The best-known hotel of Hungary, Hotel Gellért is returning to the Hungarian accommodation market with a completely renewed interior and new, high-quality services. BDPST Zrt is developing the protected building of the hotel, which first opened more than 100 years ago but has been closed for a year now, to be a modern 5-star hotel while preserving its historic values and relying on its unique features. Budapest’s emblematic hotel will be operated by the internationally renowned Mandarin Oriental Group, which will operate high-end hotels, and is expected to open in 2027.

The construction of St. Gellért Hotel and Thermal Bath, which was built with the elements of historicism and Art Nouveau, had started in 1911, and it opened its doors in September 1918, after which it became an iconic place in the period between the two world wars. In these years, the number of hotel rooms and the services of the bath were continuously expanding. The building was designed by Ármin Hegedűs, Artúr Sebestyén and Izidor Sterk, and the high-quality gastronomy in the golden age of the ‘20s and ‘30s was guaranteed by the operator, Károly Gundel. World War II caused significant damage to the building of the hotel: almost the whole of it was completely burned out. Following its renovation and re-opening, the hotel continued to be in the forefront of Hungarian tourism. The hotel was popular among the Hungarian as well as the international elite. It was special as the planes of Aeroexpress landed right in front of the hotel, on the River Danube, so the guests could visit the place even for a lunch if they wished. Gellért was the first Grand Hotel in Hungary, and it was specifically built to receive guests unlike the other hotels that could win this title through the transformation of a palace after the noble class had ceased to exist.

The building, which is under partial heritage protection and has been closed since the end of 2021, requires extensive reconstruction considering that the latest major renovation was carried out in the building 50 years ago. The comprehensive renovation of Hotel Gellért is expected to start in 2024, and its developer is BDPST Ingatlanfejlesztő Kft.

The Gellért Hotel is planned to feature 143 guest rooms and 38 suites, designed by the London-based interior design studio Alexander Waterworth Interiors Ltd, with a timeless and elegant design. The original interior spaces were practically destroyed because of the war and the restoration works that followed: the investor-developer intends to restore the four most iconic interior spaces, which are the Lobby, the Danube Hall, the Music Hall and the Gobelin Hall, to their original splendour based on the remaining photos and plans. Along with modernisation, the designers, ARCHIKON, aim to integrate new functions that contribute to increasing the range of available services and improving their quality, hereby bringing back the “golden age” of the building, its splendour and quality, and completing it with 21st-century innovations as well as environment and energy conscious elements. The professional team of BDPST Group aims to explore the potentials of the project sites, create harmony between the environment and the planned functions as a result of the creative work conducted jointly with the designers, following which a sustainable, value-preserving and lasting work could be created from the aspects of architecture and city branding.