Grand Hotel opened on 3rd March. The end of the great revitalisation

The mighty edifice of Grand Hotel is impressive. After years of revitalisation, nothing obstructs its façade any more. 3^rd March 2025 – The Mövenpick brand, a part of the Accor Group, has announced the opening of a new facility in Poland. The long-awaited Mövenpick Grand Hotel Wroclaw welcomed its first guests today

Małgorzata Kalinowska-Klimek, Vice President of Franchise Operation Eastern Europe: The opening of the second Mövenpick hotel in Poland shows the potential for the development of premium hotel services not only in the country but also in the entire region. Wroclaw and the building with an over 100-year history that has always housed the hotel is a dream location to start this new chapter for the brand.

'We are convinced that, thanks to its high standards combined with the excellent location and the spirit of the brand, Mövenpick Grand Hotel Wroclaw will quickly become a landmark of Wroclaw and a place to which guests from around Poland and abroad will be eager to return,’ adds Małgorzata Kalinowska-Klimek.

Brand new Grand Hotel. We have pictures of the interiors.

Grzegorz Rojek, President of the Management Board of Cohm: ‘We are extremely proud to have breathed new life into one of Wroclaw's most recognisable buildings by restoring its former glory and combining it with modern solutions. Our goal has always been to preserve the site's unique heritage in order to create a space that will delight both history buffs and guests seeking the highest standards of comfort and service.’

Cohm Sp. z o.o., operating under the brand name Historyczne Hotele Wrocławia, is the successor to  Wrocławskie Przedsiębiorstwo ‘Odra Tourist’, and it has been the manager of the 5 oldest hotels in Wroclaw – Polonia, Europejski, Piast, Grand, and Piast2 (formerly Hotel Odra) – since 2007.

Behind the design of the hotel's interiors is the Wroclaw-based MIXD studio, repeatedly recognised and awarded for its hotel interior designs in Poland and internationally.

Piotr Kalinowski, CEO and artistic director of MIXD: ‘We are very happy that we had an opportunity to design such a unique facility in our home city. Our design combines inspirations from the architecture of the late 19^th and early 20^th century, the hotel tradition of the facility designed originally by Paul Rother, and the Mövenpick brand itself, particularly its culinary heritage. An attentive eye will spot elements reminiscent of art deco style, Parisian hotels and cafés, and appetising shades of coffee, chocolate and champagne.’

Mövenpick Grand Hotel Wroclaw. The end of the great revitalisation. Opening of the hotel

The restaurant and café of Mövenpick Grand Hotel Wroclaw will be opened separately.

‘On 8^th March, on Women's Day, we will welcome our first guests in our hotel restaurant and café,’ says Aleksander Dudek, Head of Catering at Mövenpick Grand Hotel Wroclaw, in an interview with wroclaw.pl.

Grand Hotel is owned by Rafin, a Wroclaw-based company. The developer was reluctant to specify dates for the completion and opening of Grand Hotel, and this was due to the fact that these has already been postponed a few times; it has recently been announced that the hotel would be opened by the middle of 2024 and then by the end of 2024.

The completion of the investment and the opening of Grand Hotel have been postponed a few times. Why?

The renovation of Grand Hotel at Piłsudskiego Street has been covered by wroclaw.pl since the beginning. On 4^th October 2017, we informed about the start of the revitalisation of Grand Hotel. Because of such factors as the complicated scope of the work, the completion date has been postponed a few times. It is worth recalling the words of Paweł Rojek, CEO of Rafin, who spoke to wroclaw.pl about the completion dates of the investment.

Paweł Rojek: ‘We started construction work in 2017. It was preceded by a nearly two-year design process. Facilities of this type are definitely a more challenging fabric. This is true both for the design, organisation, monitoring and implementation of sudden required changes that cannot always be foreseen, and in such case most of them must be consulted with a wider range of specialists than in the case in standard construction works.

We encountered many problems along the way, but we coped with each of them. The period of Grand's restoration included also a time of pandemic, which was very difficult for the real property market and the hotel market, on both of which we are active in Wroclaw all the time, which is again directly linked to securing funds for the work. It was also a change regarding the international operator and the signing of a contract with the Accor Movenpick chain, which consequently resulted in the redesign of some interior elements and a change in the concept for the future operation of the hotel. Then came the outbreak of war in our neighbours and changes in the labour market.

