PHOTOS: Demolition of the Budapest luxury hotel near Chain Bridge starts

Sofitel Budapest. Source: www.facebook.com/pg/SofitelBudapestChainBridge

The Sofitel hotel has been owned by Indotek Group since 2019. The company then announced that it will renovate the hotel by 2022. It has planned to do this so that the hotel can accommodate guests during the works. The plan was then thwarted by the coronavirus epidemic, and the hotel was closed in December 2020. Now, however, demolition work has started. This means that the hotel’s renewal can begin soon.

The partial demolition of the Sofitel hotel near Chain Bridge has started and is scheduled to last until the autumn. However, there is no word yet on a date for the reopening, 24.hu reports. The 365-room hotel was one of the first five-star hotels in Hungary. After changing hands several times, it was taken over by the Indotek Group three years ago.

The company announced the renovation after the purchase. However, it was delayed until now due to the epidemic. According to the plans, the hotel, which is operated by the Accor hospitality chain, will have 350 rooms and 15 apartment suite, Portfolio writes. Meanwhile, the casino will remain in place, the former terrace facing Széchenyi Square will return and the hotel entrance will move to the Dorottya Street side.

After the demolition works, which will be completed by autumn 2023, the redevelopment will start, but it is not yet known exactly how long it will take.

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Gallery

: István Széchenyi (Roosevelt) Square, construction of the Atrium Hyatt Hotel, seen from the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, 1981. Source: Fortepan / Szalay Zoltán

: Atrium Hyatt (the former name of Sofitel) Hotel on the István Széchenyi (then Roosevelt) Square, Budapest, 1982. Source: Fortepan / Gábor Viktor