Hotel Kyjev with the Ukrainian flag atop in Bratislava. (source: Marko Erd)
Construction workers were still building the steel structure of Hotel Kyjev when the media reported, in the sixties, that the new accommodation facility would welcome up to 420 people in its double and triple rooms.
During the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the 15-storey building on Kamenné Square in Bratislava was described as a hotel with “world-class parameters.” Its construction cost more than 100 million Slovak korunas.During the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the 15-storey building on Kamenné Square in Bratislava was described as a hotel with “world-class parameters.” Its construction cost more than 100 million Slovak korunas.
If the hotel's former capacity were in use today, it could be a significant help for people coming from Ukraine.
Data from Bratislava City Hall show that 15,000 people fleeing Ukraine had asked for help at the information point established at the city’s main railway station by March 23. Of these, 2,000 needed accommodation.
The idea that Ukrainians coming to Bratislava would be symbolically accommodated in Hotel Kyjev is not new, said Rostislav Novák. He is the executive director of the Lordship company, which owns the hotel. Similar ideas also arose from its shareholders.
However, they rejected such a possibility. “The building is currently not suitable for accommodation, not even for a temporary stay,” Novák said.
Hotel Kyjev (1973)
Architect: Ivan Matušík
Height: 65 m
Storeys: 15
Beds: 420
The hotel has been completely closed for 11 years. There is literally nothing inside. Electricity, water and heating lines have been either dismantled, non-functional or not in use, the owner added.
The only new element years after the hotel closed is a large Ukrainian flag, installed on its roof by politician Alojz Hlinka a few weeks after the Russian army invaded Ukraine.
Hlina saw the hotel’s interior - the top two floors.
“Even with your greatest application of imagination, you can’t put people in there,” said Hlina. “There is nothing inside, just walls. There are no ceilings, wiring, toilets, nothing. Cracked tiles, destroyed ceilings. Everything is broken,” he added.
What will happen to Hotel Kyjev?
It has been said for two decades that Hotel Kyjev would undergo restoration.
Back in 2004, Lordship bought the hotel and the adjoining plots. In the following years, the firm showed the public how it would want to rebuild the entire square.
After the financial crisis and the project requiring a complex change of the zoning plan, the developer withdrew from its original plans and announced at the end of 2017 that it would renovate Hotel Kyjev and the surrounding area.
Even then, it was not clear what would eventually be inside the hotel - a hotel, apartments, but offices as well were all considered. The renovation was supposed to cost €80 to €100 million. The company wanted to start with the changes in 2019.
No obvious changes have been made to the hotel, except for the emptying of the premises. The developer has not yet announced what the hotel will serve as.
The premises of the building are clean and ready for renovation, said Novák. However, he did not say when the renovation work could begin. “We will announce the start well in advance, after closing contracts with suppliers,” he added.
Kamenné Square and Hotel Kyjev in Bratislava. (source: Marko Erd)
The Building Authority in Bratislava’s Old Town has not registered an application for a renovation permit.
“The owner of Hotel Kyjev has not yet talked to the city. The last meeting with the owner took place in 2019,” said Dagmar Schmucková, a spokesperson for the Bratislava City Hall.
However, the developer declares that it does not want to fundamentally change the appearance of the hotel’s facade or demolish the hotel, which was mentioned in the past.
“After its renovation, the hotel will look the same as today, or we will get as close as possible to it after the replacement of the non-functional and destroyed parts of the facade,” Novák said.
Inside, the modifications will correspond to its new use, but the specific materials and equipment are not yet selected, he continued to say. Not just Hotel Kyjev alone is awaiting renovation. The capital has plans to renovate all of Kamenné Square.
Disappointment for architect
After many years, the current condition of Hotel Kyjev was disappointing for its architect Ivan Matušík. He died in February at the age of 91.
When the Ministry of Commerce announced a public architectural tender for a new department store and hotel in 1960, Matušík won, even though he was only 30 years old at the time.
As he walked around the closed building with documentary filmmakers 47 years after the hotel opened, he just said: “The Kyjev is dead.”
A design hotel in Copenhagen, which has a lot in common with Matušík’s work, has already been renovated.
The Danish hotel had been designed by the architect and designer Arne Jacobsen 13 years earlier. It resembles Matušík’s building in shape and appearance, and the two hotels share several similar interior elements, such as a distinctive spiral staircase.
Years ago, the investor used the similarity of the hotels to question claims that the Slovak hotel should not be demolished because of its originality.
The Copenhagen hotel was renovated in 2018. A guest pays more than €200 for an overnight stay.
© Sme
