Jalta turns 60

Designed by Antonín Tenzer, the building was opened in 1958 after being constructed in an investment of around CZK 40 mln, making it the most expensive building in Czechoslovakia of the time. The building also includes a nuclear fallout shelter underneath that could accommodate 250 people, which today houses the Cold War Museum. During those 60 years, it has welcomed over 2 mln guests.

The hotel is owned and managed by the Flow East Company, an Anglo-Czech property company which since the 1990s has led the overall renovation of Wenceslas Square itself. Hotel Jalta was completely renovated in 2007 and since then has also undergone further minor refurbishments. It now includes 94 guestrooms, a conference centrefor up to 330 people, and the Como restaurant & cocktail bar. An original screen print of Franz Kafka by Andy Warhol hangs in the lobby. Daniel Tylinger is the general manager of Boutique Hotel Jalta.

Antonín Tenzer introduced Functionalist elements into the design, distinct from the standard Socialist Realism that prevailed, while the marble and travertine materials for the hotel façade were chosen by the then Czechoslovakian president Antonín Zápotocký, who was himself a skilled stonemason.

Jalta became Antonín Tenzer's "most personal" project. He designed and inspected its every detail. However, Tenzer did not participate in the opening ceremony on the last day of May in 1958 – as he was not invited. He himself returned to the subject later in several interviews and spoke about the project with grace. But these days, the hotel is presented without any names of specific authors mentioned.

The hotel was equipped luxuriously at that time. In addition to the original furniture and lights, curtains, carpets and other equipment were designed for Jalta. Guests were provided with a telephone, a radio and a TV set in the rooms (it should be noted that Czech Television started broadcasting just before the construction began and the weekly broadcast started in the year of the opening of the hotel). Heating in the ceilings was complemented with air conditioning. All rooms had their own sanitary facilities. The above-standard services included, for example, the footwear care, which was already taken into account in the hotel construction: there were small cabinets for shoes in the rooms, connected to the corridor, where the guests put their shoes and the staff could clean them and return them without disturbing the guest. Guests could also use the services of a hairdresser or a hotel car.

A rare feature is the previously concealed nuclear fallout shelter. The existence of the shelter was not known to the public until 1990; today, it is home to the Cold War Museum which is open to the public. Under the previous political regime, the hotel was in the focus of the communist regime State Security (StB). There were many wiretaps leading to the hidden centre in the underground part of the building.

Cold War Museum:


General Manager of Jalta Hotel: