86
the World Of Hospitality
Hilton Hotel
Goddard Littlefair mastermind
major transformation
of the Hilton Hotel, Budapest
Luxury interior designers Goddard Littlefair
have completed the first phase of an extensive
refurbishment of the Hilton Hotel, Budapest,
encompassing the principal public areas - the
reception, lounge, lobby bar and executive lounge,
along w ith three sample bedroom treatments and
linking corridor areas.
The hotel, which is part of the Danubius Hotels
Group, is located on a stunning site at the centre of
the Hungarian capital, directly alongside St Matthias
Church. The new interior – representing the first
full revamp of the hotel since 1977, when it was
originally opened – brings a new light and elegant
contemporaneity to the common parts via a palette of
refined silvers and golds with accent colours, together
with dark timber; brass inlays; black and white granite;
a wide range of bespoke furniture and fabrics - a
hallmark of Goddard Littlefair schemes – as well
as a number of stunning art installations, speciallycommissioned for the project from local Hungarian
artists and specialist maker studios.
‘Budapest is a stunning city and one I have been lucky
enough to work in on several occasions’, commented
Goddard Littlefair Director and Co-founder Martin
Goddard. ‘Being able to work here once again has
made this project a real pleasure. It was also very
professionally satisfying; it’s rare to get a chance to help
accomplish a design transformation on this scale of
such a premier European hotel.’
The Hilton Hotel, Budapest is sited on the western,
‘Buda’ side of the Danube, which bisects the city and
separates the mainly medieval, hilly ‘Castle Quarter’
of ‘Buda’ from the ‘Pest’ side of the city, where the
architecture dates more from the period of the AustroHungarian empire, including many fine neo-classical,
baroque and art nouveau buildings. The hotel was
originally designed and constructed in the late 1970s
by the Danubius Hotels & Spa Co, which was then
a state-run entity and was built around and partly
incorporates both a 13th-century Dominican cloister
and the baroque façade of a 16th- century Jesuit
College. In 1992, the Danubius Hotels & Spa Co was
listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange and it is now a
major hospitality specialist operating across the region,
with upwards of 20 hotels in Hungary and a portfolio
that also includes major hotels in Romania, Slovakia
and the Czech Republic, as well as one in London.
‘From a business point of view’, Martin Goddard
explained, ‘the existing hotel was mostly used by large
tour parties from the States and the Far East and was
a popular destination on the conference circuit. The
brief was to maintain this strong appeal, but also to
appeal to more transient leisure guests, who were
increasing in numbers as the appeal of the Buda side
of the city continued to grow for a new generation of
tourists, thanks to a burgeoning new restaurant scene
and a number of boutique hotels.’
The brief to Goddard Littlefair was to redesign the
hotel completely, including all public areas (except for
the ‘Icon’ restaurant, which had been refurbished just
prior to commission). The works were to be phased,
so that the hotel could stay open throughout. The
first phase is now complete. Phase two, to complete
later this spring, is comprised of 136 bedrooms on