If your marriage is on the rocks and you think there is nothing in this world that can save it then at least don’t let it end in an acrimonious and bitter separation. How would you like it if you had the chance to discuss your divorce related issues in the comfortable confines of a cosy and plush hotel? You will check in as an angry married couple over the weekend, have a run through your divorce papers over some sumptuous meals and some steaming hot coffee and then when check out you will be divorced and walk out of the hotel and your marriage with no grudges whatsoever.
It may sound a little wacky and out of the world, but trust us for it to be true! There’s indeed a Divorce Hotel. The brainchild of Jim Halfens, an entrepreneur from Netherlands, the Divorce Hotel is not all set to establish itself in the United States of America where marriages don’t really have a huge success rate. Just the ideal location for a hotel that makes divorces a success.
What a way we say to turn bitter divorces into sweet endings. Read on if you wish to check in at the Divorce Hotel.
Divorce Hotel
It was a friends’ painful divorce that prompted Jim Halfnes to come up with this unique idea to give some respite to couples who are already reeling under a lot of pressure due to their impending divorce cases. It was his degree in Law and marketing both that encouraged him to get into the so called divorce driven hospitality industry. There are about six luxury hotels with whom Jim Halfens has entered into an agreement with but unfortunately the hotels in question find it way to embarrassing to reveal that they are indeed the divorce hotels.
So what do you do once at the Divorce Hotel? Well you check in with your papers and other relevant documents and stay in separate rooms a suite is booked for talks and discussions and after the weekends get over you check out of the hotel, divorced! The hotel charges a fee of around $3,500 to $10,000 which depends on the financial status of the couples. The hotels has two modules namely the Traditional Divorce and the Hotel Divorce and claim that they work with the best of professionals to make it a smooth sailing process.
To open the Divorce Hotel is just ideal for it is in the United States that divorce rates are very high. According to the statistics of the National Centre for State Courts a whopping 2.9 million people had filed for a divorce in 2009 alone. It is also an industry that generates a lot of money. With expensive divorce lawyers, issues related to child custody, alumni the divorce industry makes up to $50billion to $175 billion in a year alone. Each divorce in the United States costs upto $5000-$20,000. The price tag may increase if the divorce is rather complicated.
Despite being such a lucrative market for Jim Halfens, may are still not sure if the concept of a Divorce Hotel will be a success in the United States. Mr. Robert S. Cohen who has successfully separated some high profile couples thinks that the idea’s new and refreshing but is apprehensive if it’s practical enough. For he feels that divorce is a highly emotional issue and couples don’t even wish to see each other once they are heading for separation let alone spend a weekend in a hotel. However, he feels it might ust work for couples who are still on talking terms and are financially sound.
Well, we aren’t sure if it’s gonna be a success or not but hats off to Jim Halfens and his 21st century Splitsvilla!
Via NYTIMES
