The story of the oldest hotel in Budapest

Corinthia Hotel on Erzsébet körút is one of the most beautiful and oldest hotels in the city. The building was built at the end of the 19^th century. It lived through many hardships. It functioned as a hotel even at the very beginnings, says funzine.hu.

The beginnings – The Grand Hotel Royal

It was built in 1896 in honour of the millennium, based on plans by Rezső Ray. Grand Hotel Budapest was opened on the 30^th of April for those visiting the Millennial Exhibition on the Nagykörút.  The building has features of French Renaissance style. It is tripartite, has two inner atriums inside which have been home to palm gardens and the restaurant of the hotel. It has gone through many hardships during its history. It was the headquarter of German troops once, but it was in the crosshair of Soviets for its central situation.

During the Revolution of 1956 first Hungarians, then Soviet soldiers set up their base here. The building suffered serious damages, it was only renovated and used again years later.

The Lumiére brothers played a movie for the Hungarian audience first in this hotel and the first Hungarian airplane was shown here, as well. From 1915, the ballroom functioned as a cinema, it was first named Apolló, then Red Star. The hotel has had a close connection to the movie industry from the beginnings.

Wes Anderson’s movie Grand Hotel Budapest made it world-famous, since the hotel in the movie was inspired by Hotel Corinthia Budapest.

They even gained the right of pre-premiere screening.

The legendary building was revived by the Corinthia chain, which has its HQ in Malta. The proprietor renewed it so it could accept guests in its old form. Corinthia Group operated with 9 hotels worldwide: in the Czech Republic, UK, Libya, Hungary, Malta, Russia, Portugal, Sudan, and Tunesia.

The founder family, family Pisani is from Malta, and they put a great emphasis on

preserving cultural traditions and architectural styles in the different regions when reconstructing and renewing their hotels in different countries.

They did so when renewing the imposing building in Budapest. The huge ballroom in Budapest is outstanding, enough to think about the frescoes covering the walls. The Royal Spa, which was opened first in 1886, was renewed in June 2006, and awaits its visitors with the most modern spa services and treatments. The elegant bath is decorated with Zsolnay wall tiles and a glass ceiling.

Room types

Corinthia Hotel Budapest has 3 types of rooms, 4 types of residences and 5 kinds of suits, as it can be seen on their website.

Superior Room, King-size bed or two single beds, 28 m2

Deluxe King Room, King-size bed, 34 m2

Executive King Room, King-size bed, Executive Lounge service, 34 m2

Residences:

Superior Residence, 60 m2

Grand Residence, 80 m2

Deluxe Residence, 80 m2

Royal Residence, 130 m2

Suites:

Junior Suite, 63 m2

Deluxe Suite, 69 m2

Executive Suite 70 m2

Signature Suite, 140 m2

Presidental Suite, 240 m2

We can see that we will be satisfied with our stay at the Corinthia Hotel, whatever expectations we may have. The hotel is prestigious and is a gem of Budapest.

Featured Image: https://www.facebook.com/corinthiahotelbudapest/photos

Source: funzine.hu