This December, Hotel Cismigiu Bucharest celebrated its 10th anniversary since reopening under Hercesa – Vivenda brand and, in the same time, 110 years since it was first inaugurated as Palace Hotel, in the Belle Epoque Bucharest of the year 1912.
More than 150 guests walked on the pink carpet at the anniversary party on the 24th of November, with artists, cultural personalities, local businessmen and international guests joining the celebration on the hotel rooftop restaurant Cismigiu Bistro la Etaj.
Some of the most important moments in the history of the hotel were remembered: the glory days of 1920’s, when it was one of the largest hotel in town and the most modern one on Elisabeta Boulevard, the “Broadway of Bucharest”; the hotel surviving both First and Second World Wars; its post war nationalization and operations in the 60’s, when it was still active and visited by local celebrities such as writer I. D. Sarbu, historiographer Alexandru Zub or singer Gil Dobrica; the degradation that followed in the ‘90s and it’s sad fame as a student dormitory where the tragedy in the play “Hotel Cismigiu” took place and, finally, its reopening in 2012, when it was totally rebuilt and modernized into a 4* hotel, that has revived the glow and brought back the shine of its glory days.
Alejandro Solano, CEO of Hercesa, the company that owns the hotel, stated the importance of Hotel Cismigiu Bucharest not only as Vivenda’s hotel, but also as a cultural landmark of Bucharest history:
“We made a commitment to Bucharest, to the history of the hotel. We have invested and are constantly investing in it to bring and maintain it to the glory of the years it has been open and operating as a hotel. Hotel Cișmigiu is more than the Hercesa company hotel, it is a symbol of Bucharest, which is why we always wanted it to be on the list of tourists who arrive in Bucharest and, we say, we succeeded. We won our customers based on the services offered, we successfully compete with chain hotels and we want to keep our position and the quality standards already imposed”.
The challenges continued this decade, as the last two years proved to be especially difficult for the hospitality industry, and a dedicated team of Hotel Cismigiu Bucharest was the secret recipe of the way in which it succeeded to overcome difficulties and return to the pre-pandemic level of profitability.
Mirela Cojocaru, General Manager of Hotel Cişmigiu was the leader of the team at this time:
“After 2 years of the pandemic and many, many challenges, this year we took a breath of fresh air. We see the hotel full again, people travel, events have returned to normal and Romanians from outside the Capital come and do weekend tourism in Bucharest. All these factors contributed to the increase in occupancy and the hotel’s turnover in 2022. Keeping the trend, we also expect a 15% increase in business for 2023”.
In a decade after its opening, more than 175,000 tourists chose Cismigiu Hotel as an accommodation unit and more than 80% of them were foreigners. They chose it for its excellent location, right in the middle of the city and close to everything to see or do in Bucharest, from local institutions to cultural landmarks to the entertaining Old City. They also chose it for its historical vibe and modern facilities and, more than that, for its personalized services and a very attentive and prompt guests service, specific to high class boutique hotels.
Hotel Cismigiu has also gained the reputation of being “The Artists’ Hotel” and won a prize for it, with many, many artistic and cultural personalities choosing it as accommodation in Bucharest or even as a temporary residence. The great poet Ion Barbu stayed here for a while, as well as another great writer, Tudor Vianu. In the last 10 years, more than 30 international writers, singers, actors, and dancers have stayed at Cișmigiu Hotel during their events in Bucharest, including Alain Finkielkraut, Robert D. Kaplan, Alain Legoux, Katja Petrowska, Oliver Jens Schmitt, Akira Mizubayashi, Francesc Miralles Contijoch, Emil Brumaru, Maria Chiorean, Alin Fumurescu, to mention only a few.
So, it was a delight to see some of the Romanian artists joining our 10 years anniversary, an occasion on which we awarded the “Oscar Cismigiu” awards to those who made a difference in the history of the hotel.
“It is a hotel with great tradition. It looks good, beautiful, as it deserves, in a very beautiful glam. It is no longer “desert and dark, and I am no longer scared to death”. I’m glad to be here” says actor Cristi Iacob, citing the lyrics of the song “Hotel Cismigiu” that he wrote in the 90’s.
We would like to thank all of them for their presence and, last but definitely not least, we would like to thank all of you, our dear clients and fans, the ones that have visited, appreciated and want to return to Hotel Cismigiu! You are the real reason why the hotel continues to be alive and be a part of the city’s history.
Welcome to the Hotel Cismigiu! The story goes on.