History of the hotel
In the beginning was a word and the word caused an action. More precisely, in the beginning there was a vision to build a physical therapy/rehabilitation center. A place where people would come and would leave relaxed and in good spirits. It was a time shortly after the revolution, a time filled with great expectations.
Nevertheless, any business idea however great it seem at the time, may not always be feasible. Already the initial analysis led to the discovery of an unpleasant fact, namely that neither the insurance companies, nor the patients themselves would pay -in the first case- and be willing to pay – in the second case- for a proper care. The reality of the business environment at the time was harsh but it did not mean the surrender of our plans.
Physical therapy and rehabilitation services on their own could not ensure the project’s feasibility let alone it’s rentability. Thus the idea evolved into building a hotel with services whose quality surpass the normal standards. If a hotel were to be built, it needed a restaurant and complimentary services offering fun and relaxation.
Remember, this was the year 1992 and a million Czech crowns was a lot of money. And here we were talking about tens of millions. The initial budget was 45 million. Ing. Arch. Pelcl had a tough job cut out in front of him. For various reasons the project blueprints had to be redrawn from scratch several times.
The last change was forced upon us by the “foolish conservationists”. It suddenly occurred to them that the new structure would distort the western view of the St. Cross Church nearby. This meant that the last floor of the projected building had to go altogether. The very last changed was splitting the building into two phases due to financial reasons.
A suitable builder, “Vodní stavby Temelín” (VST) was chosen. At the time, the company had no other orders because the then current government of revolutionary amateurs decided to completely scratch the second phase of the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant. More important and favorable was the fact that the company had an excess inventory of building materials still valued at very low prices.
It was a considerable impudence to sign a 45 million contract with one tenth of the sum secured on hand. But then, loans were so easy to get in those times. Luckily, VST provided a supplier loan. A bank loan was used to purchase the needed land. Later it turned out that this decision was crucial for the cash flow and further feasibility of the whole project.
Laying the foundations was extremely difficult. The site was originally a ravine. In 1974 it was filled up with material left over from the construction of industrial water tanks. For this reason, two thirds of the project are supported by underground stilts 8 meters long and 1.2 meters in diameter.
The construction itself started in September 1993. The base point for the arced building is 275 meters above sea level. Photographs presented below document the progress of the construction which went quite well. After two years, the building passed all the required official inspections and was officially opened for business on 29th of June, 1995.
With the building itself complete it was time cultivate the grounds surrounding it. A fishpond was founded. Besides beautifying the surrounding of the hotel and serving as a live storage for 1000 trouts, it solved the problem of high level of underground water due to the presence of a natural spring.
A large gazebo with a grill was built. A smaller gazebo with garden chess soon followed.
The last stage of construction took place in the years 2004/2005. This stage included the construction of underground parking and a large wine cellar with private storage boxes. This new addition is situated between the right side of the original building and the large gazebo. The new structure helped to stabilize the slope, a necessary prerequisite for the completion of the originally planned second phase.
