The George Hotel is the oldest functioning hotel in Ukraine, built in 1901 in the Neo-Renaissance-Neo-Baroque style.

At the beginning of the 20th century the Viennese Association of Architects Helmer and Fellner built the George Hotel – a new and beautiful hotel in the Neo-Renaissance style. This was a fashionable high-class hotel which corresponded to the five-star category of those times. Over a century ago this hotel offered around-the-clock hot and cold water supply, telephone, central heating, and electric lifts. The cuisine and service of the first-class restaurant and coffee shop met with the satisfaction of guests of the highest rank.

The building’s fronton bears the only surviving remnant of the old hotel – a bas-relief of St. George. The four corners of the building were decorated by the sculptor Popiel, according to the design of his colleague Marconi, with sculptures of four areas of the world: Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.

At various times many famous people stayed at the George Hotel: the composers Ferenz Liszt and Maurice Ravel, the writers Ethel Lilian Voynich, Count Aleksei Tolstoi, and the Nobel Prize winner Wladyslaw Reymont, as well as the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, the dictator of Poland Josef Pilsudski, the existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, and Iranian Shah Muzaffer Eddin. It was here where Honoré de Balzac stayed twice on the way to the estate of his beloved Ewelina Haska in Verkhivnya, in Podillya, and it was from here that he would write letters to her.

"George" is the hotel-legend. An elegant architectural monument dating back to the times of Austrian-Hungarian monarchy. Wide stairs still remember the gorgeousness of that world. This hotel was always distinguished by the refinement of architectural solutions and design of the interior, lobby, corridors and staircases, which impress by their greatness and spaciousness. "George" proudly invites its guests, its aristocratic sophistication being its gem. The hotel guests get an opportunity to feel the charm of the romantic city to the fullest extent. In the middle of the 17th century there was a sluice, regulating water flow from the Poltva River, on the place of contemporary “George” hotel. There was the best Galician restaurant “Under Three Hooks” here. In 1793 its owners decided to rebuild it fundamentally and open a hotel. Three years later “De La Rus” hotel was built, which got its name because of being the main coaching inn for all the travelers from all over the world.

Owner of “De La Rus” hotel, George Hoffmann, a businessman and landlord, native of Bavaria, laid out a beautiful garden; the hotel had two entrance gates from the direction of the central square. Hoffmann could offer his customers not only exquisite dishes and beverages, but also comfortable rooms, concerts, entertainments, fireworks.

In 1875 architect Edmund Keler erected a theater hall in the garden for the German society “Frozinn”, where various carnivals, exhibitions and meetings, expositions of works of art took place. There were decorated pavilions and pergolas in the form of antique temple by the river.

Later, in the middle of the 19th century, the hotel was named “George” after the name of its founder.  Hoffmann’s business succeeded, and the family decided to build up the hotel. It happened in the year of 1899, when the city was rapidly growing. The time was very successful for the development of hotel business, and some Lviv lady, an owner of a big laundry-house, decided to invest money in lease of land with the right of further site development.

Next year architectural-building alliance of architects Ivan Levynskyy and Yuzef Tsybulskyy built a luxurious beautiful hotel in the style of Neo-Renaissance according to the project of famous Vienna architects Herman Helmer and Ferdinand Felner. Odessa Opera Theater and theaters in Vienna and Turin were built by their projects as well. New “George” hotel was solemnly opened on January 8, 1901. On the corners of the newly-built edifice arose four allegoric statues of different parts of the world, Europe, Asia, America and Africa.

The entrance was decorated by the bas-relief with St.George or George the Dragon Fighter by a prominent sculptor Anthony Popel, performed by the models of Leonardo Marconi. By the way, this image of the heavenly patron George Hoffmann on the fasade of the building serves as a logo of the old hotel in memory of the first founder.

At that time this was a high-class hotel, which corresponded to the contemporary five-star one: more than one hundred years ago there was round-the-clock hot and cold water supply, bathrooms, telephones, central heating system and electrical elevator. There were 93 rooms at the hotel, suites comprised 32 of them. Standard room cost 6-12 zloty per day, suite cost 13-24 zloty.

First-class restaurant and coffee house enjoyed popularity as they satisfied the needs of the highest rank guests by their cuisine and service. Ground floor of the building was occupied by numerous elegant stores for magnates, hairdresser’s and perfume salons, fancy-goods shop.

The restaurant reputation at that time achieved the level when it was considered to be fashionable and prestigious to visit it. Formerly there was not only restaurant, but also a bookstore, where the Ukrainian and Polish intellectuals gathered together. In luxurious halls of the hotel restaurant there always were evening parties, balls, celebrations of significant events of the city. At that glorious times champagne flowed like water in “George” hotel for the Bohemia of Lviv. The circles of intellectuals of the hotel visitors and guests comprised the most well-to-do landowners and landlords, political elite, cavalry officers, generals, fashionable literary men, Ukrainian writers, professors of gymnasia.

Besides, the restaurant guests were attracted by the “George” own winery. Moreover, coffee house of the hotel was considered to be the most New European facility of Lviv. Round tables, which did not restrict the number of visitors were the salt of the coffee house.

Before WWI “George” became the property of the union of private enterprises, concession to the hotel and the restaurant belonged to the triumvirate of L.Pir, S. and M. Borowsky, W.Ozhekhovsky. Starting from 1940 “George” hotel has become a part of the “Intourist” hotels chain. At present “George” is one of the most exquisite and ancient hotels of Ukraine and Europe, which absorbed many-sided range of spirits, starting from the ancient traditions of the city and ending in singularity of the up-to-date Lviv.

“George” offers different types of hotel reservations. You can get there right after your flight to Lviv taking bus line №5 or with a taxi from the airport.