Hotel Beograd InterContinental Built in record time from 1976 to 1978 by the Trudbenik construction firm in cooperation with 50 other subcontracting business entities,
Hotel Beograd InterContinental opened in October 1979 under the
InterContinental chain as a next-door companion to the simultaneously-built
Sava Centar congress hall and convention center to which it is connected by a pedestrian passage (
pasarela). The architect, Stojan Maksimović, with his associates, was awarded the 1977 October Prize for architecture, the highest Belgrade city administration-awarded prize at the time. In the courtyard of this hotel there was the dandelion fountain. In addition to foreign tourists and convention visitors, throughout the 1980s, the luxurious hotel facilities also grew popular with local politicians, celebrities, and sports figures. Known in local parlance as Interkonti, the hotel became a place to see and be seen. In December 1991, the wedding ceremony of the folk music star
Lepa Brena and tennis player
Slobodan Živojinović was held at the hotel. In 1990, Beograd InterContinental received next-door competition with the luxurious
Hyatt Regency Belgrade being opened in the vicinity and similarly catering to the upscale guests. Following the breakup of SFR Yugoslavia and the start of the
Yugoslav Wars, sanctions were imposed onto the new state entity
FR Yugoslavia, that included
international economic and political isolation. As a result, the hotel became pretty much empty. Financial growth plummeted to lowest levels, however InterContinental opposed the closure and continued upgrading facilities at their hotel in Belgrade. The
restaurant in the hotel became popular with the Serbian nouveau riche population. Even though the prices were high it was still popular. During the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, the hotel was the place where political parties led their meetings and foreign diplomats stayed.
Željko Ražnatović, a
mobster and prominent
paramilitary leader during the
Yugoslav Wars was shot and killed in the hotel lobby in January 2000. The incident made international news and headlines. After sanctions were dropped against Serbia, democratic power was restored, tourism started to recover and the hotel started making profits.
Continental Hotel Belgrade On 6 July 2006 the hotel lost its InterContinental license, and in 2007 was renamed
Hotel International CG and then
Continental Hotel Belgrade. Continental Hotel Belgrade had 415 rooms (112 twin bedrooms, 273 queen bedrooms, 28 suites, 2 presidential suites), including 30 apartment suites. The hotel also contained Executive and Club floors. The hotel contains eight banquet and conference rooms are on the mezzanine and represent an ideal place for organizing conventions, congresses, receptions, ceremonies, banquets and fashion shows. Continental Hotel Belgrade also had a sports and recreation centre which includes tennis courts, gym, solarium, sauna, massage, indoor swimming pool and pool-bar. The hotel also offers the services of the Business Center, as well as restaurant services. In 2008,
Delta Holding became the hotel's new owner, purchasing it along with two smaller properties in the hotel's vicinity for a reported €150 million. The company has since signed a new management agreement with
IHG, re-branding the famous hotel as a part of the "Crowne Plaza" chain. The entire investment is estimated at €35 million. Right away, the hotel received some positive press coverage with the
Sydney daily
The Australian profiling it in its travel section. The hotel has 8 floors and the floor area of . It has two
presidential suites, which, after the reconstruction, cover each. Each suite has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, kitchen, study area, etc. During the hotel's history, guests in the presidential suites included
Sophia Loren and
Carlo Ponti,
Tina Turner, Luciano Pavarotti,
Placido Domingo,
Nigel Kennedy,
Montserrat Caballé,
Indira Gandhi,
Jimmy Carter,
Zubin Mehta,
Sting, and
Boris Becker. == References ==