The German capital of Berlin is negotiating with a hotel chain to lease 10,000 long-term spots, including all-inclusive options, to house refugees.
The deal with Grand City Hotels would give the city a discounted rate of 50 euros per night for each refugee, according to newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The taxpayers will pay close to $20,000 per year for each accommodation, for a total of at least $660 million.
Hotels used would include Wyndham, Best Western and Holiday Inn. The deal is highly lucrative for the hotels as they can boost occupancy from 65 percent to 95 percent, according to FAZ’s Monday report.
The Best Western President Hotel in central Berlin is already completely occupied by refugees, with the city paying $165,000 per month for 182 rooms.
Around 80,000 refugees arrived to the German capital last year and observers expect a similar number in 2016. Berlin has already confiscated 50 gymnasiums from public schools to use as emergency shelters. Berlin is forced to find additional shelter for at least 30,000 migrants in 2016, according to FAZ.
The problem of finding space for the more than one million refugees that arrived last year is evident across the nation. The city of Hamburg passed a law in October to temporarily allow the city to seize unused commercial property to house refugees.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.