[BU Today] SHA Students Design Senior Living Community for Developer in Hungary

“Students who signed up for the School of Hospitality Administration course Hospitality Design last spring thought they would be introduced to ‘basic principles of facility planning, layout, and design for hotel dining, kitchen, public, and service areas.’

And they were. But in an unexpected way—and it came with a quick weekend jaunt across the Atlantic for some.

When they showed up for Christopher Muller’s first class in September, they learned that they were going to design an entire 55+ resort community. For a real developer. In Hungary.

“Honestly, it was not that much of a shock coming from him, because he’s a very out-of-the-box professor,” says Rachel Fisher (SHA’19). “It was really exciting to use the knowledge I’d gotten previously in a more real-world experience.”

Over the years, Muller, an SHA professor of the practice, has designed many class projects, from a potential redesign of the Boston Mandarin Hotel lobby to creating a luxury boutique inn out of two brownstones on Bay State Road. But designing an entire community—in Hungary—raised the stakes.

Muller was introduced to developer Martin Zsarnoczky by SHA’s associate dean for academic affairs, Peter Szende, a professor of the practice, when Zsarnoczky visited the school last year. Zsarnoczky’s companies own one of the largest hostels in Budapest, Casa de la Musica Hostel, now closed for renovation, as well as Au Naturel Guesthouses around the countryside, and a separate venture, ECOHostel. He is also an associate professor at Kodolanyi Janos University’s Institute for Sustainable Economy, Business Studies and Tourism Department.

Zsarnoczky’s Matra Resorts acquired several parcels of land in the picturesque mountain town of Paradsasvar, an hour outside Budapest, and he is obtaining permits and gathering partners to build a 55+ community that will offer both independent and assisted living for seniors from across Europe, as well as hospice and nursing home care. Such communities are much rarer in Europe than in the United States. What better way to get some American insight than to ask Muller’s students for help?”

Read the full story on BU Today.