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

Theatre. The hotel, whose building contained 72 rooms at the time and rose four storeys above ground on the street front, was bought from the Westermayers in 1868 by András Langheinrich to become the property of Frigyes Glück in 1884. With its 115 rooms, the establishment was among the most elegant of its kind in Pest in 1893. It was modernised under the ownership of Glück. This hotelier of European renown spared no effort or capital investment to upgrade his property. (Characteristic of his determination and influence was the fact that in 1906 he was able to ensure that the procession escorting the repatriated remains of the national hero Rákóczi should take, in preference to the shortest route from the Eastern to the Western Station via the Nagykörút or Grand Boulevard, a detour along Kiskörút or Small Boulevard, whereby it passed the Pannónia. A marble plaque was later installed to commemorate the event.)

Following the example set by the Grand Hotel Hungária, the Pannónia was the second hotel in Budapest to have an electric lift for guests. From the elegant lobby an ornamental flight of stairs led to a banqueting hall on the first floor. In the courtyard, on the site of the former carriage shed, a Palm House was built and equipped with furniture of a unique design. A special attraction of the tropical garden was its sliding glass dome. Queen Elizabeth of Habsburg’s favourites, Béla Radies and his ensemble, provided musical entertainment in the restaurant.

The Hotel Pannónia

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