, mini bar, Wi-Fi internet and direct tel. line, bathroom with shower and hair dryer, terrace. The hotel features two highly equipped business halls, with capacity of 100 and 60 audience, an on-site Hotel restaurant with a capacity of 280 seats, Piano Lobby bar and antique shop. “We are planning to build a spa centre too,” Filip Vasilevski says.

Hotel Belvedere also organizes Ohrid Lake tours by boat and ship and provides rent bikes, in order to create unforgettable moments for its tourists. Filip Vasilevski also owns two restaurants – Belvedere, situated in the Centre of Ohrid and Restaurant Biljanini Izvori (Biljana Springs), widely known for its unique ambience and traditional Macedonian and international cuisine. He adds, “We may be the only ones who give our visitors the opportunity to eat at either of those restaurants even though they arranged an all-inclusive at this hotel. We do this because we tend to make the staying in Ohrid interesting to our guests; there is no room for monotony. We also organize all kinds of festivities in the hotels like weddings etc.”

In order to complement its touristic capacity on the Ohrid Riviera offering high quality service and accommodation, this family business took under concession Hotel Filip. The General Manger explains, “Hotel Filip is equipped with 40 rooms. We also have one smaller cottage hotel, it’s called Vila Bisera, located in Lagadin offering about 25 exclusive rooms. Vila Bisera is not a part of the group with the two other hotels because it belongs to a third party, but our plan this year is to congregate Vila Bisera to the whole company. We have one pool in Hotel Filip and two pools in Vila Bisera. In Hotel Filip we also have a Fitness Centre and currently we are making a small children’s corner there”.

Touristic hub for international visitors

Hotel Belvedere provides accommodation generally to foreign visitors during the summer season, and local business tourists organizing seminars and conferences. Filip Vasilevski explains, “We have different types of guests. Around the winter holidays, our guests are mostly tourists from the neighbouring countries: Albania, Greece and Serbia, for a short stay or off-season sports trainings and preparations. In spring and autumn we have conferences and seminars held by foreign organizations, NGO’s and NPO’s. During the summer season we have mostly tourists from the Netherlands and Belgium, and in recent years we’ve also acquired some guests from Poland.”

The hotel team is actively involved in attracting international tourists through investment in different marketing strategies such as online marketing, web sites and ads, making contacts with new travel agencies and tour operators and visiting international fairs in Belgrade, Sofia, Istanbul, the Netherlands and Belgium. Filip Vasilevski observes that several improvements should be done in the means of transport, in order to attract new tour operators who are subsidized and are motivated to bring new tourists in Macedonia.

He urges more international travellers to discover the charms of Ohrid, “Ohrid is a small touristic centre with a rich history and a lot to offer. Visit Ohrid, it is a wonderful place. Visit the hotels because they are also a part of what makes Ohrid beautiful!”