Carol Parc Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Carol Parc Hotel in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, is a five star hotel near historical Carol Park
Carol Park
Carol Park is a public park in Bucharest, Romania, named after King Carol I of Romania. For the duration of the communist regime, it was called Liberty Park ....
. Opened in 2007, it quickly gained the reputation as one of Bucharest's most exclusive boutique hotels. It contains one of the largest Murano crystal
Murano glass
Murano glass is a famous product of the Venetian island of Murano. Located off the shore of Venice, Italy, Murano has been a commercial port as far back as the 7th century. By the 10th century, the city had become well known for its glassmakers, who created unique Murano glass...
chandeliers in the world, stretching over four stories tall. Several important personalities have stayed there so far, including foreign dignitaries, singer Beyonce Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
, Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
, Angela Gheorghiu
Angela Gheorghiu
Angela Gheorghiu is a Romanian soprano opera singer. Since her professional debut in 1990, she has sung as soprano leading roles at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Milan's La Scala, and many other opera houses in Europe and the United States...
, and Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias is a Spanish pop music singer, a son of singer Julio Iglesias.Enrique started his musical career on Mexican label Fonovisa...
.
Located in the heart of Bucharest, on Aleea Suter Str. near the historical Carol Park
Carol Park
Carol Park is a public park in Bucharest, Romania, named after King Carol I of Romania. For the duration of the communist regime, it was called Liberty Park ....
, the hotel resides on one of the city's highest geographic locations, the Filaret
Filaret
Filaret is a male name of Greek origin, commonly used as a monastic name in the Orthodox Church, and may refer to:-People:* Patriarch Filaret , patriarch of Moscow from 1612-1633, father of Tsar Michael I of Russia...
Hill. Stunning views of Bucharest can be seen from the property, including a great view of the Palace of Parliament, Unirii Square, and the park itself. The cul-de-sac is named after Suter (Aleea is Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
for "alley"), a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
who helped in the planning of the park and parts of the neighborhood, including the symmetrically built Suter street.
Press coverage and awards
The Carol Parc Hotel has won the praises of critics, international press, and guests alike. NewsweekNewsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
included the hotel in its "Best of Romania" article, later following up with an exclusive in which the extravagant services are detailed.
Condé Nast Traveler
Condé Nast Traveler
Condé Nast Traveler is a US magazine published by Condé Nast. It has its origins in a mailing sent out by the Diners Club club beginning in 1953, listing locations that would take the card. It began taking advertising in 1955. In order to attract more advertisers, it became a full-fledged magazine,...
included the hotel in its "Hot List 2008: the best 130 hotels of the world," saying "the intimate 17-room hotel displays the trappings of Europe's grandest hotels...."
The Carol Parc Hotel was one of two hotels recommended by The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, particularly for anyone planning to "splash out" on their next visit to Bucharest.
Luxist wrote about the Carol Parc Hotel, saying it is "perhaps the poshest hotel in the city of Bucharest".
Peter Imre
Peter Imre
Peter Imre is one of the richest businessmen in Romania and is also a restaurant critic. He frequently writes in Ziarul Financiar , and is currently the Director of Corporate Affairs for Philip Morris in Romania. He is married to Marina Meleşcanu.-References:...
, a Romanian restaurant critic, compared the hotel and its POEM Restaurant to the luxurious venues of the Interbellum Era
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
, saying that "Sitting here, you expect King Carol
Carol I of Romania
Carol I , born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was reigning prince and then King of Romania from 1866 to 1914. He was elected prince of Romania on 20 April 1866 following the overthrow of Alexandru Ioan Cuza by a palace coup...
and Queen Elisabeta to enter at any time.".
The building also received an award for "Best Renovation/Restoration Project in 2007" from the Romanian Architects Association.
In May 2008, the hotel was declared "Hotel of the Year" by HRB Expert magazine.
Starting with May 2011 The Carol Parc Hotel is a Royal Warrand Holder By Appointment of His Majesty Michael I King of the Romanians/Michael of Romania
History
The hotel comprises two buildings of which the more than one-hundred-year-old main building is built in "Brâncovenesc styleBrâncovenesc style
Is a type of architecture developed in Wallachia during the reign of Constantin Brâncoveanu in the 17th and 18th century.Examples of buildings with this style:*Horezu Monastery*Văcăreşti Monastery**Brâncoveanu Monastery*Surpatele Monastery...
". Initially built in 1906 for a prominent architect, socialite and friend of King Carol I, the property was later sold to a Greek banker who owned the property until it was nationalized.
During the Communist period
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
the building was nationalized and served as the headquarters for a number of communist party institutions, including ICRAL, the former housing authority (ICRAL in Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
stands for "întreprindere de Constructii, Reparatii si Administrare Locativa").
The renovation and conversion cost close to 6 million Euros according to Romanian newspapers. This investment represents nearly twice the per room amount invested by other five star hotels in Bucharest.