The grand hotels of Belgrade: the back story

Belgrade’s great hotels tell the city’s story: a young kingdom showing off its first grand palace, a socialist capital opening a window on the world, and a riverside reborn. Here are the hotels behind the stories, and where to find them today.

The Moskva on Terazije

Belgrade’s first great hotel opened on 14 January 1908, with King Petar I at the ceremony. Built for the Russian insurance company Rossiya, its tiled Secession facade made it the most glamorous address in the city, and for more than a century its café has been the place to watch who has arrived in town. It is also where the Moskva šnit cake was created in 1974.

The Metropol’s golden years

Half a century later the Metropol opened on the boulevard beside Tašmajdan Park. Begun by youth work brigades and rebuilt as a hotel by the architect Dragiša Brašovan, it opened in 1957 and became the socialist capital’s window on the world, the hotel where Louis Armstrong, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren and Alfred Hitchcock stayed. Restored between 2007 and 2012, it is again one of the city’s leading hotels.

Savamala and the Bristol

Down by the Sava, Savamala was the old riverside quarter where Belgrade’s first trains arrived, and the Bristol on Karađorđeva is one of its historic hotels. Beautifully restored, it now sits between the old town and the new riverside, a few minutes’ walk from the Sava Promenade.

The Old Mill on the Sava

Belgrade’s industrial past has found a new life too. The Radisson Collection Hotel, Old Mill Belgrade fills a converted 19th-century mill beside the river, and two of the original mill columns still stand in its piazza.

The St. Regis at Belgrade Waterfront

The newest chapter opened on 1 November 2024, when The St. Regis Belgrade welcomed its first guests in the lower eleven floors of Kula Belgrade, the 168-metre tower at the heart of Belgrade Waterfront. With 119 rooms and suites, a spa and the residences above, it brought one of the world’s great hotel names to the Sava.

Each of Belgrade’s grand hotels belongs to a different chapter of the city’s story.

Our advice

You don’t need to stay to share in the stories. Take coffee and a slice of Moskva šnit on the Moskva’s terrace, book sunset dinner at the Metropol’s rooftop restaurant, then walk along the Sava Promenade at night, past the Old Mill to the lights of the Belgrade Tower.