Grand Hotel Kempinski High Tatras

Grand Hotel Kempinski High Tatras

Location	Slovakia Štrbské Pleso
opening	May 2009
room	98
Restaurants	1
Website	www.kempinski.com/hightatras

View of the hotel from Štrbské pleso

The Grand Hotel Kempinski High Tatras is a five-star hotel in the High Tatras on the shores of Lake Tschirmer in Štrbské Pleso ( Slovakia ). It belongs to the Kempinski Hotels SA and was opened in May 2009 after the reconstruction of the former 'Hviezdoslav' complex.

location

The hotel is located in the immediate vicinity of Lake Tschirmer, at an altitude of 1,351 m above sea level.

history

The Grand Hotel Kempinski High Tatras consists of three interconnected, historic buildings that were built over a period of 34 years on Lake Tschirmer. Jánošík (1893), Kriváň (1906) and Hviezdoslav (1923) differ greatly in their architectural expression from historical design to the modern style of the 1920s. Together they give the impression of a curious construction with differently shaped roofs.

The oldest of the three buildings is 'Jánošík' and was built in 1893 and completed in 1894. Joseph Szentiványi had it built for his private use and called it 'Villa Joseph'. This romantic villa, with a facade richly decorated with paintings and wood carvings and a lavishly furnished interior, was a vacation destination for nobles. Among the guests were family members from the houses of Habsburg and Coburg as well as the Serbian King Milan.

After the establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the building was renamed after the Slovak folk hero Juraj Jánošík . In the years that followed, other buildings were added to the original villa, including the 'Kriváň' completed in 1906 and 'Hviezdoslav' in 1923.

'Kriváň' was one of the three leading grand hotels in the Tatras. The project was created under the direction of the architect Guido Höpfner in collaboration with Géza Györgyi during the Belle Époche , an era in which the Secession style dominated. The hotel and its furnishings were therefore designed in this style. The hotel included a spa . Archduke Karl Stephan of Austria and his family were among the first guests at the Grand Hotel; he was particularly impressed with the lobby and restaurant. After 1918 the hotel was called 'Kriváň' after the Slovak summit.

The 'Grand Hotel Hviezdoslav' opened in 1923 and was named after the Slovak poet Hviezdoslav . The interior decoration was influenced by Rondo Cubism, the Czech style of the time. Before the FIS World Championships were held in 1935, the old tourist restaurant was replaced by a new French restaurant with a bar , and critics called it unique in the Tatras.

From 1953 the hotel complex was used as a sanatorium and was neglected until it finally had to be closed completely due to dilapidation.

Reconstruction of the complex

In 2003, the architect Peter Černo started a study to restore the former 'Hviezdoslav' to its former glory. The aim of the project was to transform the building, which has been a listed building since 1963, into a luxury hotel. At the same time, the hotel had to meet the requirements of the Kempinski management company . The external appearance should correspond to the original as much as possible, so Černo researched archives in order to reconstruct the various buildings as faithfully as possible using historical images and other documents.

The reconstruction of the hotel took more than four years. The complex is located in the middle of the Tatra National Park and is protected as a national monument.