However, I would like to emphasise: the restoration of this facility is not a first-come, first-served race. The priority was to achieve the design effect we set out to achieve at the start. We have consistently kept our commitments in this regard.’ The historic Grand Hotel is returning to Wroclaw.

Revitalised Grand Hotel. What has been done there?

The Grand Hotel has been revitalised. All that has remained of the former Grand Hotel are fragments of the walls on the side of Piłsudskiego and Kołłątaja Streets (up to the second floor). The entire middle part of the building was dismantled. The completed part of works includes the reinforcements of arches and lintels of the façade on the side of Kołłątaja Street and the driving of almost 300 reinforced concrete piles protecting the foundations of adjacent buildings. All works were carried out under the supervision of a conservation officer.

Mövenpick Grand Hotel Wroclaw: The spectacular historic façade blends perfectly with the stylish interior of the four-star hotel in the centre of Wroclaw. We offer beautiful, completely refurbished rooms, modern conference rooms and a spa. Functional conference rooms with top-quality audiovisual equipment make it possible to organise private events and business conferences, meetings, training sessions, concerts and film festivals for 183 guests in the centre of Wroclaw.

‘The atmospheric historic Mövenpick Grand Hotel Wrocław is a business centre and an ideal place for a private or romantic weekend for two in Wroclaw. The comfortable interior is complemented by excellent cuisine and professional service. Come to us!’ encourages the hotel's director on the website of the Accor Group, all.accor.com

Grand not yet open, but already awarded – Modernisation of the Year and Construction Work of the 21st Century

In 2024, Grand was recognised for its attention to historical heritage and subtle modern touches in the 'Modernisation of the Year and Construction Work of the 21^st Century' competition.

Mövenpick Grand Hotel Wroclaw: how many rooms and what has been done on the roof

The revitalised Grand Hotel will have 179 rooms. A car park for hotel guests will be built under the hotel. On the roof of the building, an open SkyBar will be located. The building will contain conference rooms. The architect Grzegorz Górka and Wroclaw-based studio GREG architekci are responsible for the design of  Grand's revitalisation.

Mövenpick Grand Hotel in Wroclaw is already hiring and looking for employees

Grand Hotel has already hired hotel service staff, but the manager is still looking after other employees. Job advertisements are published on online portals in this regard. The offered job positions include the technical department manager, the catering billing clerk and guest service staff.

Grand Hotel Wroclaw in the Accor – Mövenpick chain. What is the brand?

Grand Hotel is owned by Rafin – a Wroclaw-based company, which also owns the Polonia, Europejski, Piast and Lothus hotels in Wrocław and redevelops the historic remains of the Hatzfeld Palace.

In 2021, as far the running and management of Grand Hotel are concerned, Rafin signed a franchise agreement with the French company Accor, which operates in the tourism market (hotels, restaurants, travel agencies), and it was decided that Wroclaw’s Grand would have the well-known Swiss brand Mövenpick and the official name of the facility would be Mövenpick Grand Hotel Wroclaw.

History of the famous Hotel du Nord in Breslau and Grand Hotel in Wroclaw

Mövenpick Grand Hotel Wrocław is on the site where the famous Hotel du Nord later renamed Grand Hotel, was opened in 1903. As a result of the Second World War, only the walls were left of the Art Nouveau building and the characteristic tower was destroyed, which, together with the tower on the nearby Hotel Piast, formed the "gateway to the city" leading to Wroclaw's Market Square. During the current revitalisation, the tower on Grand has been rebuilt.

Grand Hotel is being reborn like a Phoenix from the ashes: ornaments and stucco

The façade of the building is impressive. The stucco and ornaments have returned to their old places.

‘Repeated trapezoidal ornaments decorate the bands of windows. The stucco, on the other hand, is located on the historic façade, on which the decoration and texture of the elements have been restored. There are various ornaments and decorations on the sandstone, which have been painstakingly restored and properly conserved. Another handmade element for the Hotel Grand investment are the wooden substructures for the roof truss of the oriels of the elevation on the side of Piłsudskiego,’ the investor's representative enumerates.