FINE Wine & Champagne India - Winter 2018

connected to the main building by a glass
bridge. With two official entrances, the hotel
is the only one of its kind in Budapest. At
the main entrance on Erzsébet körút, liveried
doormen usher guests, bellhops swiftly take
charge of luggage and valets manage the cars
as they roll in (380 cars and even 3 double
decker coaches can be parked in this citycentre
garage). The entrance at the back of
the building is for large groups and VVIPs,
where the check-in army discreetly go about
their duties – almost whispering and tiptoeing.
On a wall in this arrivals area are
two shields, ‘Our Most Frequently Returning
Guests’ and ‘Our Special Guests’. “Guests
stay with us because of our location and
our exemplary service. The Franz Liszt
Presidential Suite is Hungary’s largest at
240 sq.m.”, Tibor proudly announces.
The walls of the magnificent Grand
Ballroom “survived the wars, the revolution,
everything…” and are now adorned by
portraits of statesmen, politicians, composers,
artists and poets. The gilded scrolls of
Hungarian artists elevate its beauty. The
restorers chiselled out the designs and
polished up the brass. The original wooden
parquet flooring gave way to Italian limestone
and Spanish marble. The solid wood staircase
to access the Royal Balcony offers a glimpse
of a bygone age.
Around the time of the First World War,
nobody was hosting lavish dinners, fashion
parades, or weddings. As a special effort
to bring in revenue, the Lumière Brothers
from Paris, the pioneers of cinematography,
were called in to setup Europe’s first cinema
– Royal Apollo (renamed Red Star Movie
during the communist era) – outside London
and Paris in Budapest seating 1,000 people.
The chandeliers in the Ballroom were kept
very high to allow projection on the screen
and a clear sighting from the Royal Balcony.
A special hydro-electric system allowed the
splendid chandeliers to come down from
the ceiling (and stop 20 cms from the floor)
to allow for cleaning, maintenance and
replacements without ladders and vertigo.
The Ballroom can serve 240 in a sit-down
synchronised silver service by white gloved
72 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA