One of my ideas is to renovate this hotel in New Belgrade. The Hotel Jugoslavia was opened in 1969 and many international celebrities and dignitaries stayed at the hotel including two US Presidents, Nixon and Carter. The hotel was partially destroyed during the NATO bombing campaign of 1999.
Today the hotel is abandoned as you can see by the photo I took last weekend. Behind the hotel is the Grand Casino Beograd. The hotel lies on the banks of the Danube, just south of Zemun and very close to the city center on the New Belgrade side of Belgrade. The property was purchased by Greek developers in 2011 who had plans to renovate it into a luxury hotel, but I don’t see any evidence of progress.
My idea is to renovate to its original 1969 style and make it a “Jugo-nostalgia” hotel. I would play up the socialist and Yugoslavian aspects and have 1970’s style carpeting, panelling, etc. Perhaps the employees could be dressed in Tito’s Pioneer uniforms. Lots of photos of Tito, etc. I think you could build a nice client base of former Yugoslavian republics and tourists interested in getting a feel of Eastern Europe “behind the iron curtain.” If someone has the money and team of Yugo-experts, I would give my input to the project.
For now it stands as a monument to a by gone era. Will it ever be brought to life again?
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