Corinthia Hotel Budapest
The Corinthia Hotel Budapest at the Elizabeth Boulevard in Budapest, is a historic luxury hotel. Opened in 1896 as the Grand Hotel Royal, a hub for the elite of 19th century society, the hotel has undergone extensive modification throughout the 20th century, and has in the 21st century been restored and reopened as the Corinthia. Historical background The course of the Grand Boulevard (Nagykörút) was marked out during the 1870s together with Andrássy Avenue, Budapest's most impressive avenue. The road went through a thinly populated part of suburban Budapest, so its development was rather slow, and only a few buildings were constructed in the 1870s. The real development of the Grand Boulevard began once Andrássy Street was completed in 1884. Grand Hotel Royal The Grand Hotel Royal was originally opened for visitors of the Millennium Exhibition in 1896. A joint-stock company, established by the hotel owners, including the chairman Mr. Frigyes Glück and the planner architect Mr. Rezső Ray, had succeeded in purchasing the largest piece of real estate on the developing Grand Boulevard. By this time the Grand Boulevard had become the main artery of the capital city and the hotel rooms enjoyed superb views of this most attractive part of Budapest. The official opening ceremony was on 30 April 1896. The hotel comprised 350 guest rooms, including the adjacent building and attic rooms for the staff. The architectural style was French renaissance and the latest technology was used throughout. Besides the facilities (post office, bank, hairdresser, ticket office) guests and the public had access to two restaurants, a café, a Gerbeaud confectionery and private dining rooms. In the cellar could be found not only a grocery store but also a bar. In the western cour d'honneur, a palm garden made the court more attractive. After its opening, the Royal became popular, a regular haunt of contemporary Hungarian writers and journalists, including Jenő Heltay, Sándor Hunyadi, Lajos Nagy and Gyula Krúdy. The first screening in Budapest of a motion picture by the Lumiére brothers also took place at the hotel and later became highly successful as a regular exhibition. Several classical concerts were held in the Royal Ballroom, and Béla Bartók, the Hungarian composer, frequently conducted music there. The Royal soon became a topic of journalists. In 1909, the first Hungarian airplane was exhibited in one of the hotel's cours d'honneur. With the growing popularity of the motion picture, the Ballroom ceased to exist as a part of the hotel and was reconstructed as the Royal Apollo cinema. After the Second World War, it reopened its doors in 1959 as the Red Star cinema with its entrance on Hársfa Street. Decline, fall and rise From the Second World War until 1953 the Royal served not as a hotel but as an office building. In 1953 the building was restored to become a hotel, but three years later the roof was destroyed by fire. This unfortunate event forced the architects to reconstruct the whole building. The Royal was intended to