Juhász Gyula - Szántó András: Hotels - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1999)

The Grand Hotel Margitsziget today

Hotel sustained severe damage. The Little Hotel and the Hotel Dália were completely burnt out and destroyed. Following reconstruction, the Grand Hotel took lodgers as early as the mid-forties. Guests included actors shooting films in Hungary and athletes competing here. In the fifties the hotel was promoted to an impressive facility where visiting politicians were routinely accommodated. Since 1969 one of its walls has been decorated with a large painting by Béla Kondor, set in a wooden frame.

In the eighties the hotel was upgraded into the luxury category and was reopened in 1987.

The Grand Hotel HUNGÁRIA,

the former KÖZPONTI (Central) Hotel - the Hotel IMPERIAL No. 90 Rákóczi út, district VII The Hotel Central was founded in 1889 in response to the growth of railway traffic. It welcomed travel-weary guests with a total of seventy rooms on its four floors, with electric lighting (a novelty at the time), lifts and an elegant lobby.

The Hotel Imperial was built on a neighbouring plot in 1917. This business was owned by Oszkár Keleti. Apprehensive of competition, the then proprietor of the Central, János Sprung Jr, let his building to Keleti, who connected the two buildings with a corridor so he could jointly operate the two houses. Then in 1935, the two hotels were once again separated. The 162 rooms of the

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