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Rimanóczy Hotel

- Strada Libertății 8 -
The first stage of the construction, which was built in two stages for residential and commercial purposes, started in 1890 and was completed in 1892. The building was designed and constructed by the Hungarian architect and construction contractor Kálmán Rimanóczy Senior to house and hotel and steam and tub baths that would bear his name. The hotel, which in addition to the baths, housed 30 rooms, a restaurant, and a café, opened its doors to its guests on October 1, 1892. The second stage in the construction began in 1900 when the northern wing was erected over the land of the café with the name La regele Ungariei. The Royal Coffee House on the first floor was opened on October 15, 1900, and set up a garden in front of the cafe in the autumn of the same year.
The interior of the restaurant
The hotel was extensively renovated in 1904, a new staircase was built, and at the same time, the entrance hall leading to the restaurant was dismantled in order to establish a spacious restaurant there. The tub baths were moved from the second floor to the first floor, where the bath area had a separate entrance. Elegant rooms have also been created in place of the tub baths, on the second floor. Szidor Rendes, brother of architect Vilmos Rendes, ran the Royal for six years as owner. In 1906, when he unsuccessfully bid for Vigadó in , he retired, and Royal was taken over by Fodor Izsó from then on. In 1909, Armand Palotay and Béla Schwarz became new tenants of the coffee house. In his will, Kálmán Rimanóczy Senior stated that the hotel and steam baths were to be handed over to the city, it must always keep the name of its creator, and the income from its operation must be used to help the poor and needy.
The Royal Coffee House and garden in 1915
The mansard roof of the building, which is built in the styles of Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Baroque with Art Nouveau elements, is crowned in some places with . The two top gables are surrounded by piers that are connected with balustrades that contain a certain amount of . These same balusters are used in the that are placed underneath some of the second floor windows. Underneath the other windows, you can admire an , which is either adorned with or . The that separates the first from the second floor, as well as the roof cornice, are both adorned with , although the ones that adorn the roof cornice are alternated by in some places. A is placed above the third floor windows, some of which are embellished with a . Above the second floor windows, which in some cases are flanked by , you can either see a broken or open segmental , or an open pointed pediment, which is either decorated with a bust or a lavishly decorated ornamental shell. On top of the that contains a statue, you can admire a with two heads of a , as well as a semi-circular balcony that's secured with a wrought iron railing.
The building is visible in an old colorized postcard