The Grand Hotel Łódź, located at 72 Piotrkowska Street, has reopened its doors. The cult object both on the hotel and historical map of Łódź has undergone a thorough renovation, which refreshed its interiors together with the facade and gave the building a new style
The Grand Hotel is the city’s most famous hotel with the longest history in Lodz, having operated continuously since 1888. From the very beginning, the Grand Hotel was synonymous with prestige and elegance. For many years, it held undisputed primacy in the city, permanently contributing to its history
The Grand Hotel in the interwar period. Author photo: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The origins of the place known as the Grand Hotel have little to do with hospitality. In the mid-19th century, a single-storey wooden house with an attic was erected on the plot of land to house a private elementary school. Shortly afterwards (in 1860), factory buildings and a two-storey brick house with an attic, decorative cornices, friezes and bas-reliefs were erected there. This building housed a cantina, a factory shop and warehouse (on the ground floor) and flats for rent (on the floors). Just two years later, a fire consumed part of the factory. The new owner decided that the buildings on Piotrkowska Street would be rebuilt. This is how the guest house Hotel Grand was born, the design of which was the responsibility of Hilary Majewski, a prominent architect from Łódź
The hotel was opened on 9 October 1887. At that time it had 45 rooms. 9 years later, the number of rooms had grown to 70, and there was also a restaurant and a ballroom. In 1904, the hotel was sold to the Joint-Stock Company. Shortly afterwards, the existing gas lighting was replaced by electric lighting and in 1907 the hotel was connected to the city’s electricity grid. Only a few suites were equipped with private bathrooms; the rest of the guests had to make do with communal sanitary facilities, which were located on each floor. In 1911, the shares were bought from the Commercial Bank by a consortium of factory owners and merchants, who decided to remodel the building once again
The next reconstruction, designed by Majewski and Dawid Lande, increased the number of rooms to 150. The whole building gained a new architectural expression, close to the aesthetics of modernism. Signal devices for summoning hotel service appeared in the rooms, waiter’s rooms were arranged on the floors, and two lifts were made available to the guests. After renovation, the “Golden” and “Raspberry” rooms were impressive in their splendour. A small bakery was set up in the basement of the hotel, while the cellars were used as storage areas for food and alcoholic beverages. The ground floor housed, among other things, a restaurant, café, “Margot” shop and hairdressing salon. The hotel was also renovated after the Second World War. The façade then lost its original decoration. Famous guests of the hotel include Henryk Sienkiewicz, Jan Brzechwa, Robin Williams, Władysław Reymont and Ignacy Jan Paderewski. In 2008, the hotel passed into the hands of new owners, who began a major refurbishment of the building in 2019
Individually designed rooms and suites, unique event spaces, Wellness&SPA with swimming pool, two restaurants, Grand Café, Cigar Room and theatre – these are the effects of the metamorphosis crowning several years of renovation. The materials that create the character of the spacious rooms and suites are noble solid oak and walnut, natural stone, glass and patinated brass. In many rooms, the structural ceilings and elements of the original façade are exposed. The simplicity of the austere yet warm structure of the interiors is emphasised by specially designed and made fabrics. In each of the 153 rooms of different standards and areas, a place to relax and work awaits guests, as well as ecological and modern solutions
Source: grand.hotel.com.pl
Read also: Architecture in Poland | Łódź | Monument| Hotel | Metamorphosis
